Article Surfing Archive

This article will hopefully help you to better understand the threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak. We see lots of news reports on bird flu and pandemics, but the truth is that we don't know if H5N1 will mutate to cause the next influenza pandemic, or if it will be something else. We also don't know if it will happen next year, 5 years from now or 30 years. We only know that it will happen again. No one can predict how severe the next pandemic will be or when it will occur, but being prepared now may help lower the impact of an influenza pandemic on you and your family. I am going to give you some commonsense actions you can take now in preparing your family for a pandemic.

What is a pandemic? An influenza (flu) pandemic is a worldwide outbreak of a flu disease that occurs when a new type of influenza virus appears that people have not been exposed to before (or have not been exposed to in a long time). The pandemic virus can cause serious illness because people do not have immunity to the new virus. Pandemics are different from seasonal outbreaks of influenza that we see every year. Seasonal influenza is caused by influenza virus types to which people have already been exposed. Its impact on society is less severe than a pandemic, and influenza vaccines (flu shots and nasal-spray vaccine) are available to help prevent widespread illness from seasonal flu.

Influenza pandemics are different from many of the other major public health and health care threats facing our country and the world. A pandemic will last much longer than most flu outbreaks and may include "waves" of influenza activity that last 6-8 weeks separated by months. The number of health care workers and first responders able to work may be reduced. Public health officials will not know how severe a pandemic will be until it begins.

Why should we be prepared for the potential of a pandemic? In the last century there were three influenza pandemics. Public">All of them were called pandemics because of their worldwide spread and because they were caused by a new influenza virus. The 1918 pandemic was especially severe. The 1918-1919 pandemic, often referred to as the Spanish Flu, was the most severe. It caused at least 675,000 U.S. deaths and up to 50 million deaths worldwide. The 1957-1958 pandemic was only moderately severe, and it caused at least 70,000 U.S. deaths and 1-2 million deaths worldwide. Lastly, the 1968-1969 pandemic, dubbed the swine flu because it was believed to have originated in pigs, was the least severe of the three we saw in the last 100 years, still caused at least 34,000 U.S. deaths and 700,000 deaths worldwide.

The effects of a pandemic can be lessened if you prepare ahead of time. Preparing for any disaster will help bring peace of mind and confidence to deal with a pandemic.

When a pandemic starts, everyone around the world could be at risk. The United States has been working closely with other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) to strengthen systems to detect outbreaks of influenza that might cause a pandemic.

A pandemic would touch every aspect of society, so every part of society must begin to prepare. All have roles in the event of a pandemic. Federal, state, tribal, and local governments are developing, improving, and testing their plans for an influenza pandemic. Businesses, schools, universities, and other faith-based and community organizations are also preparing plans.