The blog was launched on May 22 and already have several intelligent debate and comments going back and forth.

Week 1 of the HHS Pandemic Flu leadership blog tackled the need to prepare.

Why should we, as Americans, be concerned about personal preparedness for pandemic influenza? Why is it important that individuals commit to prepare? Why is this particularly important to me, as a community, business/labor, religious, or healthcare leader?

One of the bloggers to tackle this question was Michael Coston of the Avian Flu Diary posting about “Using our time wisely” and I’d like to highlight some of the important points that he raises and issues that we still have to face.

1. The H5N1 virus continues to mutate, spread, infect new hosts. Scientists are no less concerned today than they were a year ago and study the viral evolution closerly.

2. We have the ability to observe this virus as it evolves and moves toward a pandemic strain. Which means,

3. We have the unique opportunity to prepare well. Unlike the generations past.

4. Unless the idea of a pandemic becomes part of public consciousness, the idea of preparing is unlikely to gain traction.

5. A pandemic WILL happen. and it will be ‘very, very bad’. Pandemics, on average, occurs every 30 to 40 years. It’s been 39 years since the last one. Over the past 300 years, we have seen 10 pandemics. Nothing indicates that this will change.

5. It is impossible for the government alone to prepare a nation of 300 million people.

6. There is something that each individual CAN DO to prepare, now. It starts with getting used to certain habits and

7. Basic hygiene tops it all – frequent hand washing, avoiding crowds, covering our mouth when we cough or sneeze, staying home when we are sick or suspect we have been exposed to a virus.

8. Voluntary home quarantines will significantly slow the spread. This means, if one family member is infected, everyone in the household need to stay home.

9. Preparing to stay home – having the supplies needed for weeks of “sheltering in place”, being self-sufficient – will secure their safety and protect their community. In a pandemic, two weeks of supplies may not be enough.

10. Household need to be equiiped and informed to take their own medical needs during a pandemic.

11. Preparing today, while supplies are abundant and the supply chain is intact, is the most ethical and most essential thing you can do.

12. Once a pandemic is on our doorstep, our time to prepare will have ended.

Tags: avian flu, flu pandemic, flu, preparations, Flu preparedness leadership forum

Post from: Blisstree

Pandemic Flu Forum – The Need to Prepare

And we’ve been at this alert since late 2005. Whew. That’s really good news.

The next alert level is “evidence of increased human-to-human transmission” which means the H5N1 has mutated to a form easily transmit between humans.

Avian Flu Diary wrote a perspective on how rapidly events and alerts could escalate if and when the H5N1 virus starts mutating.

Once large clusters are noticed, it may take some time to confirm that they are, indeed, the result of H2H transmission. There will be attempts to contain the spread, using quarantines and antivirals. This would be a time of uncertainty. We will have days, perhaps weeks, where we won’t know if that is successful.

If that happens, we honestly don’t know how long it will take to go from our current phase III, to phase VI, a full blown pandemic.

How long before a pandemic blows up? It probably won’t take months. With the 1918 Spanish flu, it only took 5 months for the virus to spread across the globe. These days with a “highly mobile society” don’t count on it being that long.

Read on to find out FLA_Medic’s perspective on what may happen next and how you can prepare for it.

Tags: bird flu, pandemic, virus, H5N1, human-to-human, transmission

Post from: Blisstree

From outbreaks to full pandemic, a perspective

At first read of the transcript, it’s strange that the CDC Director herself will make time for this. But then that speaks about how serious the agency is about getting people to prepare well in the event of a pandemic. Her points:

1. No mask or any facial protection alone it’s going to be enough to completely eliminate the risk of a pandemic.

2. If you’re sick, wear a mask to prevent droplets and secretions from infecting others.

3. So N95 respirators, specially engineered facemasks, are most useful for people who have direct contact with those who actually are sources of virus. It’s expensive, and because it fits so tight, breathing becomes a problem. If one has a beard,

4. Take additional steps of prevention, such as avoiding contact with others who are sick. Stay home in the event of an outbreak. Stock up on necessary medical supplies, food, and water.

Visit the CDC website for other advice on preparing for a flu pandemic.

Post from: Blisstree

CDC press conference on using masks in a pandemic

“Never before have we been as overdue but under-prepared for a recurring natural disaster as we are now for a pandemic.”

- Eric Hargan, US Acting Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Speaking in Sydney, Hargan warned Australia to prepare for an influenza disaster that can’t be prevented.

It’s like a popcorn effect – “a pop here, then there, then several, and soon eruptions all over”.

Many experts believe that another influenza epidemic is imminent, and no nation will be spared. It’s along this line of thinking that has caused Thailand to protect itself by setting up a flu-vaccine production plant. Thailand expects the plant to produce two million doses of vaccines a year.

If and when a flu pandemic strikes, what’s key to survival is containing the epidemic and have a recocery system in place that will restore the country economically and socially as soon as possible.

[sources: nationmultimedia;couriermail]

Tags: bird flu, pandemic, flu, H5N1, thailand, australia

Post from: Blisstree

Brace yourselves: Next H5N1 pandemic is ‘inevitable’

In a classic outbreak scenario, the script called for a student infected with a new strain of H5N1 returns from Indonesia and dies, but not before infecting others, including members of a swimming team.

By end of day One, 12 people contracted the disease in four states, and 25 percent die.

By Day Two, the cases double to 25 and the CDC is forced to consider severe control measures – closing schools, banning flights from Indonesia, or even shutting U.S. borders.

The CDC decided against these measures. Instead, they send experts to Indonesia, release a quarter of the U.S. stockpile of flu vaccines and limits all incoming international flights to just 10 US airports to screen passengers and limit the disease’s spread.

This part two of a three-stage flu pandemic drill, the CDC simulated how agencies would marshall its resources and manage the public.

“If we were at the beginning of a pandemic this is exactly what it would look like,” said CDC Director Julie Gerberding at a news conference early in the 48-hour drill, which involved hundreds of officials. “If things turn out wrong it could lead to a “catastrophe beyond our planning,” she said.

The exercise captured the hazardous and difficult decisions that needed to be made quickly in the event of a pandemic.

From a similar exercise back in January, here are issues that need immediate answer and responses:

In a final round in May, the virus gets to Atlanta and takes out 40 percent of CDC’s workforce.

[sources: washingtonpost;reuters]

Tags: U.S. CDC, center of disease control and prevention, flu, exercise, drill, pandemic

Post from: Blisstree

CDC conducts flu epidemic drill

Today, WHO announced that it just might help build that needed stockpile.

Countries led by Indonesia and Thailand have demanded in previous months that bird flu vaccines be made affordable for poorer countries for essential workers and first responders in the event of a flu pandemic. Of course 60 million doses will be inadequate, but coupled with the $15 million grant to develop domestic vaccines, at least this is a good start for those that don’t have resources to prepare for a pandemic.

Now if one calculates the global manufacturing capacity for a pandemic vaccine, about 500 million doses of a trivalent vaccine will be needed each year of pandemic. With a single strain vaccine, the stockpile escalates to 1.5 billion.

Obviously, that’s not enough for everyone on this planet. I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if that day comes. God help us all.

[source: Alertnet; image:30mins]

Tags: pandemic, vaccine, Indonesia, stockpile

Post from: Blisstree

WHO plans to stockpile bird flu vaccines for the poor

Because of this common sentiment, a group of Indonesian moms decided to take matters in their own hands by organizing a talk show on the bird flu. Some of the topcs addressed were basic information about the nature of H5N1, how families should treat sick of dying poultry and what to do if they do get flu-like symptoms. The audience was a mixture of association members, school drivers, students and teachers. After showing a flm titled ‘Race against the Killer Flu’ they bombarded the speaker with questions like -

”Why is bird flu present in Indonesia, but not in other countries?” “Which part of our body is affected by the H5N1 virus?” “What is the difference between H5N1 virus and HIV?” ”Can vaccination alone stop the outbreak of the virus among birds?” “How do humans get infected with the H5N1 virus?”

- which goes to show that a little effort like this can go a long way to opening more interest and action from the public. Maybe the Indonesian government can learn a little from these moms.

Now to be fair, the government does have television campaigns. But really, how many rural villages have a TV set, and like the rest of the world, “Indonesian viewers switch to other channels during commercial breaks.”

Source: IPS News

Tags: flu, bird flu, influenza, viral disease, illness, health, medicine, prevention

Post from: Blisstree

Mothers Against Bird Flu

Currently, tests take anywhere from 24 hours to a week to process a test in the US (counting delivery of samples to lab). The CDC wants a “good way to quickly and easily distinguish at a patient’s bedside whether they suffer from H5N1 or a more common type of influenza,” said Director Julie Gerberding said in a prepared statement.

Cepheid (California) received $2.4 million; IQuum Inc. (Massachusetts) got $3.8 million; Meso Scale Diagnostics (Maryland) was awarded $706,241; and Nanogen (. San Diego, CA) received $4.5 million.

[Source: International Herald Tribune]

Tags: CDC, detection method, influenza, H5N1, seasonal flu, bird flu, Cepheid

Post from: Blisstree

$11.4M awarded for faster flu detection – CDC

The first report was written by the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents 100 of the largest integrated financial services companies providing banking, insurance, investment products and services to the American consumer. From the FSR:

• No one is ready if the pandemic occurs within the next several years.
• Not only will it take six months after the outbreak of a pandemic to produce sufficient vaccine, this isn’t scheduled to be possible for another five years.
• There is broad consensus that most local health care systems – hospitals in particular – do not have the excess capacity of beds, equipment, and trained personnel to handle a large influx of patients seeking medical care in a moderate to severe pandemic.

The report also provides recommendations, that are not novel among pandemic planning circles, but probably still unheeded. What caught my eyes are these -

Even with the best of preparations, however, it is an unfortunate fact that many people will die if a pandemic flu breaks out. Agressive proactive policy actions taken now can reduce the extent of human tragedy and economic disruption associated with a pandemic. This report is a clarion call to action.

The second report was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which of course has a more optimistic tone, since, as John Bowen points out, is a report “from a government department that is summarizing its own activities.”

Both publications are worth reading and can be accessed here and here. The rest of John Bowen’s post on “pandemic flu updates” can be found here.

Tags: pandemic flu, bird flu, Disaster Preparedness, flu outbreaks

Post from: Blisstree

The pandemic flu report

Research conducted by the University of Rochester, New York showed that people who were vaccinated with an H5N1 vaccine in 1998 had a strong immune response when they were given a booster shot in 2006, even though the strain for the booster shot was from a different clade than the original vaccine. Study participants who were not previously exposed to the H5N1 did not have increased antibody levels.

“These preliminary findings need to be confirmed in larger studies, but they offer the intriguing possibility that pre-pandemic priming with existing H5N1 vaccines may boost the immune response to a different H5N1 vaccine tailor-made years later to thwart an emerging human influenza pandemic,” says Dr. Dr. Anthony Fauci in a statement released by the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which funded the work.

For more, click CTV.ca here, and NIAID here.

Tags: avian influenza, flu vaccination, flu vaccines, H5N1, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pandemic flu, vaccine research

Post from: Blisstree

Vaccine priming improves immune response to H5N1