Critical Infrastructure Guide

'According to the Congressional Budget Office, a severe pandemic might cost the U.S. economy more than $600 billion, or about 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.'

If you run a small or medium business, and/or are responsible for business continuity planning, grab a free download of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Guide for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources PDF, published by the US Department of Homeland Security.

To jump immediately to help with the initial Planning Phase, where you discover actions and supporting actions (as well as further issues to consider) for your business, head straight to section 5.6 COP-E Phases: Planning, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery on page 34. Download it here and print if you can. Every prudent business should keep a printed copy.

Top 10 Travel Tips to Protect You from the H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic

At last, you have some well-earned leave for a winter vacation. Perhaps it’s your last opportunity to take advantage of those recession-buster bargain flight deals.

There’s just one major problem to consider. Whether you’re planning a family ski venture in a winter wonderland, or escaping to sunnier climates in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll need to take special care when travelling...

Because this winter, the H1N1 swine flu is also enjoying a successful world tour – of pandemic proportions. And you could be on its hit list!

So here’s your instant top 10 travel-tip checklist, to help you and your loved ones enjoy a happy and healthy vacation, while reducing your risk of infection by the H1N1 virus.

1. If you exhibit possible H1N1 symptoms close to your departure date, STAY AT HOME! Don’t put others at risk. Should you fall ill while abroad, contact your Embassy, High Commission or Consulate for advice on English-speaking doctors and local medical services.
2. Check out the health status of your destined country – before you depart. You can do this online, via the World Health Organisation website. On arrival, some countries screen passengers for H1N1 symptoms and quarantine suspected cases. Get all appropriate vaccinations required for your destination (including seasonal flu).
3. Make sure you have comprehensive travel/health insurance, check for exclusions and special clauses. Also find out your tour operator’s policy for assisting clients exposed to the H1N1 virus.
4. Prepare an emergency flu prevention and medical travel kit, small and light enough to pack into your luggage. If you’re flying, check the current airport security restrictions for items you can carry in hand luggage – particularly liquids. Include adequate supplies of alcohol-wipes, hand cleaning gel, disposable tissues, basic medical supplies for flu symptoms (ibuprofen, etc.)
5. While en-route, by plane: use antibacterial wipes to clean surrounding surfaces (chair-arms, seatbelt, light button, etc.) Avoid touching shared magazines. Take your own pillow and blanket. By train/bus, try to keep windows open for maximum ventilation. (Likewise hotel rooms or apartments.)
6. KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS, properly and frequently. Ideally use warm, running water and soap. When travelling, this isn’t always an option. So keep a supply of antibacterial wipes and hand cleaning gels. Shower regularly, especially after journeys. Change into fresh clothes and discard or wash worn garments. When washing is unavailable, refrain from touching eyes, nose and mouth.
7. Drink lots of bottled water, it’s essential you keep your body rehydrated.
8. Avoid crowded gatherings or close confinement with other people – especially anyone showing flu-like symptoms. Wipe public surfaces before touching (like door handles, counters, washroom seats, etc.)
9. Avoid contact with animals – particularly on livestock markets. Animal to human transmission is extremely rare, perhaps impossible at present. But animals may carry the virus. So the less you expose yourself to it, the better.
10. After returning from an affected area, closely monitor your health for one to two weeks for flu-like symptoms (sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache, muscle aches, etc.) Should you show symptoms, contact your physician or local hospital – by phone, immediately.

All of these tips are recommended by health officials. Although there is no magic formula that can protect you from swine flu, by following these recommendations, you’ll reduce the chance of infection significantly.

Enjoy a fun and relaxing vacation, and stay healthy.

Analyzing the Effects of Swine Flu in the Southern Hemisphere

"We need to be prepared for whatever surprises this capricious new virus delivers next"

Margaret Chan, Director General, World Health Organisation

Winter is drawing to a close in the southern hemisphere and as flu season comes to an end, experts in the northern hemisphere are analyzing the impact of the H1N1 swine flu virus. Government agencies and infectious disease experts in northern countries report primarily good news based on the effects of swine flu in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

At the height of flu season, health care systems in the southern hemisphere were stressed, but managed to handle and recover an increase in patients hospitalized for health problems related to influenza. Experts are calling the H1N1 flu virus pandemic "moderately severe" based on the flu season in the southern hemisphere. The duration of the season was similar in length to average flu seasons, and although swine flu does spread quickly and easily, it's not associated with higher rates of hospitalizations, deaths or health complications than other types of seasonal flu viruses.

Despite high rates of infection, swine flu is a mild disease for the vast majority of the population. Since its outbreak last spring, the virus hasn't changed. It appears to dominate other seasonal flu virus strains, but isn't mixing with any or becoming stronger or more aggressive. While more deaths are being attributed to swine flu than in the past, this reflects a massive increase in infection rates rather than a more deadly virus.

Experts have been able to glean some new information on swine flu based on the recent season in the southern hemisphere. According to the Ministry of Health in Peru, as many as one third of those infected with swine flu have cold-like symptoms without a fever, while others that are infected have no symptoms at all. This indicates that while the virus may spread very easily, many people who acquire it may not even notice. It's also an indication that the infection rate is widely underestimated due to unreported cases.

Although in the past, seniors over the age of 60 weren't believed to be as susceptible to swine flu due to prior exposure to the A(H1N1) virus strains, statistics related to seniors infected in the southern hemisphere are alarming. While fewer seniors may be infected, there is a higher death rate among those who do contract swine flu than was previously realized. Seniors who are infected seem to suffer more complications and be impacted by them more severely.

School age children are most at risk for becoming seriously ill with swine flu, and death rates among infected children are higher than those associated with seasonal flu. Many parents in the northern hemisphere are planning to have their kids vaccinated as soon as possible. Pregnant women, obese people and those with chronic illnesses are all susceptible to higher rates of serious complications from swine flu infection. Experts are recommending those at high risk consider vaccination once it becomes available.

"We cannot say for certain whether the worst is over the worst is yet to come"

Margaret Chan, Director General, World Health Organisation

Despite the relative consistency of the behavior of the H1N1 virus across countries, many flu experts are advising the northern hemisphere to be prepared for surprises. Health care facilities and hospitals should be prepared for the worst, experts warn, so they're truly capable of handling whatever the flu season brings. Based on the experience of hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere, experts warn that ICU (Intensive Care Unit) units in hospitals in particular should be prepared to take on a large number of patients with swine flu complications. The World Health Organisation cites that several countries have reported that nearly 15% of hospitalized cases have required intensive care.

Given that the upcoming flu season in the northern hemisphere represents a second wave of exposure, experts are hopeful that this time around, at least some of the population has already developed immunity. It's also expected that widespread vaccination may curtail the spread of the virus in the north in the coming months. At the very least, it's thought that swine flu isn't likely to have any worse of an impact on the northern hemisphere than it had during the southern hemisphere's flu season.

Swine Flu Treatment Update | Pandemic Preparedness

WHO says healthy children over five don’t need Tamiflu

New WHO guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of pandemic H1N1 recommend that healthy children with swine influenza not be given Tamiflu.
The medication, which continues to represent the mainstay of treatment for the illness, should be administered only if the sick child

• develops a severe form of swine flu;
• starts deteriorating;
• has an underlying medical condition, like asthma or diabetes; or
• is under the age of five.

Children who require treatment should be given Tamiflu immediately. Those with underlying conditions or under five years of age should be treated as soon as possible, even if they have mild symptoms.

Evidence-based recommendations

The WHO says the new guidelines, issued August 20, 2009, have been developed keeping in consideration the results of two studies that recently raised doubts about Tamiflu’s safety in children. The findings had been published early this month in the British Medical Journal by researchers of Oxford University, UK, led by Dr. Matthew Thompson.

Thompson’s team found that children on Tamiflu not only experience slight benefits–those who receive the drug recover up to one day earlier than those who don’t–one in 20 also suffer from side effects like vomiting, which may lead to potentially life-threatening conditions like dehydration. What’s more, treatment with Tamiflu seems ineffective in reducing the occurrence and/or severity of ear infections, asthma flare-ups or the need for antibiotics. In other words, say the researchers, the risks associated with Tamiflu outweigh the benefits; therefore, widespread use of the drug in children in unjustified and potentially harmful.

As the WHO points out, these findings “were considered by … its expert panel when developing the current guidelines and are fully reflected in the recommendations.”

Treat mild cases like ordinary seasonal flu

The advice, for clinicians and parents, is to give healthy children with swine flu, who are older than five paracetamol, as well as plenty of rest and fluids–just like for seasonal flu.

Be alert for worsening

However, as the vast majority of severe cases of swine flu develop in previously healthy individuals, it is important to monitor the child for signs of worsening, so that Tamiflu can be administered promptly.

“In children,” the WHO says, “danger signs include

• fast or difficult breathing;
• lack of alertness;
• difficulty in waking up; and
• little or no desire to play.”

Any of these signs may indicate that the child is progressing towards a more severe form of swine flu and needs hospital care. Call the doctor right away, as deterioration may occur very rapidly.

Know the side effects of Tamiflu

For children who need Tamiflu treatment, consider that some may experience side effects other than vomiting. Two studies conducted in England by researchers of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) found that more than 50 percent of a group of children aged 11 to 12, who were given Tamiflu had side effects, such as nausea, headache and stomach pains. Diarrhea and problems sleeping were also reported as well as poor concentration and nightmares.

References

Shun-Shin M., Thompson M., Heneghan C., Perera R., Harnden A. “Neuraminidase inhibitors for treatment and prophylaxis of influenza in children: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials,” British Medical Journal, August 10, 2009, 339:b3172. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b3172

World Health Organization (WHO). WHO guidelines for the pharmacological management of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza and other influenza viruses. August 20, 2009. [Accessed 23.08.09].

World Health Organization (WHO). Recommended use of antivirals. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009. Briefing note 8. August 21, 2009. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_use_antivirals_20090820/en/index.html. [Accessed 23.08.09].

By Lorena Tonarelli, MSc

Pandemic Preparedness Affects Us All, Learn The Facts About Swine Flu

Influenza A ( H1N1) or swine flu may have been a term that was rarely heard until recently. Now it never seems to out of the news. The reason for this is simple, it is a new strain of an existing influenza virus that affects and kills humans. It is easily transmitted and as such poses a real threat, which is why the current swine flu pandemic level has been raised to its highest level, which means a global pandemic is underway. So what can be done, as an individual, to ensure you and your loved ones are able to deal with the eventuality of swine flu.

The governments of the world are already putting into action their respective swine flu pandemic planning scenarios, but there is much more the consumer can find out and do to help themselves, which is why an ingenious website has brought out an informative eBook which tells all. The eBook is available from www.thedeadlyflu.com.

The website has become a repository of information about swine flu. The global reaction has sparked panic in some countries and the pandemic preparedness plans have been put into action, with a variety of elements, some of which have included closing schools and amenities in which the general public congregate. The stage has now been elevated in some countries with containment no longer an option, the swine flu pandemic planning strategy is now to immunise and deal with the infected as quick as possible. In the northern hemisphere, a second more virulent wave is expected in autumn, with many hospitals and health authorities on high alert.

With so much information floating about it can be difficult to ascertain what the truth is and what is myth. The authoritive eBook from www.thedeadlyflu.com is an excellent resource whose aim is to provide detailed and informative advice on the subject of swine flu. The eBook offers salutary advice on a range of related items and ensures that the visitor is fully informed about the aspects of this new virus and the implications for them and their families. The website puts the global pandemic into context and provides relevant and pertinent information about the oncoming swine flu pandemic.

For anyone looking for effective information about the swine flu virus and what can be done about it, a visit to www.thedeadlyflu.com should be undertaken, where they will find useful and informative details which will ensure they are fully aware of the circumstances and details of this new deadly flu virus.

For further information visit http://www.thedeadlyflu.com

School Absenses Set To Rise Due To Swine Flu

Children are shortly due back into schools after the summer break and reports show that in the USA alone they can expect an increase of approximately 30% over the first few months of school absences due to Swine Flu.

The standard expected absence rate is as low as 6%, so 30% is quite scary. The presence of Swine Flu within our schools is unavoidable especially as children and teens between the ages of 15 and 19 are amongst the most susceptible to the fast spreading virus.

Pandemic Preparedness has never been more important especially when your children are involved.