By S. S. Suarez
The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) had issued a flu advisory amid the outbreak in the US. Health Secretary Enrique Ona had instructed the Bureau of Quarantine to intensify fever screening at the points of entry.
Reports said the flu virus is spreading in 47 American states already. It is inly in California, Misssissipi and Hawaii where the disease is not widespread. About 7.3 percent of deaths were caused by pneumonies and flu, surpassing the 7.3 threshold. Influenza is a viral disease that spreads from person to person through droplets made when one sneezes, coughs or talks. A person becomes sick two days after being infected.
So how do we prepare for a flu pandemic?
I have sourced a preparedness plan from the US OSHA and synthesized it with my actual experience in handling the H1N1 virus threat in 2009. I was the HSES Manager then of a major shipping line in the Philippines. With more than 30,000 seafarers deployed, on leave or on shore, our offices were frequented by visitors and workers abroad.
The plan described a coordinated strategy to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. The plan addresses five key pandemic preparedness and response elements:
1) Surveillance and Investigation--This element involves developing adequate surveillance for and rapididentification and isolation of persons infected with a novel strain of influenza virus through various mechanisms (e.g., expanding the number of existing sentinel surveillance sites, improving office absenteeism reporting, and obtaining the appropriate clinical specimens for laboratory culture).
2) Health-Care Systems--This element involves educating health-care providers in the company on the diagnosis and management of pandemic influenza and on appropriate infection control strategies that will minimize the risk of viral transmission in the face of an influenza pandemic.
3) Community and State Disease Control Strategies-- This element involves developing appropriate community-wide strategies that help prevent or delay viral transmission in communities, in non-healthcare institutions, and in households. Examples of such strategies include educating the community about social distancing, disseminating travel advisories, screening persons arriving from affected areas, closing schools, restricting public gatherings, using alternate care sites and quarantining exposed persons. The application of these interventions will be guided by the evolving epidemiologic pattern of the pandemic and by recommendations from federal and international authorities.
4) Vaccines and Antivirals--This element involves providing appropriate prophylaxis to those who are at risk for infection and treatment to those who have already become infected. Planning by public and private health officials is needed to assure optimal use of available vaccine and drugs, whether from national stockpiles, state stockpiles, or private sector inventories.
5) Communications--This element involves collaborating with health-care providers, local government, community leaders, and the media in providing timely information and preparedness recommendations for the public.
