It's 1968 again: We have a pandemic

[RedRalph]

from BBC

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting, according to reports.

It means the swine flu virus is spreading in at least two regions of the world with rising cases being seen in the UK, Australia, Japan and Chile.

The move does not necessarily mean the virus is causing more severe illness or more deaths.

The swine flu (H1N1) virus first emerged in Mexico in April.

It has since spread to 74 countries.

Official reports say there have been 28,000 cases globally and 141 deaths and figures are rising daily.

Hong Kong said it was closing all its nurseries and primary schools for two weeks following 12 school cases.

It is the first flu pandemic in 40 years - the last in 1968 with Hong Kong flu killed about one million people.


It is global and fulfilling the requirements of a pandemic

Professor John Oxford, flu expert
The current pandemic seems to be moderate and causing mild illness in most people.

One factor which may have prompted the move to a level six pandemic was that in the southern hemisphere, the virus seems to be crowding out normal seasonal influenza.

It is thought the move was not prompted by the situation in any one country but the reports of several pockets of community spread.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Geneva, says that while the number of cases has made the declaration inevitable, the problem is that the pandemic phase system is designed for a very different type of virus.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said it had been expecting something more like the deadlier bird flu.

"It was believed that the next pandemic would be something like H5N1 bird flu, where you were seeing really high death rates, and so there were people who believed we might be in a kind of apocalyptic situation and what we're really seeing now with H1N1 is that in most cases the disease is self-limiting," he told the BBC.

The WHO will have to manage the global anxiety the declaration of a pandemic will generate, our correspondent says.

Pandemic planning

There have been more than 800 cases in the UK with some areas of Scotland being particularly hard hit.

The government has been stockpiling antivirals such as Tamiflu and has ordered vaccine, some doses of which could be available by October.


SWINE FLU - THE BASICS
Symptoms usually similar to seasonal flu - but deaths have been recorded
It is a new version of the H1N1 strain which caused the 1918 flu pandemic
Current treatments do work, but as yet there is no vaccine
Good personal hygiene, such as washing hands, covering nose when sneezing advised


What comes next in flu fight
Chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson said the WHO declaration of a pandemic would not significantly change the way the UK was dealing with swine flu at the moment.

But he added there could be some minor changes to who received antivirals.

"The declaration of a pandemic per se doesn't make a big difference to the to the way we are handling the outbreaks we have.

"We are going to continue to investigate every case that occurs and treat their contacts with antivirals even though they may not be ill.

"The difference is that the Health Protection Agency has learnt a lot about approaching this question of antiviral prophylaxis and they are going to be treating the closer contacts of the cases, rather than the more far-flung contacts, because they feel that that is supported by what they know so far about how the disease is transmitting.

He added: "These flu viruses can change their pattern of attack, so when we come into the flu season in the autumn and winter in this country, when we expect a big surge of cases, we need to watch very carefully to see if the character of the virus is changing."

Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said a move to level six means that countries need to be ready to implement pandemic plans immediately but the UK was already operating at a "heightened state of readiness".

But it could affect the speed at which the UK gets pandemic vaccine supplies but that had been factored into pandemic planning.

Flu expert Professor John Oxford, said people should not panic as the outbreak was milder than others seen in the past century.

"It is global and fulfilling the requirements of a pandemic but I don't think anyone should worry because nothing drastic has happened between yesterday and today."

Bah. It'll be fine.

 

[Shekwan]

I'm going to the States this summer, and I really want to go to Mexico. I hope this doesn't restrict travel there from the US even more. Can't see how it wouldn't though.

Don't see what the big deal is though, how many people has it killed?

 

[Mise]

I WAS GOING TO POST THIS

Before anyone posts how strange the label "pandemic" sounds for a death-toll of just 141, IT IS ALREADY EXPLAINED IN THE ARTICLE.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

I'm going to the States this summer, and I really want to go to Mexico. I hope this doesn't restrict travel there from the US even more. Can't see how it wouldn't though.

Don't see what the big deal is though, how many people has it killed?

I hope it restricts travel! I don't know how serious this pandemic is, as most of these things are overblown. But the excuse given that "oh, there is no point shutting down travel with Mexico because it won't stop the disease" is crap! Ya, it won't stop it, but if it slows down the spread by 4 months, there is a lot more time to develop a vaccine and use it on a lot more people. What is the point of pandemic planning if people are too weak-willed to disrupt commerce until it is too late!

Again, it may be overblown, but the whole issue has shattered my faith in government to do what is necessary: stand up to commercial interests!

 

[Mise]

The virus has already spread to Europe, North and South America, Oceania, Africa and Asia, but if we quarantine those continents then hopefully it won't spread to Antarctica.

 

[Phlegmak]

Seasonal flu is more dangerous than swine flu.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

The virus has already spread to Europe, North and South America, Oceania, Africa and Asia, but if we quarantine those continents then hopefully it won't spread to Antarctica.

They could have slowed the spread by reducing unnecessary travel months ago to Mexico.

 

[Mise]

It's only killed 141 people. You're more likely to die in a plane crash on your way to Mexico than to die from the disease itself.

 

[GenMarshall]

You call this a pandemic? This is nothing compared to the Great Zombie Attack of '57.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Indeed. This article should have the headline: No Reason toPanic!

 

[ZB2]

Whilst it has a grave potential, I would still like to point out that people die of the season flu aswell, particularly the elderly and the malnurished.

 

[ThERat]

what the heck? what do they do if there is really a somewhat more deadly virus spreading? give it a 6+

those fear mongers from WHO need to be kept in check. can we sack em or veto just as the UN resolutions get regularly vetoed by those UN security council members.

I am so glad to leave Singapore for a while. Tomorrow I can imagine all the ignorant fools panicking

 

[Mise]

Again, if you read the article, you would see that the WHO states that the current rating system was designed for deadly, bird flu-like diseases, and not the rather lightweight version in swine flu.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Why do people keep conflating zombies with a flu pandemic? I swear, if I hear the word "zombie" again, I'm going to blow someone's head off with a shotgun. Also, I thought the media was being silent on this flu "pandemic".

 

[Nylan]

Why do people keep conflating zombies with a flu pandemic? I swear, if I hear the word "zombie" again, I'm going to blow someone's head off with a shotgun.

Irony. This post has it.

Also, I thought the media was being silent on this flu "pandemic".

And miss out on monies?

 

[Theige]

EVERYBODY PANIC!

Dumb WHO.

 

[Miles Teg]

Just like in 1976, when that Democrat, Jimmy Carter, was president. And Obama's a democrat, and Swine Flu's back. Coincidence?

 

[JtheJackal]

Swine Flu kept spreading even after the media started ignoring it? Is it allowed to do that?

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

It's only killed 141 people. You're more likely to die in a plane crash on your way to Mexico than to die from the disease itself.

Yes that is true. But that is not what they were saying in Canada when they wouldn't restrict travel. They basically said, "it wouldn't do any good", which is a lie. Assuming it was a really dangerous disease, travel restrictions could help.

 

[Miles Teg]

Yes that is true. But that is not what they were saying in Canada when they wouldn't restrict travel. They basically said, "it wouldn't do any good", which is a lie. Assuming it was a really dangerous disease, travel restrictions could help.

But would it be a good idea? Travel restrictions would kill people indirectly, due to loos of income.