Quick overview of avian influenza

Avian flu threatens fast-paced world

Contingency panel warns of ways pandemic would challenge region

By ERIC ANDERSON Deputy business editor
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Friday, July 14, 2006 COLONIE -- The very things that keep the modern economy humming -- just-in-time deliveries, lean inventories, frequent international travel -- could deepen the impact of an avian flu pandemic, health care experts warned during a presentation Thursday morning.

The 1-year-old Capital Region chapter of the Association of Contingency Planners gathered to see what needs to be done to prepare for a potential outbreak.
"There's quite a bit of hype about this" in the media, said Dr. Sarah Elmendorf, an epidemiologist at Albany Medical Center. Still, the risk is real, although individuals can take steps to protect themselves.

While Elmendorf described the different types of influenza and what it would take for avian flu to create a pandemic -- easy human-to-human transmission, which hasn't yet happened -- a colleague, Kim Baker, described the potential impact to businesses, and what people can do to protect themselves.

Elmendorf said pandemic flu typically strikes three to four times a century and can come at any time of year, unlike seasonal influenza, which typically strikes in the fall and winter. Also, pandemic flu puts the entire population at risk because it's a new strain for which there's no resistance.

One challenge will be hospital capacity.

"The surge capacity in hospitals is limited," Elmendorf said. "Our hospitals are full. We don't have the beds right now."

Basic economic functions could be challenged by the high rate of absenteeism that would result from a pandemic, Baker said.

The state and federal governments likely won't be able to provide much assistance, she said, reminding the audience of how difficult it was to assist the areas struck by Hurricane Katrina.

Businesses could slow the spread of disease by keeping people apart, Baker said, letting workers telecommute when possible. Businesses also could increase the cleaning and sanitizing of door knobs, keyboards, telephones and other commonly touched office surfaces.

Employers should expect high rates of absenteeism and health care services that are overwhelmed, Baker said.

Essential services could also be at risk, with supply lines disrupted. With lean inventories, everything from groceries to the chlorine that's needed to treat water could soon be in short supply.

"Preparations should be made, not because it's imminent but because the cost of not preparing will be great," Baker said.

Eric Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by e-mail at eanderson@timesunion.com.

Health officials offer tips for avian flu pandemic
BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

If a much-feared avian flu pandemic were to hit the U.S. three months from now, would you be prepared?

The American Red Cross is helping the general public to learn just what to do if such a catastrophe were to occur through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Red Cross held a disaster preparedness workshop on June 29 at the offices of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton to help participants learn the facts of disaster planning on a pandemic scale.

"After 9/11, our chapter realized that during a disaster, the more things people can do themselves, the more our organization can take care of, and the more we can concentrate on acute cases," said Kevin Sullivan, CEO of the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey before the start of the conference.

"For example, we teach people how to prepare if they could not go out for 48 hours due to a state of emergency and what to do," he said. "We provide information on what kinds of emergencies may affect you and your family, and we teach people to make a plan and be involved."

More than 50 people attended the conference.

"They came from all professions, all walks of life," said conference organizer Hugh Adams after the workshop's end. "The workshop is geared toward everybody, from school systems and universities to police, fire, and emergency first-responders."

John Dowd, health educator risk communicator for the Middlesex County Public Health Department, was one of the conference's speakers.

He said that in an influenza outbreak, a person who exhibits early signs and symptoms of the flu should not immediately rush to the emergency room.

"Hospital emergency rooms are not prepared to handle all those in the beginning stages, if you are just getting sick," Dowd said. "You will have people running to the emergency room for all kinds of reasons. But if you are in the advanced stages, then definitely go."

Neighbors should look out for one another," he said.

"Be a good neighbor and take care of each other," Dowd said. "It used to be that you knew everybody on your street. Nowadays you are lucky if you know the person living next to you."

The Red Cross advises people to create a "pandemic" supply kit - basically a beefed up version of a normal disaster kit.

The kit would include items such as soap, fever-reducing medications, bleach, paper towels and tissues, a thermometer, and drinks containing electrolytes such as sports drinks, Dowd said.

Kathleen Pearson, health and safety services director for the Central Jersey chapter of the Red Cross, suggested that employers more clearly outline their rights to better prepare for a pandemic situation.

"Do your policies allow you to force an employee to go home when they come in sick?" Pearson asked. "Some people refuse to go home when they are sick, and there may be nothing in the policy manual to force them to do that. You should have the right to say, 'You are sick, and you must go home,' " she added. "Putting that in there may avoid you getting hit with a lawsuit."

Dowd said it was difficult to predict the odds of a global influenza pandemic actually occurring in the near future, but that in many ways, the world is less prepared for one today than it was at the start of the 20th century.

"In the past century, we have had three or four," he said. "It is hard to predict, as we don't know what strain will mutate to meet the criteria. And it's true that in 1918 they didn't have antivirals, and we do now, but now we are also a local society, with a plane ride away from spreading germs around the world."