Emerging Diseases: Pandemic Influenza

In 2005, the Avian Flu seemed poised to threaten the globe with millions of deaths, yet by 2007 our attention has been diverted by the war in Iraq, global warming and other pressing concerns and many feel that there is no real threat of pandemic. However, the threat of a flu pandemic has hardly receded and world health experts are in agreement that a pandemic is inevitable (DRJ, Summer 2007). In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses and other employers will play a key role in protecting employees' health as well as mitigating the impact to the economy and within the community. As with any disaster, preparedness is essential.

The Pandemic Severity Index

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed a Pandemic Severity Index, which uses case fatality ratio as the critical driver for categorizing the severity of a pandemic. Similar to the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Scale, future pandemics will be assigned to one of five categories of increasing severity (Category 1 to Category 5). The Pandemic Severity Index provides communities a tool for scenario-based contingency planning to guide local pre-pandemic preparedness efforts. Accordingly, communities facing the imminent arrival of pandemic disease will be able to use the pandemic severity assessment to define which pandemic mitigation interventions are indicated for implementation.

Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of the Pandemic in the Community

The National HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan calls for community strategies that hopefully will significantly delay or reduce the impact of a pandemic (also called non-pharmaceutical interventions - NPI) until a vaccine is available. These community strategies could have a significant impact on business operations, employee health and welfare, the economy and the community as a whole. Communities, individuals and families, employers, schools, and other organizations will be asked to plan for the use of these interventions to help limit the spread of a pandemic, prevent disease and death, and lessen the impact on the economy and the functioning of society.

These interventions include the following

Isolation and treatment (as appropriate) with influenza antiviral medications of all persons with confirmed or probable pandemic influenza. Isolation may occur in the home or healthcare setting, depending on the severity of an individual's illness and/or the current capacity of the healthcare infrastructure.
Voluntary home quarantine of members of households with confirmed or probable influenza case(s) and consideration of combining this intervention with the prophylactic use of antiviral medications, providing sufficient quantities of effective medications exist and that a feasible means of distributing them is in place.
Dismissal of students from school (including public and private schools as well as colleges and universities) and school-based activities and closure of childcare programs, coupled with protecting children and teenagers through social distancing in the community to achieve reductions of out-of-school social contacts and community mixing.
Use of social distancing measures to reduce contact among adults in the community and workplace, including, for example, cancellation of large public gatherings and alteration of workplace environments and schedules to decrease social density and preserve a healthy workplace to the greatest extent possible without disrupting essential services.

Refer to Checklist #29 for Strategies and Human Resource Policies to mitigate the impact of these community initiatives on your company operations, employees’ health and your bottom line.

The following provide information to guide business planning for a pandemic:

In addition, recommendations for implementation of pandemic mitigation strategies are available at www.pandemicflu.gov. Reliable, accurate, and timely information on the status and severity of the pandemic also will be posted on www.pandemicflu.gov. Additional information is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hotline: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). This line is available in English and Spanish, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TTY: 1-888-232-6348. Questions can be e-mailed to cdcinfo@cdc.gov.