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What is a pandemic? You have probably heard
the term “epidemic,” referring to an outbreak of
a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and
widely. A flu “pandemic” happens when a new flu
virus appears around the world. Because it is
new, there is little natural immunity to the
virus, and the disease can spread easily from
person to person.
Pandemic flu.
You’ve heard the stories on the news. Maybe
you’ve even read the warnings from public health
officials. The prospect of pandemic flu is
frightening. Not only is pandemic flu possible,
it is probable. It could happen this year, or it
could be many years from now, but it is
inevitable.
In the past century, the United States
experienced three pandemics of varying severity.
Based on that history, another pandemic could
cause 1.4million Coloradans to become seriously
ill, and 3,000 to 30,000 people from Colorado to
die from influenza (flu) or its complications.
There is much that we don’t know yet. But we
do know pandemic flu will happen. A pandemic
could spread worldwide in as little as four
days, potentially causing millions to become
sick and die, seriously straining healthcare
systems and affecting the ability of government
and the private sector to provide essential
services.
Scientists can’t make a vaccine that will
prevent pandemic flu until we actually see it.
In the meantime, they are making vaccines that
are similar to the bird flu virus that has
appeared in other parts of the world. If that
flu turns into a pandemic, those vaccines could
offer some protection. It takes five or six
months to make flu vaccine, so it will take some
time from when we identify the new virus until
we have a vaccine to prevent it.
In the meantime, public health agencies,
within Colorado and throughout the country, are
making preparations to respond to a pandemic. In
addition, there are steps we all can take to
help reduce illness and death, some of the very
steps we all use to prevent flu each winter.
Why pandemic flu could be dangerous.
Some characteristics of pandemic flu make it
different from others that may cause outbreaks.
- Anyone can get pandemic flu. One
characteristic of a pandemic is that it is a
virus for which virtually no one has
immunity.
- The disease could cause 30 percent of
the population to become sick.
- The disease could cause more severe
illness in children.
- A pandemic flu can strike at any time of
year, regardless of weather conditions or
climate.
Half of the people who get the disease may
need medical care, and 10 percent of those
may need to be hospitalized.
- Nearly half of the workforce could be
unable to work due to illness or the need to
care for sick family members. This could
include health care providers such as
doctors and nurses, which will make it even
harder to take care of all the people who
are ill.
- With so many people ill, many services
will be interrupted. The people who drive
trucks to deliver groceries and mail may be
sick; there might not be enough people to
provide many services that we are used to
having at our fingertips.
- Families and friends will need to help
each other care for those who become sick.
Everyone will need to learn how to prevent
illness and care for people at home.
- Public education about the disease and
how to care for the ill will be critical.
Public health will need to explain the need
to use limited supplies of vaccinations,
medications, and medical supplies.
- Expect to see security measures at
hospitals, health clinics, doctors’ offices
and sites where medications and vaccinations
could be distributed, and even at grocery
stores and pharmacies.
- Influenza has an incubation period of as
little as two days. The incubation period is
the time between when someone is infected by
the virus and when he or she shows signs of
illness. One day before those signs of
illness, people who have the virus can
infect others.
- Officials may have to cancel events or
large gatherings of people to help limit the
spread of the disease.
- A pandemic flu outbreak will occur
throughout the country at the same time.
There will not be enough resources to deal
with widespread disease. The federal
government will not be able offer enough
assistance to each state and the state
government may not be able to help every
community. While the federal and state
governments will do what they can,
communities will have to rely on their own
resources for a much longer period of time
than other disasters, such as tornadoes.
- There may not be enough medications or
any vaccinations to help prevent or treat
the disease. It takes five to six months to
manufacture flu vaccine, but it probably
would become available a little at a time.
It may be necessary to ration limited
amounts of medications, vaccinations and
other health care supplies.
What is public
health?
Public health is the science of protecting
and improving the health of communities
through education, promotion of healthy
lifestyles, and research for disease and
injury prevention. Public health
professionals try to prevent problems with
educational programs for people of all ages,
creating policies to improve health and
health care, funding and providing services,
and conducting research. In contrast,
medical caregivers, such as doctors and
nurses, mostly treat people after they
become sick or injured.
What public health can do.
Good health care is important to nearly
everyone. Public health is about the health
of many groups of people rather than
individuals.
Pandemic flu could be a threat to
communities large and small. Public health
agencies are working to strengthen our
ability to respond to a pandemic, in
partnership with health care organizations.
In Colorado, there is one state health
department and 54 local public health
agencies. Some of the local agencies are
health departments, and the rest are county
nursing services. Colorado laws give more
authority to the county health departments
than the county nursing services. Visit
www.cdphe.state.co.us/oll/locallist.html for
a list of all local public health agencies.
Working with the federal government, the
state and local public health agencies in
Colorado have important roles in managing a
disease outbreak.
- Public health works with lawmakers to
change laws and regulations that help
protect the people of Colorado.
- Public health requests federal assistance
and resources, determines how limited
resources are used and distributes supplies
of needed medications, vaccinations and
health care supplies.
- Public health advises the governor during
public health emergencies, making
recommendations for the use of legal orders
prepared in advance if the governor needs to
use emergency authority.
- Public health educates people about
behaviors that will protect health.
- Public health uses scientific resources to
watch conditions during a health threat and
take action when needed.
- Public health advises people to stay at
home or leave for a safer place during an
emergency.
- Public health plans for emergencies and
practices emergency response to be more
effective during an emergency.
Public health plans for emergencies.
- The Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment works closely with local health
agencies and hospitals throughout the state
to plan for emergencies and practice
emergency response.
- It takes the work of many experts and
volunteers to launch an effective response
to a public health emergency. The state
health department also coordinates its
emergency preparedness and response work
with local public health agencies, the
Colorado Division of Emergency Management
and other state agencies, the Colorado
National Guard, American Red Cross,
Salvation Army and many volunteer
organizations.
- All public health emergency plans have your
health and safety in mind. The goal of the
plans is to minimize illness, death and
social disruption. While no document can
provide a step-by-step guide for every
situation, emergency plans summarize actions
to be taken in a public health crisis.
- During a pandemic flu outbreak or any other
public health emergency, when the state
health department activates its plans, it
triggers a number of other actions.
Hospitals and doctors will be watching for
certain signs of illness, and reporting
numbers of sick people to the local public
health agency.
Laboratories will test for the virus that
is causing illness and report results to the
state health department.
Nursing homes and other residential
facilities will be especially careful to use
disease prevention measures, and report flu
cases to the local public health agency.
Veterinarians and the agriculture industry
will enforce the highest levels of security
to reduce the spread of disease between
animals and from animals to humans.
The Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic
Response Committee will meet to provide
expert health advice to the Governor during
a pandemic response. The committee will
review all available information about the
potential influenza pandemic, including
directives and recommendations from federal
agencies and the international World Health
Organization.
Public health and public safety agencies
all over Colorado will increase staffing to
respond to the emergency. The state health
department has an emergency operations
center to coordinate communication and
response activities, and is part of the
state emergency operations center as well.
The state health department may activate
its pharmacy coordinating technology to
manage limited supplies of medications or
vaccinations. The state also can request
medications and supplies from the federal
government.
Other technology, from radio systems to
secured Internet-based systems can be
activated to help coordinate resources and
staff.
Public health, public safety and emergency
management all work together in a structure
called incident command. The incident
command system assigns roles to each staff
member, including people to coordinate among
agencies, to manage responder operations, to
coordinate resource needs, distribute
equipment and supplies and to track costs.
Staff are assigned to gather and deliver
important information to the public, working
closely with television, radio and
newspapers to get critical information to
everyone.
Dealing with pandemic influenza will not
be easy. It is important that everyone learn
more about the possible effects of a
pandemic and make preparations at home to be
independent as long as possible.
