In this issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, Powell et al1 summarize the efforts of the New York State Workgroup on Allocation in an Influenza Pandemic to develop guidance for allocation of scarce mechanical ventilators during a severe influenza pandemic. In the United States, a core societal expectation is nearly limitless provision of critical care to those who want it a...

Because of the importance of including ethical considerations in planning efforts for pandemic influenza, in February 2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested that the Ethics Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the Director develop guidance that would serve as a foundation for decision making in preparing for and responding to pandemic influenza. Specifically, the eth...

OBJECTIVE Since states' public health systems differ as to pandemic preparedness, this study explored whether such heterogeneity among states could affect the nation's overall influenza rate. DESIGN The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a uniform set of scores on a 100-point scale from its 2008 national evaluation of state preparedness to distribute materiel from the Strateg...

BACKGROUND Geographical and temporal diffusion patterns of a human pandemic due to Swine Origin Influenza Virus (S-OIV) remain uncertain. The extent to which national and international pandemic preparedness plans and control strategies can slow or stop the process is not known. However, despite preparedness efforts, it appears that, particularly in the USA, Mexico, Canada and the UK, local chai...

The emergence of the novel A/H1N1 virus has made pandemic preparedness a crucial issue for public health worldwide. Although the epidemiological aspects of the three 20th century influenza pandemics have been widely investigated, little is known about population behaviour in a pandemic situation. Such knowledge is however critical, notably for predicting population compliance with non pharmaceu...

Since their reemergence in 2003, H5N1 influenza viruses have become endemic in some countries and continue to cause outbreaks in poultry and sporadic human infections. It is not known if the next influenza pandemic will be caused by H5N1 viruses or, should one occur, which of the clades of H5N1 viruses would be responsible. However, because an H5N1 pandemic is a possibility, and one with potent...

We explored how different socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups in the United States might fare in an influenza pandemic on the basis of social factors that shape exposure, vulnerability to influenza virus, and timeliness and adequacy of treatment. We discuss policies that might differentially affect social groups' risk for illness or death. Our purpose is not to establish the precise magnitud...

The fear of a potential pandemic with a highly pathogenic influenza A virus, such as the avian virus H5N1, has rightly prompted multidisciplinary reflections and calls for better preparedness all over the world. In terms of therapeutic aspects, most of the focus has been on vaccines and antivirals. The present 'opinion paper' intends to discuss a different therapeutic approach, although not mut...

The aim of this study is to develop and formatively evaluate a method of eliciting health care workers’ understanding of pandemics and their forecasted behaviors during an outbreak. Qualitative methods were used for the evaluation. The results demonstrate that it was possible to identify specific points during the subject interviews when the health care worker seemed to turn from provision of f...

On June 11th 2009, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), announced that the Influenza alert level was being raised from a Phase 5 to Phase 6 indicating the start of the 2009 Pandemic. The pandemic resulted from a previously uncirculated strain of H1N1 Influenza which spread rapidly in the spring of 2009. The second wave of the pandemic began as schools reop...