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Pandemic Flu Advice

Introduction

Health professionals across the world are warning that an outbreak of pandemic flu could occur at any time.

This would have severe consequences for County Durham and right across the world, but don’t panic! Pandemic flu has not occurred yet.

Pandemic flu is different to the seasonal flu that affects all of us from time to time. It occurs when a completely new flu virus emerges, possibly from birds or pigs, and evolves to spread between people. Being a new virus, few of us will have defences against pandemic flu, and more people will be affected by more severe symptoms than experienced with seasonal flu.

The last time a pandemic flu outbreak occurred was in 1968, and although no-one knows exactly when the next outbreak will occur, experts think it is ‘inevitable’ that a new flu virus will evolve and cause a pandemic in the near future. It’s thought that about 35% of the population will be affected: the very young, older people and people with certain existing medical conditions may be more at risk.

A pandemic flu virus that can pass effectively from human to human has not yet developed. There have been localised cases of a flu virus passing from animals to humans – mainly in the Far East – but a mutated virus that would see human to human spread of the virus is yet to occur.

If Pandemic Flu Hits the UK

There is likely to be a lot of information in the newspapers, and on TV and radio giving up-to-date advice and information if and when pandemic flu arrives in this country.

There could be widespread disruption to many services and the Council will follow the advice given by the Department of Health and this could include:

  • Closure of schools, community centres, day care centres and other places where groups of people could meet and spread the infection.
  • Closure or disruption to non-essential local services such as planned road maintenance or leisure events.
  • Cancellation of medical appointments for non-emergency treatments.
  • Oversubscription of GP appointments leading to difficulties to book appointments.
  • Disruption of supplies to shops.
  • Cancellation of public events.
  • Disruption to public transport services.

These are just some examples of the services that may be affected if pandemic flu hits the UK. Many organisations have developed plans to help minimise the disruption to the essential services they provide, but there may be instances where people need to make alternative arrangements for things like childcare, as workers may not be available to carry out roles such as this due to ill health.

What is the Council Doing?

Durham County Council, like many organisations across the country, is working on plans to tackle and reduce the effects of pandemic flu on its services. If you would like information on the council's pandemic influenza plan, please email the council's Corporate Communications team.

The Council is working with colleagues in the Fire Brigade’s Civil Contingencies Unit to develop and implement plans to help keep as many services up and running for as long as possible during a pandemic flu period. The Council is also working with its suppliers, the County’s district councils and health organisations to make sure that essential services are kept up and running during the pandemic period.

We have also developed these web pages to give some basic advice and to keep people updated on the latest news. The information includes:


Service Closures

During a pandemic flu period, the Department of Health may advise local councils to close services in certain areas to help prevent the further spread of the infection. This might mean that County Council establishments such as schools, council offices, libraries, museums and day care centres could close for a period of between a few days and a few weeks. Other council services such as routine road maintenance or non-essential work on things like street lighting or building projects may be halted. This could be due to the lack of available staff to carry out the work due to ill health.

The Department of Health may also recommend the cessation of non-essential services to help stop the pandemic's spread.

Although there are currently no such closures, the Council will prepare a webpage to give details on any closure of services that the County Council provides. But if and when a pandemic period does occur, please contact a representative for the Council who should be able to provide you with details about specific closures.

Depending on which Council service you use, you will be notified if there will be any closure or disruption to your service. If it's appropriate, you will also be given information about alternative arrangements to access a similar service.

Pandemic Flu Phases

Although pandemic flu is yet to occur in any part of the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed six phases that pandemic flu will go through. Currently, the world is at phase three, but once we move to phase four, it may be a very quick process to move to phases five and six, which would mean we are in a pandemic flu period. The WHO phases are as follows:

Inter-pandemic Period

Phase 1 (This phase has passed)
“No new influenza virus sub-types have been detected in humans. An influenza virus sub-type that has caused human infection may be present in animals. If present in animals, the risk of human infection or disease is considered to be low.”

Phase 2 (This phase has passed)
“No new influenza virus sub-types have been detected in humans. However, a circulating animal influenza virus sub-type poses a substantial risk of human disease.”

Phase 3 (Current phase)
“Human infections with a new subtype, but no new human-to-human spread, or at most, rare instances of spread to a close contact.”

Pandemic Alert Period

Phase 4
“Small cluster(s) with limited human-to-human transmission but spread is highly localised, suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans.”

Phase 5
“Large cluster(s) but human-to-human spread still localised, suggesting that the virus is becoming increasingly better adapted to humans, but may not yet be fully transmissible (substantial pandemic risk).”

Phase 6
“Pandemic phase: increased and sustained transmission in the general population. Past experience suggests that a second, and possibly further, waves of illness caused by the new virus are likely three to nine months after the first wave has subsided. The second wave may be as, or more, intense than the first.”

UK alert levels come into play:

Alert level 1
Cases only outside the UK (in a country or countries with or without extensive UK travel/trade links)

Alert level 2
New virus isolated in the UK

Alert level 3
Outbreaks in the UK

Alert level 4
Widespread activity across the UK

Guidance for Businesses

The Health and Safety Executive has developed a range of advice for employers in relation to planning for pandemic flu in this country.

It has developed documents on workplace guidance and advice on business continuity planning. You can access this guidance and more information on planning for pandemic flu by visiting the Health and Safety Executive website

More Information

In the event of Pandemic Flu, the County Council will be distributing the latest information from the Department of Health through its website and publications. But there will also be announcements on television, radio and in the newspapers.

The NHS has also produced a leaflet giving you advice about Pandemic Flu. An electronic copy is available at the Department of Health website. The NHS has also produced a poster advising on how to stop the spread of the flu virus. There are A3 and A4 versions:

PDF IconCatch it, bin it, kill it, A3.pdf (1 page, 56kb)

PDF IconCatch it, bin it, kill it, A4.pdf (1 page, 51kb)

PDF IconFace mask usage.pdf (20 pages, 205kb)