title: Epidemic and pandemic influenza, who cares and how?
abstract: The 2005 hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, demonstrated that Mother Nature remains a bigger threat to mankind than bioterrorism or even terrorism. This is no less the case in the expected influenza pandemic that could infect up to 1 billion people worldwide killing millions and disrupting the supply of essential services and provoking social disruption. With influenza however, mankind does have the opportunity to make necessary preparations for the threat of a pandemic that could break out tomorrow, next year or within the next decade. Indeed, the events in New Orleans have sent "a strong message that knowledge is not enough, everyone predicted it [referring to hurricane Katrina], but no one did much about it--you need a detailed plan to deal with these threats," explained Dr. J.S. Oxford to the conference seminar on "epidemic and pandemic influenza, who cares and how?" During this session, participants discussed the state of pandemic preparedness listening to representatives from the UK and Canada who presented overviews of their preparedness plans, viewed as among the best examples of current practice and to a study on compliance with the WHO guidelines on flu vaccination.
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011635:Public Health Administration; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007252:Influenza Vaccines