Pandemic Planning

This section on Pandemic Planning has been developed specifically with rural practices in mind. We are grateful to Ben Harris, General Manager Southern Community Laboratories/New Zealand Diagnostics Group, for his commitment of both time and expertise that is helping to ensure rural general practice is at the forefront of pandemic planning.

Ben is the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network's representative on the national Pandemic Influenza Reference Group and a member of the Canterbury Primary Planning Influenza Group. He brings to the roles over 30 years' of experience as a laboratory scientist. His interest in avian influenza stems from a background in microbiology, and infection control in particular. He has a deep interest in education, is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer, and an interesting and entertaining speaker.

Regional planning

Many rural practitioners are precluded due to isolation from taking an active part in the ongoing pandemic planning processes. The following template has been designed to make it easier for you to take an active role. It is comprised of a checklist of questions you may wish to ask your DHB in respect of pandemic planning. You can adapt the template to suit your specific needs.Click here

For a list of DHB Emergency Planner contact details Click here

Useful papers

What nobody knows is if or when a pandemic emerges, will it be primarily droplet borne like seasonal influenza, and thus a one metre infectious zone and contact precautions including good hand hygiene stops most infections, or whether it will be effectively airborne as well because we will have no residual immunity to it so very low viral numbers may cause infection. If airborne whole rooms will become infectious and therefore unlikely to be containable in a practice, or a community for that matter.

WHO Infection Control Guide

The following document contains guidance for health professionals regarding the treatment of pandemic influenza, agreed by experts from the British Thoracic Society, the British Infection Society and the Health Protection Agency. It is published as official UK guidance by the Department of Health in England and covers treatment in hospitals and the community, of both adults and children.

Clinical guidelines for patients with an influenza like illness during an influenza pandemic

It is very unlikely that seasonal influenza vaccination (H3N2) will provide any immunity to the current quite different H5N1 avian influenza A. However, should a a pandemic influenza happen to arrive at the same or similar time to seasonal influenza, and the symptoms between the two types may be indistinguishable, this could put unnecessary demands on limited resources such as antivirals.

Annual Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

Without strategic planning that has a strong focus on self and community-care, health services would collapse under the weight of the demand a significant pandemic would bring. The following draft document, prepared by Canterbury's Pandemic Planning Team, provides key message advice for individuals, families and significant others in the event of an influenza pandemic.

Pandemic Influenza

Additional reading and early update resource

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian
http://www.moh.govt.nz/pandemicinfluenza