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NZ NEEDS TO BE READY FOR 'SMART' FLU VIRUS
By Alice Cowdrey (Stuff)
29 June 2006
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is volatile and evolving, and New Zealanders need to prepare for the possibility it might strike, a leading virologist says.
People need to learn from history that an influenza pandemic is on the cards, and they need to be ready for it, Canterbury District Health Board clinical virologist Lance Jennings said yesterday.
Jennings talked on developments in knowledge of influenza and how to plan for a pandemic as part of a series of lectures called Our City O-Tautahi.
Jennings said his lecture was a timely reminder about the possibility of an influenza pandemic because bird flu had recently swept through Indonesia, killing seven people.
Because past influenza pandemics had emerged from avian influenza (three in the past 100 years), it was more than likely that another would hit, whether it was the H5N1 virus or a different one, Jennings said.
"I think in terms of whether bird flu is hype, we can safely say we will have another human influenza pandemic," he said.
Although there were still no "sustained chains of transmission" between humans for the virus, Jennings said, the complexities of the virus could not be underestimated and there were many aspects of the "smart virus" no-one understood yet.
"This virus is not just a single entity; it is volatile and continues to evolve."
New Zealand had been innovative with its pandemic planning, being one of few countries to recognise that a pandemic the size of the 1918-19 flu would put extreme stress on the health system, he said.
The Canterbury District Health Board planned to separate services in the health sector during the next pandemic.
Jennings said services would be divided into two streams: a green stream, which would deal with core primary care, and a red influenza stream, where influenza would be dealt with.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,...0a7144,00.html
By Alice Cowdrey (Stuff)
29 June 2006
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is volatile and evolving, and New Zealanders need to prepare for the possibility it might strike, a leading virologist says.
People need to learn from history that an influenza pandemic is on the cards, and they need to be ready for it, Canterbury District Health Board clinical virologist Lance Jennings said yesterday.
Jennings talked on developments in knowledge of influenza and how to plan for a pandemic as part of a series of lectures called Our City O-Tautahi.
Jennings said his lecture was a timely reminder about the possibility of an influenza pandemic because bird flu had recently swept through Indonesia, killing seven people.
Because past influenza pandemics had emerged from avian influenza (three in the past 100 years), it was more than likely that another would hit, whether it was the H5N1 virus or a different one, Jennings said.
"I think in terms of whether bird flu is hype, we can safely say we will have another human influenza pandemic," he said.
Although there were still no "sustained chains of transmission" between humans for the virus, Jennings said, the complexities of the virus could not be underestimated and there were many aspects of the "smart virus" no-one understood yet.
"This virus is not just a single entity; it is volatile and continues to evolve."
New Zealand had been innovative with its pandemic planning, being one of few countries to recognise that a pandemic the size of the 1918-19 flu would put extreme stress on the health system, he said.
The Canterbury District Health Board planned to separate services in the health sector during the next pandemic.
Jennings said services would be divided into two streams: a green stream, which would deal with core primary care, and a red influenza stream, where influenza would be dealt with.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,...0a7144,00.html