Health ministry working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario
January 19, 2007
Draft guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of an influenza outbreak will allow large areas to be quarantined and provide for priority vaccination of medical workers and police, say officials.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented the draft guidelines to a panel of experts for discussion on Friday. The ministry plans to finalize the guidelines by the end of March after gauging public opinion.
In November 2005, the Japanese government drafted six levels of response against an influenza outbreak. The new guidelines apply to level four of the previous plan, a level that assumes that transmission between humans has already occurred.
During the initial stages of infection, the new guidelines say, Tamiflu antiviral drugs should be administered to patients and those around them. If the infection begins to spread, patients are to be isolated, schools closed and residents banned from leaving the surrounding area until 20 days have passed without a new infection.
Medical workers caring for flu patients, police officers and utilities workers will be prioritized for vaccination in order to maintain vital services.
Observers say that the public's understanding is necessary for this preferential administration of vaccine in the wake of a large flu outbreak. "We have to listen carefully to the public's opinions. Right now, we have no priorities for administering the vaccine," a ministry official said.
The guidelines also make provision for doctors to use their judgment in allocating beds to flu patients waiting for hospitalization in a quarantine situation.
World Health Organization data show that 267 people have been infected with the highly pathogenic influenza strain H5N1, also known as avian flu, across 10 countries since 2003. Of them 161 have reportedly died. However, the number of instances of human-to-human transmission has been estimated at "about half a dozen" by a WHO spokesman. (Mainichi)
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January 19, 2007
January 19, 2007
Draft guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of an influenza outbreak will allow large areas to be quarantined and provide for priority vaccination of medical workers and police, say officials.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented the draft guidelines to a panel of experts for discussion on Friday. The ministry plans to finalize the guidelines by the end of March after gauging public opinion.
In November 2005, the Japanese government drafted six levels of response against an influenza outbreak. The new guidelines apply to level four of the previous plan, a level that assumes that transmission between humans has already occurred.
During the initial stages of infection, the new guidelines say, Tamiflu antiviral drugs should be administered to patients and those around them. If the infection begins to spread, patients are to be isolated, schools closed and residents banned from leaving the surrounding area until 20 days have passed without a new infection.
Medical workers caring for flu patients, police officers and utilities workers will be prioritized for vaccination in order to maintain vital services.
Observers say that the public's understanding is necessary for this preferential administration of vaccine in the wake of a large flu outbreak. "We have to listen carefully to the public's opinions. Right now, we have no priorities for administering the vaccine," a ministry official said.
The guidelines also make provision for doctors to use their judgment in allocating beds to flu patients waiting for hospitalization in a quarantine situation.
World Health Organization data show that 267 people have been infected with the highly pathogenic influenza strain H5N1, also known as avian flu, across 10 countries since 2003. Of them 161 have reportedly died. However, the number of instances of human-to-human transmission has been estimated at "about half a dozen" by a WHO spokesman. (Mainichi)
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January 19, 2007
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