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Source: http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=342839
Infectious diseases expert warns of chaos during pandemic flu
5/15/2008 9:15:02 AM
By Jeff Hansel
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
Olmsted Medical Center has returned pandemic influenza to the spotlight by bringing an internationally recognized infectious diseases expert to Rochester.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, spoke Wednesday night to more than 200 people at the third annual Noel R. Peterson Founders Lecture Series.
"The whole town should have been here," Rochester resident Karen Ricklefs said after "Pandemic Influenza: A Harbinger of Things to Come."
Power company workers, coal miners and others on the front lines handing basic services will be the most essential laborers during an outbreak, Osterholm said. Yet there's no plan to safeguard them.
"Who would have thought that'd be the first ones you'd want to protect?" Ricklefs said. Pandemics occur every 10 to 49 years, Osterholm told an audience of medical providers and community members at the Rochester International Event Center.
"Everyone in this room has a family, and pandemic preparedness is about what will happen to you and your loved ones," he said. Pandemics involve a new flu virus to which people have no immunity. During an outbreak, Osterholm said, don't expect the federal government to rescue you. Local readiness, even personal readiness, will decide how things go.
Millions will die. Thirty percent to 60 percent of the population will get sick, even in a modest outbreak, Osterholm said. A pandemic will be like a Hurricane Katrina happening all at once worldwide, with six- to eight-week waves of illness. Food, water, power, cellular and Internet service will be interrupted because stores, hospitals and even power companies use "just-in-time" supplies. Most medicines, for example, come from overseas.
"The current national disaster response system will collapse in a minute," Osterholm said. He acknowledged he's like "Chicken Little." But he's been right before. And he's never been more sure in his life.
"This is the one that I know is going to happen, and I fear desperately that the world is going to wake up one day and be surprised," he said.
So what can you do to be ready for a pandemic?
? Think what you'd need in the next 24 hours if you suddenly had to survive on your own.
? Keep a supply of water and food that won't spoil and that you don't have to cook.
? If you use medicine that you'll die without, keep extra on hand.
? Have a way to contact family members that doesn't require cell phones or a computer.
? If you're a health provider, first responder or law enforcement officer, have a plan to avoid taking the illness home to your family.
Infectious diseases expert warns of chaos during pandemic flu
5/15/2008 9:15:02 AM
By Jeff Hansel
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
Olmsted Medical Center has returned pandemic influenza to the spotlight by bringing an internationally recognized infectious diseases expert to Rochester.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, spoke Wednesday night to more than 200 people at the third annual Noel R. Peterson Founders Lecture Series.
"The whole town should have been here," Rochester resident Karen Ricklefs said after "Pandemic Influenza: A Harbinger of Things to Come."
Power company workers, coal miners and others on the front lines handing basic services will be the most essential laborers during an outbreak, Osterholm said. Yet there's no plan to safeguard them.
"Who would have thought that'd be the first ones you'd want to protect?" Ricklefs said. Pandemics occur every 10 to 49 years, Osterholm told an audience of medical providers and community members at the Rochester International Event Center.
"Everyone in this room has a family, and pandemic preparedness is about what will happen to you and your loved ones," he said. Pandemics involve a new flu virus to which people have no immunity. During an outbreak, Osterholm said, don't expect the federal government to rescue you. Local readiness, even personal readiness, will decide how things go.
Millions will die. Thirty percent to 60 percent of the population will get sick, even in a modest outbreak, Osterholm said. A pandemic will be like a Hurricane Katrina happening all at once worldwide, with six- to eight-week waves of illness. Food, water, power, cellular and Internet service will be interrupted because stores, hospitals and even power companies use "just-in-time" supplies. Most medicines, for example, come from overseas.
"The current national disaster response system will collapse in a minute," Osterholm said. He acknowledged he's like "Chicken Little." But he's been right before. And he's never been more sure in his life.
"This is the one that I know is going to happen, and I fear desperately that the world is going to wake up one day and be surprised," he said.
So what can you do to be ready for a pandemic?
? Think what you'd need in the next 24 hours if you suddenly had to survive on your own.
? Keep a supply of water and food that won't spoil and that you don't have to cook.
? If you use medicine that you'll die without, keep extra on hand.
? Have a way to contact family members that doesn't require cell phones or a computer.
? If you're a health provider, first responder or law enforcement officer, have a plan to avoid taking the illness home to your family.