Japan: Working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario

[hawkeye]

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)
Click here for the original Japanese story
January 19, 2007

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Japan: Working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario

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.

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.

We shall get use to see these 20 days without infection before being able to leave an area.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan: Working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario

another version of this same story is at
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15301#post59883

They discuss the concept of balancng saving lives vs. saving the future.

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan: Working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/20070122TDY04010.htm

Antiflu measures will strengthen nation

<!--// headline_end //--><!--// byline_start //-->The Yomiuri Shimbun

<!--// byline_end //--><!--// article_start //--><!-- google_ad_region_start=region1 -->All possible measures must be taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases caused by unknown viruses.

A group of experts brought together by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has published a set of guidelines on what national and local governments, as well as corporations and private individuals, should do if a new type of influenza strikes.

The expert panel presumes that the bird flu virus could mutate into a variant that could cause a human-to-human infection--that is, the outbreak of a new type of influenza.

The avian flu virus has not yet developed into such a variant, but many experts say it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates.

Humans have no immunity to a virus that has yet to infect them and the ministry has predicted about 25 percent of the population could become infected if a new flu strain struck this country. In a worst-case scenario written by the ministry, an estimated 2 million people would be hospitalized, and about 640,000 could die.


Such a scenario must never be permitted to come to pass.

The guidelines proposed by the expert panel covers 12 categories of preventive measures. The most important strategy devised by the panel calls for minimizing the spread of infection at an early stage.

The guidelines state that anyone infected be immediately quarantined, while also restricting the activities of people who have come into contact with the infected person. If the need arises, flu-struck areas could be sealed off from traffic, and all sorts of public activities could be subject to government control, including restrictions on gatherings.
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Build needed legal framework


However, questions can be raised about what kind of effective measures could be implemented under the current legal framework. To ensure the new guidelines serve their purpose, it will be necessary to discuss what kind of specific steps should be carried out, including the need to take new legislative measures.

It is also essential to clearly define who should be given priority in receiving vaccinations and antiviral medicines. People in this category include medical workers and police officers, as well as gas and electric power company employees responsible for maintaining their facilities.

The panel's guideline on the kind of medical care system that is needed emphasizes designating hospitals that specialize in examining anyone suspected of catching a new flu variant, while also setting up reception desks for outpatients.

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Emergency supplies


The panel also proposed each household and community keep two weeks of food on hand, and the establishment of a system to better aid elderly people living alone if the flu strikes.

However extensive, the guidelines should be regarded as incomplete. It is vital to ensure as many people as possible join discussions about how to improve these guidelines. Widespread public involvement would help the nation better prepare for other emergencies.

Common ground can be found in the measures taken to contain the spread of the new flu and those needed to counter bioterrorism. This is also true of efforts to store emergency food in case of an outbreak of the new flu strain, as such measures will also ensure emergency food supplies are available in the event of a major earthquake or other disaster.

Increasing cooperation among medical institutions will improve the system's ability to provide services on a day-to-day basis. Efforts to grasp the circumstances surrounding elderly people in each community are essential with the graying of society.

Fighting the threat posed by new flu variants offers a good opportunity to examine the shortcomings and inadequacies inherent in each community.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 22, 2007)

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Japan: Working on quarantine guidelines for flu outbreak scenario

It is vital to ensure as many people as possible join discussions about how to improve these guidelines. Widespread public involvement would help the nation better prepare for other emergencies.

Very wise move - people are more likely to accept anything they felt they were part of formulating.

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