Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
'Schools may close in event of outbreak'
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
Last Updated: 6:57am GMT 13/02/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/13/nbflu113.xml
Every school might have to close within three weeks of a human-to-human outbreak of bird flu anywhere in the world, one of the country's leading experts on epidemics warned yesterday.
Prof Sir Roy Anderson, who advised Tony Blair throughout the foot and mouth epidemic, said Britain would have very little time to take the decisions that could save the lives of millions in the case of a global pandemic.
He said that key strategic issues, including considering the closure of schools and work places, would have to be taken in the first three weeks.
Even the shaking of hands would have to be looked at.
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But Sir Roy, from the faculty of medicine, Imperial College London, questioned whether a call to close schools would be universally accepted.
"We would have to look at the economic implications of that," he said.
"If we close schools and children stay at home, are we going to bring the country to its knees? We have to look at various aspects of society.
"My view is that we would have to consider it if the virus is very, very pathogenic."
But restricting air travel to this country would be "a waste of time" and hugely costly, Sir Roy told a conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
He said: "You would have to close borders instantly. The effort of spending money on that is questionable."
Scientists at Imperial College have discovered that the most effective control measures are restricting social and work activities, simple sanitary procedures ? including washing hands, not shaking hands and wearing masks ? and the isolation and rapid treatment of families who get the virus.
Sir Roy said models showed that rapid isolation and the treatment of individuals who get the virus and their families "may be able to contain" the spread of the virus.
He said this would slow down the spread of an epidemic and buy time for a vaccine to be isolated and developed.
The conference heard that the disease is still one or two stages away from becoming a disease that passes readily from human to human.
Some scientists believe that it may never do so. But Sir Roy said it would be folly to take the risk.
If Britain got a human-to-human influenza virus of the kind that devastated the world in 1918, "actions must be uniform" around the country.
"Logistics will be everything," Sir Roy said. "I do not think people have got to grips with the magnitude of this problem."
Last Updated: 6:57am GMT 13/02/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/13/nbflu113.xml
Every school might have to close within three weeks of a human-to-human outbreak of bird flu anywhere in the world, one of the country's leading experts on epidemics warned yesterday.
Prof Sir Roy Anderson, who advised Tony Blair throughout the foot and mouth epidemic, said Britain would have very little time to take the decisions that could save the lives of millions in the case of a global pandemic.
He said that key strategic issues, including considering the closure of schools and work places, would have to be taken in the first three weeks.
Even the shaking of hands would have to be looked at.
<script src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/NetGravity/mpu.js" language="javascript"></script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.telegraph.co.uk/js.ng/site=news&spaceid=mpu&sz=200x200&sz=240x400&sz=250x250&sz=300x250&ls=f&transactionID=1171367006828&Section=news/uk_news&view=details&xml=/news/2007/02/13/nbflu113.xml"></script>
But Sir Roy, from the faculty of medicine, Imperial College London, questioned whether a call to close schools would be universally accepted.
"We would have to look at the economic implications of that," he said.
"If we close schools and children stay at home, are we going to bring the country to its knees? We have to look at various aspects of society.
"My view is that we would have to consider it if the virus is very, very pathogenic."
But restricting air travel to this country would be "a waste of time" and hugely costly, Sir Roy told a conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
He said: "You would have to close borders instantly. The effort of spending money on that is questionable."
Scientists at Imperial College have discovered that the most effective control measures are restricting social and work activities, simple sanitary procedures ? including washing hands, not shaking hands and wearing masks ? and the isolation and rapid treatment of families who get the virus.
Sir Roy said models showed that rapid isolation and the treatment of individuals who get the virus and their families "may be able to contain" the spread of the virus.
He said this would slow down the spread of an epidemic and buy time for a vaccine to be isolated and developed.
The conference heard that the disease is still one or two stages away from becoming a disease that passes readily from human to human.
Some scientists believe that it may never do so. But Sir Roy said it would be folly to take the risk.
If Britain got a human-to-human influenza virus of the kind that devastated the world in 1918, "actions must be uniform" around the country.
"Logistics will be everything," Sir Roy said. "I do not think people have got to grips with the magnitude of this problem."