Theresa42
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Univ of Cambridge planning for quarantine, not evacuation. From the University of Cambridge Newsletter, April/May 2007...
University gears up for flu as teams work to protect staff
WITH BIRD FLU in the headlines again recently, it is timely to report that University teams have been working to protect staff against a related threat: pandemic flu. Pandemic flu is when a new strain of influenza virus breaks out on a global scale, to which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine.
This is different to seasonal flu, which occurs in winter, and avian flu, a disease which mainly affects birds. However, experts are currently concerned that the H5N1 avian flu virus may emerge to form a pandemic as it has gained the ability to pass from birds to humans.
The gap between previous pandemics has varied from 11 to 42 years. There were three flu pandemics last century ? 1918/19 (Spanish flu), 1957/58 (Asian flu) and 1968/69 (Hong Kong flu). All affected large numbers of the population, causing many deaths.
Staff from a range of colleges and departments have been working with colleagues in the NHS, the Health Protection Agency, the Cambridge Primary Care Trust and local GPs to draw up guidelines to ensure infection is kept to a minimum.
Mark Wormald, Senior Tutor of Pembroke College and Chair of the University?s Pandemic Planning Working Party, said: ?The University has adopted quarantine guidelines: rather than there being a need for evacuation, the response to any outbreak must be one of containment and isolation with appropriate medical support.?
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/newsletter/2007/2007newsletter_april_may.pdf
University gears up for flu as teams work to protect staff
WITH BIRD FLU in the headlines again recently, it is timely to report that University teams have been working to protect staff against a related threat: pandemic flu. Pandemic flu is when a new strain of influenza virus breaks out on a global scale, to which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine.
This is different to seasonal flu, which occurs in winter, and avian flu, a disease which mainly affects birds. However, experts are currently concerned that the H5N1 avian flu virus may emerge to form a pandemic as it has gained the ability to pass from birds to humans.
The gap between previous pandemics has varied from 11 to 42 years. There were three flu pandemics last century ? 1918/19 (Spanish flu), 1957/58 (Asian flu) and 1968/69 (Hong Kong flu). All affected large numbers of the population, causing many deaths.
Staff from a range of colleges and departments have been working with colleagues in the NHS, the Health Protection Agency, the Cambridge Primary Care Trust and local GPs to draw up guidelines to ensure infection is kept to a minimum.
Mark Wormald, Senior Tutor of Pembroke College and Chair of the University?s Pandemic Planning Working Party, said: ?The University has adopted quarantine guidelines: rather than there being a need for evacuation, the response to any outbreak must be one of containment and isolation with appropriate medical support.?
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/newsletter/2007/2007newsletter_april_may.pdf