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News
16 March 2007
- Bird flu threat from
Australian birds monitored
- National Medical Call Centre to Be
Established with Pandemic Influenza
- Influenza patients cost tax payers
$85m a year: new report
- APEC Ministers launch pandemic flu
planning guide for SME's in Hobart
- Australia's CSL successfully tests
bird flu vaccine on adults
- New Report on Role of GPS
- Health Minister to Launch Pandemic
Book: A Danger Greater Than War: NSW
And The 1918-1919 Influenza
- Newly Released Reports
Around 2000 birds will
be sampled in a three year exercise
aimed at establishing the extent of
bird ‘flu in north Queensland’s
bird populations in an effort to determine
the prevalence of the disease.
The team will use the samples to establish
the ‘background’ levels
of bird flu in waterfowl but also to
detect the presence of the highly pathogenic
H5N1 strain, which has caused the death
of millions of birds overseas as well
as more than 150 humans.
The team will determine levels of the
infection in three nomadic duck species
– black ducks and two species
of whistling duck – and magpie
geese.
Northern Queensland is one of the first
entry points for migratory and nomadic
birds into mainland Australia from countries
such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Both
of these countries have had recent outbreaks
of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
“These migratory
birds could be infected with a wide
range of avian influenza viruses,”
Dr Burgess said.
Its a real concern that they could spread
their diseases to Australian bird species
which can amplify these viruses and
then spread infection to other birds,
including domestic poultry.
Through repeating the sampling each
year, the authorities are hoping to
identify the level of avian influenza
in north Queensland waterfowl and identify
whether the levels are increasing or
if the patterns of infection are changing.
The three-year project has been funded
by the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative
Research Centre and the Department of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
A national call centre
is in the process of being established
which will enable the Australian population
to seek medical advice from registered
nurses twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week.
The Commonwealth Government will launch
the service, which is similar to the
ACT healthfirst call centre, later this
year.
The call centre will allow people to
speak to staff who can determine what
illness the person may have and direct
them to appropriate medical facilities.
In the event of a pandemic, the call
centre may act as a first point of contact
for citizens concerned they may have
influenza, therefore screening patients
and freeing up other essential medical
services.
Nurses operating the triage service
will be spread around the country operating
from their homes using a computer network,
in most cases, rather than from mass
call centres. This will help to
keep the service operating in the case
of a pandemic when crowded workplaces
will be discouraged.
The service will be available from later
this year.
3 Influenza patients cost taxpayers $85m
a year: New Report
A new report for the influenza
specialist group has identified that
treating Australians for the flu more
than 18,000 hospital beds, involves
more than 300,000 visits to the GP and
costs $85 million dollars per year.
Howeve, the analysis provided by the
report states that this cost can be
reduced through a greater focus on prevention.
The influenza specialist
group is made up of medical and scientific
experts and recieves funding from industry
groups and the Commonwealth Government.
The full report is available here
4
APEC Minister to Launch Pandemic Flu
Planning Guide for SME's
APEC Small and Medium
Enterprises Ministers (SME) have launched
a Pandemic Flu Planning Guide for Small
Businesses. The guide is intended as
a straightforward checklist to help
businesses to plan ahead and protect
their staff and businesses in the event
of a pandemic flu.
The APEC Pandemic Flu
Planning Guide was prepared in conjunction
with the United States Department of
Health and Human Services Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The guide is available
here
5 Australia's CSL successfully
tests bird flu vaccine on adults
Australian pharmaceutical
company CSL Limited has successfully
tested its bird flu vaccine on adults
and is ready to supply the drug if a
pandemic hits country.
CSL said trials showed
its bird flu antigen had safely produced
a strong immune response in adults aged
18 to 65. Tests on infants and the elderly
are expected to be completed later this
year.
There have been no cases in Australia
of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza,
which has killed around 160 people across
the world since late 2003. Health officials
have warned that if the virus were to
mutate into a form easily transmissible
by humans, it could cause a pandemic
with the potential to kill millions
of people.
These results will enable
submission of a dossier to the TGA for
the registration of a pandemic influenza
vaccine. CSL will be the first to file
for registration in Australia.The latest
clinical studies confirm that two doses
of 30 micrograms of antigen, with the
addition of an aluminium adjuvant or
immune stimulant, are required to produce
a strong immune response against the
H5N1 bird flu virus.
"The ultimate goal
of our research program is to develop
a pandemic vaccine which uses the lowest
dose of antigen, which can offer cross-protection
against similar but non-identical bird
flu strains, and which lasts as long
as possible," CSL chief scientific
officer Dr Andrew Cuthbertson said.
At least 132 people have
died worldwide since the virus re-emerged
in East Asia in 2003.
General practitioners
(GPs) would be crucial during a pandemic
influenza outbreak to avoid large numbers
of deaths in Australia, researchers
at The Australian National University
(ANU) have shown.
Research team member Professor
Marjan Kljakovic from the ANU Medical
School said GPs would play a key role
in containing pandemics, which might
otherwise spread rapidly, crossing continents
in days. He also said GPs would be doing
this while providing ongoing care to
patients with severe illnesses that
are not flu related.
However the research has
shown some barriers for GPs participating
in what needs to be a whole of health
community approach to an outbreak.
“There are roadblocks for
GPs,” Professor Kljakovic said.
“Some of these are to do with
regulations. How accountable will GPs
be for patient care in the altered environment
of a pandemic? Will they be able to
delegate some of their work to others?”
The researchers also called
for new funding models to support different
clinical practice in a pandemic situation.
Doctor numbers would be depleted as
a result of contact with influenza patients,
resulting in a stretched medical workforce
dealing with increasingly ill patients.
"Modelling for the
study showed us that unless we embrace
new models of care in a pandemic, about
150 non-influenza-related emergency
cases would not be treated at the height
of a pandemic each day in a city like
Canberra - which could raise the death
rate substantially," Professor
Kljakovic said.
The Hon. Tony Abbott MP,
Minister for Health and Ageing is set
launch "A danger greater than war':
NSW and the 1918-1919 Influenza"
at 10:45am on 20 March at the International
Affairs conference centre in Deakin.
The Australian Homeland
Security Research Centre has released
the first of three books in a series
on the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic
in Australia.
A Danger
Greater Than War holds particular
relevance today as the world faces a
potential influenza pandemic. This book
provides a deep insight into that experience
in New South Wales and reveals the many
challenges faced by the State and its
businesses, citizens and volunteer organisations
at that time.
This book also identifies
the obstacles which inhibited an effective
response to the pandemic. These problems
will resonate today as they are the
same ones that will most likely arise
if an influenza pandemic was to occur
again.
The 1918-1919 Spanish
Influenza pandemic was the greatest
state calamity to befall NSW. Over 6,000
citizens of NSW died, tens of thousands
were hospitalised and about one third
became infected. This book presents
for the first time a comprehensive picture
of this monumental crisis on NSW society.
7 Newly Released Reports
A six-week market-wide
business continuity exercise led by
the Financial Services Authority on
behalf of the Tripartite Authorities
has made a significant contribution
to enhancing the resilience of the UK
financial sector during influenza pandemic.
The annual exercise assessed
how prepared the Tripartite Authorities
(Bank of England, HM Treasury and FSA)
and the financial services sector would
be in the event of a flu pandemic. Around
70 firms took part including the major
participants in the financial services
sector, the providers of key financial
infrastructure such as payments, clearing
and settlement and the main exchanges.
Over the six weeks of
the exercise, the scenario simulated
the first five months of a flu pandemic
and participants assessed how they would
cope as the pandemic grew progressively
worse.
Early indications are
that despite the extensive disruption
and rising levels of absenteeism that
would result from a pandemic, the financial
sector would be able to sustain its
core financial services. The Tripartite
Authorities will publish a summary of
the main findings before the end of
this year.
Some of the high-level
issues that have emerged for further
consideration are:
- The impact of a pandemic
on consumers – such as access
to cash, ability to make mortgage
payments, and continuing insurance
cover;
- The practicality of
relying on home-working for key staff;
and
- The challenges involved
in returning to business as usual.
The full report can be
found here
This report examines
the ability of the Indonesian poultry
industry to cope with an outbreak of avian
influenza and what impact it may have
on trade impacts
In this report, the potential
impacts on Indonesia of a production
shock, a shift in consumption or a trade
ban is assessed using a heterogeneous
product model where imports are differentiated
by source. Empirical results suggest
the likely trade impacts in Indonesia
are minimal because its trade is a small
share of production.
The full report is available
here.
The United States Congress
has released a report detailing the
US contribution to the International
Avian Influenza effort and America’s
plans for global flu programs.
The report also addresses foreign policy
issues confronting congress related
to a possible outbreak.
Congress has provided
funds for the U.S. international avian
flu efforts through three appropriations.
Ultimately, $6.3 million was transferred
to USAID for those purposes, providing
a total of $31.3 million for U.S. global
avian flu activities from those appropriations.
This report provides an
up-to-date account of global H5N1-related
human infections and deaths, outlines
U.S. global avian flu programs, and
presents some foreign policy issues
for Congress.
This report will be updated
should Congress provide additional funds
for global purposes, and then only if
H5N1 becomes effectively transmissible
from person-to-person.
The full report is available
here
Review of 1918
Pandemic Flu Studies Offers More Questions
than Answers
Experts Say Further
Study of Past Pandemics Key to Preparedness
Scientists and public health officials
have looked to past pandemics, including
the 1918 “Spanish Flu,”
for insight into pandemic planning in
the wake of further H5N1 avian flu outbreaks.
However, in a Journal
of Infectious Diseases review article
now posted online, David M. Morens,
M.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., of
the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID), conclude
that studies of the 1918 influenza pandemic
raise more questions than they answer.
In their article, Drs. Morens and Fauci
review several topics, including the
origins of the 1918 pandemic influenza
virus, the excess mortality of the pandemic,
the predilection to kill the young and
healthy, the lower-than-expected mortality
among the elderly, and the cyclic nature
of influenza pandemics over the past
100 years. Such topics are relevant
today as highly pathogenic H5N1 avian
influenza viruses have spread from Asia
to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
If a pandemic with
similar characteristics were to occur
in the near future, Dr. Morens and Fauci
predict the relative number of deaths
would be substantially lower than the
1918 pandemic which killed 50 to 100
million people.
Dr. Fauci and Morens said best hope
for the future lies in developing and
stockpiling more broadly protective
influenza vaccines. In the meantime,
prevention efforts should be directed
towards logistical planning, increased
surveillance, development of medical
countermeasures, an improved understanding
of pandemic risks, and an aggressive
and broad research agenda.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
include 27 Institutes and Centres and
is a component of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services. It is
the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational
medical research, and investigates the
causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases.
The full journal article
can be purchased from here
U.S.
Department of Labor's OSHA Unveils New
Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for
Influenza Pandemic
The Department of Labor's Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
in Washington has unveiled new workplace
safety and health guidance that will
help employers prepare for an influenza
pandemic.
Developed in coordination with the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Guidance on Preparing Workplaces
for an Influenza Pandemic provides
general guidance for all types of workplaces.
It describes the differences between
seasonal, avian and pandemic influenza.
The nature of a potential pandemic,
how the virus is likely to spread and
how exposure is likely to occur is also
defined.
More information can be found here
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