What is a pandemic?
Influenza is a common respiratory illness that occurs all over the world and is responsible for considerable sickness and mortality each year. In the UK, influenza usually occurs during the winter months and up to 15% of the population may develop some symptoms, usually only mild, in any one year. Most years, around 30,000 – 120,000 cases are reported to doctors and up to 4,000 deaths are directly attributed to influenza.
A pandemic may occur when three conditions have been met: a new influenza virus subtype emerges; it infects humans causing serious illness; and it spreads easily and sustainably among humans. The H5N1 virus meets the first two conditions. The risk that it will acquire the ability to have efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission is present as long as opportunities for human infections occur. These opportunities will persist as long as the virus continues to circulate in domestic birds, perhaps for years to come.
A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. HIV/AIDS is an example of one of the most destructive global pandemics in history. Influenza pandemics have occurred more than once. • Spanish influenza killed 40-50 million people in 1918. • Asian influenza killed 2 million people in 1957. • Hong Kong influenza killed 1 million people in 1968. An influenza pandemic occurs when: • A new subtype of virus arises. This means humans have little or no immunity to it. Everyone is at risk. • The virus spreads easily from person to person, such as through sneezing or coughing. • The virus begins to cause serious illness worldwide. With past flu pandemics, the virus reached all parts of the globe within six to nine months. With the speed of air travel today, public health experts believe an influenza pandemic could spread much more quickly. A pandemic can occur in waves. And all parts of the world may not be affected at the same time. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides an influenza pandemic ale
