Planning for pandemic influenza is a health issue that involves all levels of government.Officials need to prepare for and collaborate on efforts to minimize andrecover from a potential influenza pandemic. Local governments especially, need to set priorities for maintaining public safety and other essential public services; support local health agencies in providing information to the public and; when necessary, close public buildings and assist in establishing alternative
caresites for the delivery of health care to the public. Local officials need to realize that during a pandemic, they
will be on their own. The federal government has made it quite clear that it will be in no position to offer substantial
help to states and cities during a pandemic flu crisis. Plans, drills, resources and personnel allocation must take this
into consideration. A pandemic would be triggered by three conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention: (1) a new flu virus subtype must emerge for which humans have little or no immunity; (2) the virus must infect humans and cause illness; and (3) the virus must spread easily and continuously among humans.
No comments:
Post a Comment