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Bird Flu

Managing pandemic flu

A key element of preparing for a flu pandemic is the development and implementation of a prevention and treatment strategy.

Vaccines

In a pandemic it could take 9–12 months to develop and make available a new vaccine that is effective against the pandemic strain of the flu virus. However, because of the complex and time-consuming manufacturing process required for flu vaccines, there is not sufficient capacity to produce the number of doses needed to meet the expected demand.

Vaccines against potential flu pandemic strains are currently being developed and tested; although, there is no guarantee that they will be fully protective in humans against flu caused by the actual pandemic strain. [1]

Antivirals

During the period where a pandemic flu vaccine is being developed, millions of people could be infected with the flu virus worldwide. Until a vaccine is available, governments will have to heavily rely on antiviral agents to help contain the spread of the pandemic.

There are drugs that, if administered early enough post-infection, can reduce the symptoms of flu A and B. These drugs (belonging to a class of antiviral agents known as ‘neuraminidase inhibitors’) can be taken to prevent illness upon suspected exposure to the flu virus, before symptoms develop, and to treat seasonal flu if taken within 48 hours of the symptoms first appearing. Stockpiling of these antiviral drugs is a key component of the WHO pandemic plan. [2]

How to protect yourself

Wearing a protective mask and practicing simple healthy habits, such as regular hand-washing and covering your mouth or nose with a tissue when coughing and sneezing, can greatly reduce the risk of you catching flu and spreading it to other people.

If you think you have flu, minimising contact could help contain the spread of the virus.

  1. Treanor JJ, Campbell JD, Zangwill KM, et al. Safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated subvirion influenza A (H5N1) vaccine. N Engl J Med 2006; 354: 1343–51.
  2. World Health Organization. WHO global influenza preparedness plan. Available here.
  • "I would describe flu as something that makes you feel very, very ill. You get a headache, aching bones, and are generally fed up"
  • "When I get flu symptoms I feel like a train has run over me"
  • "I felt very sick and, during the first week, I had high temperature. Flu was very different to a cold. I went back to work after two and a half weeks. Then I suffered a setback for another week"
  • "I run a guesthouse; flu would be a real pest for me. I couldn’t cook, I shouldn’t cook, and I wouldn’t cook, so I would need to get a lot of extra help in. It would cost me a lot more money. So flu’s a real problem, a right downturn"
  • "I work on my own and when I can’t work, I have to try not to infect my little children, so they avoid getting the flu as well"
  • "I feel a little numb, like I’m in another dimension. Because in general I have sore throat, headache, I feel all clogged-up. Usually a sensation like I’m floating in the air"
  • "Shivers, sweats, makes you ache. Last time I had flu I was off for two weeks"
  • "I think that I would probably be concerned that I would pass flu onto my children, who might not be able to deal with it as well as I would"
  • "Flu makes you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat. You don’t feel like you can get yourself out of bed as all your energy is drawn from you"
  • "I was incapable of working. It just wasn’t possible at all… and my flu dragged on for more than a week"
  • "I have no strength. It annoys me because I can do nothing, it seems like I’m wasting my time"
  • "Flu’s like being hit by a truck because you feel completely gone. There is no energy left in your body. You are suffering from high temperature. You’re sweating a lot and you feel really unwell"
  • "First of all infinite tiredness, then I feel like sleeping and don’t want to eat"
  • "I felt really miserable because my muscles and my bones were aching. Well, I can hardly describe it, I just felt really awful, absolutely miserable"
  • "It’s like there’s something huge treading on your head, like a deafening noise that destroys the eardrums"
  • "The fever was constantly rising – I immediately measured my temperature as soon as I got home. It was 41°C and it kept rising and I was wondering what’s going on. I was really scared! Everything was hurting and it all happened so fast. Flu came out of the blue"
  • "I always feel like my limbs have iron weights tied to them and I’m going to fall over any minute, a really stuffy runny nose and feel antisocial"
  • "I was totally dependent on others! I was incapable of doing anything at all"
  • "The real flu knocks you for six – you just don’t want to move or do anything. It’s not very nice"
  • "Not being able to go to work. Not being able to do the things I have to do at home and the commitments that I have day by day"