by Niel Thomas |
In April 2009 the world was 'side swiped' with the news that a new strain H1N1 influenza outbreak had occurred in Mexico, and it was infectious enough to have escaped containment.
I say 'side swiped' because the world's eyes (experts included) were on Asia expecting the H5N1 (Bird Flu) to break out somewhere there, triggering the next pandemic.
The new A/H1N1 strain, dubbed "Swine Flu" due to early (inaccurate) assumptions being that it came from pigs, quickly escaped the confines of Mexico City. It almost immediately surfaced in countries around the world where it established itself with ease.
Within the space of only a few weeks the World Health Organization had raised their pandemic alert threat level from 3 to 4 to 5, and ultimately to 6 indicating a full blown pandemic event was now taking place.
The early numbers out of Mexico indicated it could be a bad one. Out of the first few hundred infections some 2.5% died. This is on par with the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic (the worst in history) in which an estimated 2.75% of those infected died.
Fortunately this mortality rate seemed to quickly subside with the number of deaths versus infections turning out to be much lower in other countries - in the region of 0.2% - leading to a quick calming of the public and governments to the threat which lay ahead.
The exact reason why the mortality rate dropped so dramatically once the disease spread to other countries is still a mystery. A seemingly obvious explanation would be that before the pandemic even escaped Mexico the world was already on alert and any (even suspect) cases surfacing in other countries thereafter were immediately treated with antivirals.
The answer to that question should become evident when the virus reaches poorer countries which do not have antiviral stockpiling, and when those which do start to restrict its distribution. Perhaps by the time you are reading this we will know.
There is also the possibility the virus mixes with other strains (including the circulating H5N1 strain) and mutates again, altering how infectious it is or its virulence.
We should remember however, that from a business perspective it is not the mortality rate of a pandemic which will cause the damage. Even a 3% mortality rate over 18 months is likely less of a loss in number terms than is the normal staff turnover rate.
It is whether your company can carry on operations through weeks or months with a 50% or more personnel absenteeism rate, with staff off work due to sickness, child care, home quarantine, caring for others and just plain fear.
It is also whether the staff feel safe to be in the office to come to work in the first instance, and whether the company can demonstrate it can respond to sickness in the workplace.
Be prepared for staff to evacuate offices. They won't return until they are satisfied it is safe to do so, and without a procedure this could be days later instead of a couple of hours.
The obvious picture which emerges from this is that provided a business can educate its staff on what to expect, how to protect themselves, and satisfy them that it has taken appropriate measures to protect them and their families, those staff are far more likely to come willingly to work, and to return to the workplace quickly should sickness be identified in the office.
The reality is that an office or any other enclosed working environment can and should be made into the safest place for staff to be outside of the home. If the methods used to do this are communicated to staff the business will continue to operate when others around them fall over.
Businesses which still take the pandemic threat seriously and allocate funds and resources into preventative measures will survive or even thrive during and following this pandemic.
You can find more information on how to get ready your business's Swine Flu response so that your company can anticipate and respond to the Swine Flu pandemic when the waves wash through your area at http://www.swinefluresponse.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niel_Thomas
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