What is a Pandemic?
A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. The features of a pandemic influenza strain include being highly pathogenic for humans, easily transmitted between humans, and genetically unique. (6) An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza A virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population and begins to cause serious illness worldwide.
For more on the history of the 1918 pandemic see Markel et al. (8) Follow this link to access the article on PubMed, PMID: 17684187:
Pandemic Preparedness in the US
In preparation for the next pandemic, a major planning effort at the federal, state, and local level has been under way. The goals include decreasing the threat to human health, maintaining important infrastructure such as hospitals, law enforcement, and general utilities, and minimizing the impact to the economy.
Follow these links to learn more about pandemic preparedness:
- http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
- http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/
- http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/cdcresponse.htm
The CDC is also funding the following projects to prepare for an outbreak of pandemic influenza:
- A Controlled Trial of Masks and Hand Hygiene for Reducing Influenza Transmission, Gabriel Leung, M.D. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Evaluation of Masks as a Source Control Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention, Donald Milton, M.D. Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA
- Effectiveness of Selective Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions in Reducing Influenza-Like Illness Among University Students, Tomas Aragon, M.D., University of California, Berkeley, CA
- Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for Pandemic Influenza, Scott Holmberg, M.D., RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC
- Pandemic Influenza Control at the Borders of Island Countries and in Households, Michael Baker, M.D. University of Otago, Otago, New Zealand
- Pittsburgh Influenza Prevention Project, Donald Burke, M.D. and Sam Stebbins, M.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
- Reducing Transmission of Influenza by Face Masks, Arnold Monto, M.D. and Allison Aiello, Ph. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Stopping Upper Respiratory Infections and Influenza in the Family: The Stuffy Trial, Elaine Larson, Ph. D. Columbia University, New York, NY
As global citizens, we all have a responsibility to protect and
maintain public health. Participants in the M-FLU Study are responding
to the call for responsible global citizenship by contributing to research that
may ultimately help guide the development of national policies for pandemic preparedness.
M-FLU Study participants work to make the US and the
world a safer, healthier place for us all.