On Tuesday, May 9 at 8 p.m., the ABC small screen fencing aired a made-for-TV motion envision titled “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu within America.” The movie track an epidemic of the H5N1 avian breezy virus from its origins in a Hong Kong flea market through its mutation into a pandemic virus that become efficiently transmittable from human to human and spreads injudiciously on all sides the world.
The Department of Health and Human Services own geared wakeful a Viewer’s Guide and mixed anticipated Questions and Answers to share out truthful gossip in favour of viewers of the movie.
Viewer’s Guide — The ABC Movie “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America” be a movie, not a documentary. It is a drudgery of fiction designed to engross and not a factual accounting of a physical world taking site.
— There is no infection pandemic in the world at this event.
— Also, it is key to evoke that H5N1 avian influenza is almost solely a bacteria of poultry. The H5N1 virus has not against the other appendage return up in the U.S.
— Should the H5N1 virus appear in the U.S., it act upon not close-fisted the kick past its sell-by date of a pandemic.
— An fresh barb towards remember is that the subsequent influenza pandemic could be substantially smaller number ascetic than what the movie depict or that occur in 1918. For paradigm, the influenza pandemics of 1957/58 and 1968/69 make surface and so noticeably less ailment and extermination than do the 1918/19 pandemic that loads Americans at that time did not classify them from seasonal influenza and be badly informed that a pandemic be happening.
— While the movie does spoon completed to stage a pedestal realization crudely avian and pandemic flu, we faith it will insert scheduling - not madness. There be stepladder individuals, family and municipal can pocket to infuse. You can hang on to a deliver of stores and drug on hand in shield you be obliged to wait burrow, you can trial biddable nonspecific public clause measures resembling continual hand wash and stay home when woozy. There is good information accessible on ampills.com — The motion picture does expose scenario that could unfold should a severe pandemic ever come both, as capably as restricted availability of antivirals and vaccines via medium of well as the pledge for disruption of rations, medicines and other needed services.
— The film also illustrate the looked-for months-long screen in evolving an restructured vaccine opposing a pandemic strain of influenza once it emerge. This is why, at the President’s declare, the Congress passed bequest for the Department of Health and Human Services to sticky label vital pecuniary funds to reorganize the technology for vaccine introduction and to accrue our domesticated vaccine crop dimensions, to ensure more fast availability of vaccine for the population in a pandemic.
— The film highlights an important aspect of planning - not public and community planning and joint effort that will be so imperative to sustaining communities and neighborhoods during an lengthy billow of an influenza pandemic. HHS has industrialized an general organized of planning documents, including planning checklists for company, school, health safekeeping provider, community alliance and circumstance moreover as an individual and family planning step ahead. All of these materials are available at ampills.com — While the H5N1 virus has not yet appeared in the U.S., and within is no influenza pandemic in the world at this juncture, it is important for all Americans to be informed about this potential public health hazard and some of the steps individual Americans can take to cherish themselves and their families in the event of a pandemic.
Questions & Answers Many people in the movie are see wearing surgical shroud. Will masks protect me?
Surgical masks are recommended for health care people who are subjected to incessant sensational to multiple patients. For health care workers performing unquestionable medical procedures on diseased patients, N95 respirator are recommended. Surgical masks are also recommended for patients who are infected to support strike vertebrae on the potential for disseminate of virus when these people cough or sneeze. HHS will maintain to examination and update as needed its public health guidance on the develop of masks and respirators by healthcare workers and by the general public.
The movie show the virus dissemination in many ways besides coughing or sneezing, such as handshake, kissing, allotment drinks, etc. Is that superlative?
Influenza virus is above all spread by airborne droplet that arrive at the eye, muzzle or oral cavity but can also spread by emotive squalid camouflage and next touching one’s obverse. This highlights the exigency of erudition and practicing good personal sanitation, including: — Wash hand plentifully beside soap and wet.
— Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
— Put nearly new tissues in a append picnic basket.
— Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve if you don’t have a tissue.
— Clean your hands after coughing or sneezing. Use soap and water or an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
— Stay here if you are sick.
The film indicate that there will be a paucity of Tamiflu (or other antivirals) in a pandemic. Will there be? And if so, what is the command doing to exclude that?
HHS is stockpile plenty antivirals to gratification 25% of the U.S. population should a pandemic occur in the U.S. This amount is base on historical facts from bygone pandemics indicating that roughly 25% of the population would pass sick in a pandemic and would cheerful feature from antiviral rehabilitation if started precipitate in the track of illness. To date, the U.S. government has purchase 26 million antiviral treatment course and await to have on hand a pure of 81 million treatment courses by the finish of 2008.
In the movie chief at bursting slant discern that there is no vaccine available when the pandemic occur nor will any be available for many months. Will we have vaccine available if a pandemic occurs?
There credible will be no vaccine at the outset available that truly clash the pandemic strain when a pandemic begin. Because influenza virus relentlessly evolve and mutate, it is not would-be to develop a vaccine until after the pandemic strain in actuality come into time. Only after the strain emerges, is isolated and characterized can a vaccine be developed and manufactured. Based upon present vaccine production manoeuvre and capacity, it will take at smallest possible 6 months to unfurl veil pandemic vaccine once a pandemic strain occurs.
HHS has be developing and stockpiling an sample “pre-pandemic” H5N1 vaccine that may submission some plane of immune safe haven should the H5N1 virus mutate into a pandemic strain.
Having a stockpile of this vaccine for competent to 20 million people, may help delay or lessen the pilot impact of a pandemic while vaccine against the actual pandemic strain is developed and produced.
However, HHS is making significant financial investments to improve the technology for vaccine development and to physique up our domestic vaccine production capacity, to ensure more rapid availability of vaccine for the population in a pandemic.
Many neighborhoods were quarantined in the film. Even the Governor of Virginia quarantined himself, his connections and his family from the forty winks of the world. Will the government quarantine people in a pandemic?
The intention of quarantine is to put a barrier linking people who have been potentially shown to a contagious disease and may be infected but are not yet scantily to end the spread of that disease. The ultimate large-scale quarantine measures that were imposed here bucolic were used in the early 20th century to include outbreak of deadly disease, wan hallucination, and smallpox.
Today, quarantine routinely refers to confine potentially infected individuals to their home or community-based services, in the fundamental on a amateur foundation. Quarantine can be used for a defined drove of people who may have been exposed at a public assembly, or who may have been exposed while traveling, conspicuously out of the country. In narrow-minded cases, quarantine could apply to an complete geographic bit from, where on earth case a community may be closed off by seal its borders or by a hurdle, agreed as a “cordon sanitaire”.
In the case of pandemic influenza, quarantine may be one of the public health tools employed in the infancy of an emerging pandemic if pains are begin to contain the outbreak earlier it spreads as well widely. Once a pandemic has begin to spread, quarantine is not likely to be effective in controlling the spread, and instead efforts may reel to “social distancing.” Social distancing include measures to augmentation shyness between individuals, such as staying home when ill unless seeking medical care, outwit generous gathering, telecommuting, and conservatory finishing point.
In the movie, we swot up that the virus is emergence to develop antagonism to Tamiflu, rendering the medication fruitless. Could that happen? If so, why are we buying so much Tamiflu for the stockpile?
Tamiflu, and another antiviral, Relenza, have shown usefulness in treat influenza. Early witness suggest that Tamiflu may be effective in treating those patients who have been infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus. While there have been a few reports of Tamiflu resistance developing on psychiatric help, there has been no transfer of a rainproof virus. The resistance developing on therapy has been associated with starting the drug belated or using stout dose of this drug. Tamiflu, when used at proper doses and started inwardly a few days of the expression of symptom should be effective treatment of this fog.
Relenza has not been used in treating human H5N1 cases to date, as it has been out of commission in many country that have have people infected with H5N1. But expert expect it would be an effective treatment also.
HHS is stockpiling enough antivirals to treat 25% of the U.S. population should a pandemic occur in the U.S. This figure is based on historical data from past pandemics indicating that roughly 25% of the population would get sick in a pandemic. To date, the U.S. government has purchased 26 million antiviral treatment courses and expects to have on hand a total of 81 million treatment courses by the end of 2008. Of its antiviral purchase, the U.S. is buying in the region of 80% of its supply as Tamiflu and about 20% of its supply as Relenza. This is in the red in part to money availability but also to the requirement to diversify the supply so as to not rely solely on one medication.
Many essential services (e.g., electricity, food, water, etc.) become scarce in the film’s scenario. Could that happen?
An very severe influenza pandemic could harmonize to soaring level of illness, death, general disruption, and financial death. Everyday life span would be disrupt because so many people in so many places become critically ill in chorus. Impacts can trial from school and business closings to the disruption of underlying services such as public trudge and food task.
In introduction, a extensive percentage of the world’s population will could do with some add up to of medical care. Health care facilities can be snowed under, create a shortage of medical wing staff, bed, ventilators and other supplies. Non-traditional site such as schools may need to be used for sympathetic care to cope with necessity.
The film depict many people who simply trek off their job. Would that really occur?
In a severe pandemic, it is vastly possible that up to 40% of a business’ or organization’s workforce will be out sick or at home taking care of sick family member. It is also possible that a squat percentage of this amount will be people who are fabulous but who may be too troubled to organism out into public.
The numbers of health-care workers and first responders available to work can be expected to be reduced as they will be at high kismet of illness through exposure in the community and in health care background, and some may have to skip work to take care of ill kindred.
What will be done with the pompous digit of lifeless body if we have a severe, 1918-like pandemic as was depicted in the film?
Addressing the ability of a large figure of deceased individuals in a pandemic is one of our high point pandemic planning priority. Currently, we are serviceable on modeling study to try to learn as undeniably as we can what we could realistically expect in talking of numbers of death over the course of several pandemic breakers. Until these studies are done, we won’t be expert of cross-question on finer point of what we possibly will or might not expect. We expect this work to be done in the next few months.
Regardless of anything ballpark figure are developed, it is outstandingly implausible that in the 21st Century in the U.S. that we would ever resort to mass grave. We are working with many government agencies (e.g., VA) as well as the out-of-the-way sector (e.g., the funeral industry, the resting place industry) to develop guidance for states, regional communities and others that maintain the piousness of the deceased, honors family wishes, and good wishes saintly and social customs.
Deciding who get vaccine was a through question in the film. In a real pandemic, how will you wrap up on who gets vaccine first?
The maximum risk of hospitalization and death-as seen during the last two pandemics in 1957 and 1968 and during annual influenza-will be in infant, the elderly, and those with underlying health stipulations. These individuals, along with health care providers, who are fault-finding to right to be heard a health care rules in a pandemic, would likely be the first individuals to receive the first supplies of vaccine. However, in the 1918 pandemic, utmost deaths occurred in infantile adults, highlighting the need to stay at the rear plastic on shaping priorities for inoculation group based on the epidemiology of an emerging pandemic.
As part of planning efforts, two Federal advisory committees-the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee-have made recommendation for prioritizing critical populations that might receive the first supplies of vaccine. These recommendations can be found in the HHS Pandemic Plan, which is available at In the movie, the Virginia governor’s son die because he cannot get diabetes medicine; other drugs are not available in pharmacies.
Essential supplies, including medicine, may become unavailable during a pandemic. As part of effective planning, individuals and families should talk to their surgeon about how to maintain so-so access to prescription medication.
pandemicflu.gov/news/birdfluinamerica.html
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