Ireland follows pandemic preparedness advice given by the WHO's Global Influenza Programme. According to WHO, you can expect the following scenario in the event of an influenza pandemic:
The virus will spread rapidly thanks to air travel, thus reducing the time available for preparing interventions through vaccine development and production.
Vaccines, anti-viral agents and antibiotics to treat secondary infections will be in short supply and not distributed equally.
Medical facilities will be overwhelmed and widespread illness could result in shortages of personnel to provide essential community services. Outbreaks will recur, making it difficult for communities to recover.
Along with 111 other such centres around the world, Ireland's National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) plays an important role in WHO's Global Influenza Surveillance Network as rapid detection of unusual outbreaks is essential in mounting an effective response. This network also writes the annual vaccine recipe which targets the three most virulent strains in circulation.
The generic control and command model adopted by the Department of Health for the main communicable disease threats of SARS, smallpox and influenza fits with WHO thinking that preparing for the next influenza pandemic can also mitigate the effect of other epidemics or infectious disease threats.
The influenza season gets underway in October and continues through to May. The NDSC monitors its progress through a network of 33 computerised sentinel general practices reporting the number of patients seen with influenza-like illness weekly. These are characterised by the sudden onset of a temperature of 38 degrees or more, with at least two of the following: dry cough, headache, sore muscles and a sore throat.
Dr O'Flanagan said a campaign would be getting under way shortly to encourage elderly people and others susceptible to influenza to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
She also encourages people to take the pneumococcal vaccine which protects against secondary infection and has to be taken only once.
She is concerned at the lack of international agreement on equitable distribution of vaccines and looks to resolution of this issue at WHO and/or European Union level.