[Download] "Pandemic Influenza (H1N1): Our Canadian Response (Commentary) (Report)" by Canadian Journal of Public Health ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Pandemic Influenza (H1N1): Our Canadian Response (Commentary) (Report)
- Author : Canadian Journal of Public Health
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 249 KB
Description
The emergence of severe respiratory illness clusters in Mexico and mild illness due to a novel H1N1 influenza virus in southwestern United States of America (US) during spring 2009 merged into what has become the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. Canadian authorities became aware of these events on April 17; however, it was soon realized that Canadian cases had already occurred. The ability of this influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 strain to effectively spread globally led the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 11, 2009 to declare that the criteria for phase 6 of an influenza pandemic had been met. (1) As of August 28, 2009, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (2) had identified, through global media surveillance reports, 282,339 confirmed cases in 195 countries, including 2,950 deaths. This article will summarize the initial Canadian experience with the pandemic and discuss plans of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to address it in the coming months. Three influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century, (3) and historical records suggest that 3-4 pandemics per century occurred during recent centuries. The initial Canadian pandemic planning efforts began in the early 1980s, approximately 15 years after the last pandemic in 1968, when influenza A H3N2 first emerged as a human pathogen. By the time of SARS in 2004, two pandemic plans had already been developed, and a 10-year contract had been put in place in 2001 to ensure a Canadian supply of influenza vaccine at the time of a pandemic. However, post SARS, Canadian and WHO efforts markedly increased to prepare for a new pandemic; these efforts were further encouraged by the persistent circulation of avian H5N1 influenza, which repeatedly demonstrated its ability to infect humans through direct contact with infected birds. As a result of these efforts, federal, provincial and territorial governments produced a Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector in 2004, and a revised version was published in 2006, although new and revised annexes have been included up until the present time. (3)