The UK supplies of H1N1 vaccination will be distributed in the next 2 weeks after licensing approval was given for the Glaxo Smith Kline jab last Friday.

Those in at risk groups will be given first priority for the vaccination which comes in two stages, three weeks apart.

A limited number of vaccinations will be available from about the 19th of October at GP surgeries, Primary Care, Acute and Mental Health Trusts where staff have been finalising details of who should receive the first vaccinations.

Front-line healthcare and socialcare workers are amongst the priority employees eligible for the vaccination both to protect their health and to minimise the risk of their spreading the virus to vulnerable people whilst they go about their visits and treatments.

For the rest of us, we are advised to sign up for the seasonal flu vaccine which offers some protection against H1N1 based flu.

Those who are more at risk from becoming seriously ill with swine flu are people with:

• chronic (long-term) lung disease, including people who have had drug treatment for their asthma within the past three years,
• chronic heart disease,
• chronic kidney disease,
• chronic liver disease,
• chronic neurological disease (neurological disorders include motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis),
• suppressed immune systems (whether caused by disease or treatment),
• diabetes,
• pregnant women,
• people aged 65 or older, and
• young children under five.

If you are in any of these categories you should contact your GP to book an appointment for your vaccination as soon as possible – remember there is a 3 week period between the first and second jab and we may well be in the early stages of the second wave of swine flu with a peak of activity forecast around 6 – 8 weeks ie within the next month.

H1N1 Swineflu now accounts for 75% of the influenza-like illness worldwide. Keep up to date with the latest news on H1 N1 swineflu by subscribing to our RSS feeds.

@Veterus

As the first wave of swine flu eases without causing a great deal of disruption there may be people out there thinking that, like the millenium bug, the “crisis” was over-blown?

Certainly in the northern hemisphere we seem to have escaped much of the potential harm -perhaps due to the early action taken to warn and inform the pubic and encourage good personal hygien practice.

Whilst most of the unfortunate deaths were of people with underlying health conditions, a significant portion (5 out of 8 last week) had no underlying symptoms – so there is no time for complacency!

Pandemics normally come in 3 phases.  The last bird flu pandemic in 1918 had 2 waves of flu then a third wave of palsy when the virus affected the brain rather than the lungs.  It is entirely possible that we could see a similar pattern with H1N1.

I believe that we will see a second more severe wave of H1N1 flu around Christmas as people gather for social functions.  The virus may by then have mixed and changed as it travels around the southern hemisphere (where cases continue to grow) and perhaps be either more or less deadly than the strain that we have seen so far – especially if it mixes with H5N1 “bird flu”.

So is it too late for businesses to prepare a flu plan?  Of course not.  A decent flu plan can be crafted by someone with prior experience in a matter of days.  The process is based on the British Standard for Business Continuity BS25999 but whereas this encourages the development of a Business Continuity Management System, you would only need to consider a few threats (ie not just absence but things like supply chain disruption etc).

Using our copyrighted Business MEDIC approach, we could develop an outline plan in one day, exercise it in another day and deliver a validated plan the following day.  If you have 3 days, you can have a plan that will considerably reduce the impact of pandemic flu on your business.

Please tell colleagues and business owners that you know about this service and help them protect their livelihood.  In a global recession, they may need all the help they can get.

@Veterus

08456 434775

Do you need a mask?

I was speaking to a supplier of FFP3 masks today and he was telling me how there is a major log jam building with the supply of protective equipment for H1N1 now that the pandemic is spreading and case numbers are increasing.

He was advising that 3M are only supplying the same number of masks to clients as previously ordered before Swine Flu which is limiting supply and that many government and public sector clients are insisting on the 3M branded products – probably because they haven’t looked at the alternatives.

There is also a growing shortage of precursor materials (eg filtration cloth) that have been approved for use in the masks – as you will be aware the masks, manufacturing process and suppliers need to pass various stringent tests to qualify for EN 149:2001 etc – which is also putting pressure on the supply chain.

My contact was telling me about foreign government orders of several hundred thousand with backlogs of 8 weeks and other orders for several million masks in the pipeline.

With the vaccine likely to arrive in small quantities only and after the localised epidemics due to hit UK toward the end of August it is already beginning to look rather late in the day for companies to order personal protective equipment (PPE) for their staff.  Particularly when you then factor in the testing kit and training/testing required before issue.

In light of this, my wife (who is a school nurse) and others are taking independent action to protect themselves and their families in case the virus takes a turn for the worse and people start to die in greater numbers.

We’ll probably buy a couple of boxes of FFP3 masks (15 to a box) for each of the family so that we can continue to attend school and work as well as do the weekly shop and travel on public transport.

One of the kids has had open heart surgery so we need to minimise the chances of them getting the bug – even if it is relatively mild so far.

Drop me a line if you are interested in securing some masks for your company or family and I will try to get you a supply before the end of July 2009.

Meanwhile, the message remains the same: catch it, kill it, bin it and keep washing hands and hard surfaces to minimise the spread of the virus in the home, school and workplace.  Everywhere else – keep you hands in your pockets!

@Veterus