Preventing a pandemic with vaccinations

Alicia Boisson
South Peace News

Pandemic Influenza is a reality the Peace Country Health Region as well as the Town of High Prairie have been preparing for an outbreak for the past few years, and they are encouraging individuals to take the proper steps for prevention. Since the 16th century, the world has seen a pandemic on average every 30 years, with the most recent in 1968. The most severe pandemic recorded in history was the Spanish flu of 1918-1919. This outbreak swept the globe with over 14 million people succumbing to the virus within days, or hours of the onset. Of this 14 million, there were 50,000 who were Canadian victims. Town Manager Larry Baran says it is important the people start planning and preventing as soon as possible. “I can’t say when the next one is going to hit but it is inevitable, people need to understand the severity and how important it is to take preventative measures,” adds Baran. There are three types of influenza A,B,C. Influenza C is mild, B cause epidemics but is very mild, but it is Influenza A, that is the concern to health regions nationwide and even worldwide. This strain is the one that very changeable and creates challenges for health units and vaccinations. It is continuously morphing itself and it has learned to spread quickly making it possible to create a worldwide pandemic. Studies have shown that literally thousands of people die during each outbreak. How influenza A works is it has proteins on the surface of it called Heemagglutinin (H1) and Neuraminidase (N2). These proteins can change and grow very quickly creating two types of infections the Drift and the Shift. Drifts are illness that are gradual and vaccinations can be made to help eliminate them because it can be predicted. A Shift, on the other hand, is the more determined of the two. A shift is dramatic and changes so quickly that vaccinations cannot be made to correct the infections. Recent studies show that there are 15 strains of influenza found in birds and only 3 of these were thought to have the ability to spread from birds to animals to Humans, but in 1997 a fourth strain of the A virus that was never seen before was found in Hong Kong. It Affected 18 people and of these 18, six died. Influenza is spread in areas where people, animals and birds live in close proximity and that it why it is said Asia is usually the worst affected. However that does not mean that Canadians should not be getting regular vaccinations. Once a pandemic starts it is impossible to stop. It will come in three waves over a period of 18 months. If only 10 per cent of the population gets their flu vaccinations then producing a vaccination for the pandemic will be much more difficult because vaccination producers will only have the capacity to create enough vaccination for 10 per cent at a time. So when you are debating about whether you should get your flu vaccination, think about this. In 1919, by the time the Spanish Flu had come to an end some communities in Canada were completely wiped out. Communities not much smaller than here.

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