Pandemic Flu Possibility – How to Prepare

By: Jean Johnson for Body1

“We can predict now 12 to 18 months of stress, of watching loved ones die, of potentially not going to work, of wondering if you’re going to have food on the table the next day,” said Michael Osterholm, Ph.D. in an Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in November 2005. “Those are all things that are going to mean that we’re going to have to plan unlike any other kind of crisis that we’ve had literally in the last 80-some years in this country.”

Take Action

When washing hands in public restrooms: After you’re done washing your hands, get a paper towel before drying and tuck it under your arm. Once you’ve dried your hands, use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door on your way out of the bathroom. Examples of foods to have on hand for an extended stay at home: Flour to make flat, baking power, and yeast breads Beans, nuts and dried fruits Oatmeal and other cereals Meat and fish jerky Canned food and manual can opener Crackers

Osterholm is the state epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health. He also serves as Chair of the Committee on Public Health and the Public and Scientific Affairs Board. According to the Public Broadcasting System, “He is one of the country's most outspoken advocates of developing national emergency preparedness for biological weapon attacks.”

So there it is straight from at least one key official. Should a global pandemic arise from avian influenza that to date has spread from Asia to the Middle East, we could find ourselves in rather dire circumstances. Indeed, the particular virus in question – H5N1 – appears at this point to be more like the devastating 1918 virus that killed millions than the more benign ones that came in the 1950s and 1960s.

How to Prepare – In Advance

Hand washing

Education is a first step, and it starts with the basics. Health officials have been telling us forever that hand washing is the most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick.

When we do not practice frequent hand washing and touch our eyes, nose, or mouth, contaminants can infect our bodies. Then we can fell prey to whatever is going around – from cold viruses to pandemic ones like H5N1 for which humans have no immunity. More, people that don’t wash their hands can spread germs directly onto the surfaces that they touch, in effect being part of the transmission line.

So the key is realizing that there are microorganisms on our hands that we cannot see, and appreciating the idea that a few minutes spent washing ones hands now and then can have big payoffs. As with any activity, good technique is everything.

The first thing to do when we are washing our hands in a public area is to get our towels for drying. Wet surfaces harbor are prime spots for bacteria and viruses. Consequently, consider the tab on the paper towel dispenser unclean. Get your toweling before washing and tuck it under your arm.

Secondly, friction, more than soap is responsible for removing invisible critters from our hands. So a vigorous rub-a-dub-dub for 10 to 15 seconds is recommended no matter what kind of soap is available – or even if none is. Once the hands are all scrubbed up and rinsed nicely, dry them with your clean towels and save the toweling turn off the faucet – another wet surface that you can count on being a deposit for all manner of strange bugs.

If you’re with us so far, you’re probably wondering about how to get out of a public restroom with your hands still clean. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one out of three people do not wash their hands after using the restroom. Thus, the reasons receptacles are stationed by the doors in restrooms where people are on the savvier side.

“No way, no how do I ever take a hold of a public restroom door handle on my way out of the bathroom,” said Jennifer Crescer, R.N. of Tigard, Oregon. “Those handles are nasty things, and if I’ve somehow not got enough paper towels left to open the door with, I pull my sleeve down and use that.”

“I don’t know why more people don’t realize that washing their hands is pretty useless if they’re going to re-contaminate by then touching the paper towel holder and the faucet and finally the bathroom door handle,” Crescer continued. “But I learned all that back in nursing school, and I guess somehow it’s not percolated out into the public realm.”

Other hand washing tips include always making a beeline to the bathroom to wash up once we arrive home from being out in public. Having a hand towel specific to each family member is another good tip, as is the proverbial rule of washing our hands before cooking, eating, and after handling animals and using the toilet.

Covering Sneezes and Coughs

Following our mothers’ advice by covering our mouths when we sneeze or cough hasn’t gone out of style yet, and clearly it will be critical should a pandemic strike. Children should be taught to sneeze into a tissue or shirt sleeve if need be. And if they must use their hands, they need to wash them up pronto.

Flu viruses are spread from person to person via droplets that are coughed and sneezed into the air. Thus, if one wishes to avoid transmitting what all manner of crud including the potential pandemic bird flu, it’s best to err on the side of extreme caution. More, adults, of course, need to model the behavior they expect their children to adopt.

Stocking Up the Cupboards

Water is life, and so storing supplies of this vital fluid is pretty paramount. Those of us that buy milk in gallon jugs can simply refill those to get a stash started. Also, heavy plastic five gallon jugs are available at most sporting goods stores. A few of these filled to the brim in the basement or garage could go a long way in the event of a disaster.

See your physician about getting extra supplies of regular prescription drugs, and also try to bulk up on non-prescription items including “pain relievers, stomach remedies, and cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins,” suggests the CDC. The CDC also reminds us to have flashlights and batteries, a portable radio, and extra garbage bags, toilet tissues and disposable diapers on hand as much as we can.

The food angle is admittedly a tough one. Things get stale, we say, when we stock up too heavily. Or if we try to do the rotation thing like the Mormons – who try to keep at least a year’s supply of food on hand in their homes – it gets all complicated. Clearly, we’re all swamped just with regular life without trying to stock pile food.

Picking up a few extras now and then is one way to go. Or ordering a few 25 pound sacks of grain and beans is another, not to mention nabbing a few gallons of olive oil. As peasants have known throughout history, these key staples can go a long way toward keeping hunger at bay and supporting good health when the chips are down.

In short the idea is to try to think of what we might be able to do with during a crisis and see about accumulating those extras. Keep in mind the dogs and cats and whatever other animals hang out with the family. Also thinking in terms of the fact that that we might have to figure the whole thing out – as in three squares a day – in the midst of power outages is a good fail-safe theory from which to operate.

Perhaps if we give these things some thought in advance, if a flu pandemic should come, we’ll feel less panic. At the very least, we’ll be able to shoulder our own to some degree. After all, the 12 to 18 months of stress Michael Osterholm predicts as a worse case scenario is quite a chuck of time when we really think about.

Last updated: 02-Feb-06