How to Prepare for the Pandemic Flu

As anyone who has suffered through this last flu season knows, influenza is absolutely miserable. Fever, chills, headache, body aches, runny nose, cough and fatigue are all the textbook symptoms of the flu, and who wants to feel that crummy? Thousands of people nationwide were affected with the seasonal flu in January and February, and thankfully, this wave of the flu seems to be tapering off.

Seasonal flu affects the very young and the very old the worst. These people tend to die from seasonal flu much more often than young, healthy adults. However, pandemic flu kills young, healthy adults (ages 18-35) much more often than the elderly or the very young. Taking this in consideration with the fact that the Avian Bird Flu is percolating in Asia right now, we should be preparing ourselves for the statistical inevitability of the next pandemic.

In 1918, the Spanish Flu hit the United States and killed more than 675,000 people over about a year-and-a-half. In 1957, the Asian Flu struck, killing over 70,000 people nationwide. In 1968 and 1969, the U.S. was hit with Hong Kong Flu, killing a mere 40,000. However, Hong Kong Flu was very similar to the Asian Flu of 10 years earlier, so people who had been sick with Asian Flu tolerated Swine Flu better and may have had better immunity. Also, Hong Kong Flu saw it's peak when most children were on winter break from school, thus making it more difficult to transmit. School children, it would appear, are excellent vectors for contagions. They spend their days in close proximity and tend to have lax hygiene habits. Who hasn't seen a third grader wipe his nose with his sleeve?

Now, the Avian Bird Flu is appearing on the horizon and the federal government has identified it as the probable source of the next major American pandemic. How will you and your family survive? The flu itself is not the only consideration one must look at. In 1918, 1957 and 1968, there were many survivors of the flu whose lives were devastated nonetheless. Thousands of able-bodied men were left jobless after the financial implications of extended illness for employers forced bankruptcy. They stood in bread lines and lined up for social services right along with women widowed by the flu and children left orphaned by the flu.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued warnings to local health departments stating that the Avian Bird Flu is almost exactly following the pandemic models of the Spanish Flu of 1818, both in mutation rates and virulence. In other words, the Avian Bird Flu is emerging as a strain of Influenza that is becoming more and more easily transmissible and is mutating toward a strain which infects humans more easily. Assuming that the Avian Bird Flu continues to follow the models, it will become pandemic within the next 2-4 years.

Once this "killer flu" is unleashed upon the world, the social and financial ramifications will be devastating. It will affect every aspect of our daily lives and our culture.

Once confirmation of pandemic flu is received in the U.S., malls, shopping centers, schools and even grocery stores will close. National disaster plans call for "social isolation", which includes companies separating employees by at least six feet, closing businesses once sick call rates rise above a pre-determined level, school closures and quarantining sick individuals in their homes in an effort to prevent further disease transmissions.

According to the CDC, if Avian Bird Flu reaches pandemic levels, the U.S. can expect to sustain somewhere between 209,000 and 1,903,000 deaths nationwide, people between the ages of 18 and 35 being hit hardest. This means that in an average small town of 26,000 people, about 650 people will die, 1,500 will need to be hospitalized (most of whom won't be due to lack of hospital beds) and 20,000 can expect to become ill. This will all occur over 3 waves lasting 6-8 weeks each, the first wave being the worst. Unfortunately, most people will transmit the virus before they even know they're ill. You can shed the flu virus 24 hours after becoming infected and 24 hours before you start showing any symptoms.

Are you in a position right now to physically and financially survive the pandemic flu? Here are some tips for getting through the hard times ahead.

1. Create an emergency food store and grill. The Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC both recommend stocking up on enough non-perishable food and bottled water to last your entire family for 2 weeks. Although most city water facilities are automated enough to sustain an extended shortage of manpower for operation and maintenance, some facilities are not. Purchase air-tight, waterproof storage containers to store things like boxed foods and dry goods (instant mashed potatoes, spaghetti, flour, sugar, etc) to keep mice and bugs out. Purchase things like peanut butter, protein bars, dried fruit, canned foods, spaghetti sauce, canned or bottled fruit juices, bottled fluids with electrolytes, crackers, and, if needed, baby food and formula. Purchase a barbecue grill and maintain it.

If your gas or electricity is off for any period of time, you'll still want to be able to cook dinner. Make sure you have a spare bottle of propane for gas grills or an extra-large bag of briquettes for charcoal grills on hand. Make sure you have adequate pots and pans for grill cooking with metal or wooden handles only. Plastic handles are fine for stove-top cooking, but will melt on the grill.

2. Stock up on prescription and over-the-counter medications and get a pneumonia vaccination early. If your pharmacy closes for one month, are you going to be okay with the heart medications you have on hand? Are you going to be able to go without your insulin? Make and maintain an up-to-date list of your medications, dosages and frequencies you take them. Once the health advisories start coming out, you'll be in a better position to get your physician to OK more refills.

Also, if you are in quarantine and unable to leave your house, you're going to want access to flu remedies to control symptoms and be more comfortable. Purchase fever reducers such as Tylenol or Motrin, anti-diarrhea medications such as Immodium or Kaopectate. Antihistamines such as Benadryl or Claritin will be helpful as well. Make sure that you check your stock of OTC medications every 3 months to make sure you're not hanging on to expired medications.

As with the last three pandemics, many of the people who survived the initial flu were killed by a rebound pneumonia. By getting a pneumonia vaccination now, you are covered for the next 5 years and reduce or eliminate your chances of contracting the pneumonia associated with influenza.

3. Stock up on paper products and cleaning agents. Toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags, bleach and ammonia will be essentials. Have enough toilet paper on hand to take care of your family assuming all of you have diarrhea. If one member of your family gets sick, you'll need to contain them to one living area, most likely a bedroom, and treat the rest of your living areas with a 1:10 bleach-to-water solution. Wash hands and other exposed skin with soap and water both before and after caring for a sick individual.

4. Stock up on batteries and put flashlights and a portable radio in your emergency kit. If the pandemic flu strikes during the winter months and your power line is down during a storm, receiving information on what to do next will be paramount. It's miserable to care for 3 sick kids with the lights on, what do you do when they're sick and it's dark and cold and you've been quarantined? It may be hours or days before local officials can come to your home and tell you where to go.

5. Plan for work, school and day care closures. Find out what your children's school is doing to prepare for pandemic flu and what you will need to do to continue to educate your children if school is closed for 4-6 weeks. Figure out what you will do if your toddler's day care closures. Will you have to stay home from work? How flexible is your employer with leave time? Will you be able to continue to work from home? Talk to your employer and find out what provisions are in place in case of pandemic. Medium-to-large businesses and corporations already have their plans in place. Ask your employer to provide you with a copy of their plan.

6. Make and maintain an emergency contact list, a will and advance directives for health care. In the event that you become incapacitated by the flu or, God forbid, you should die, other family members need to know who to call and what you want done in case of emergency or death. Does your eight-year-old know your sister's phone number? Her address? Does your teen know who they could count on in case you and your spouse died? Does your brother know which funeral home you would prefer to use?

It is entirely possible that a single mother with young children could die from the flu, but her children survive. Having a will ensures that the mother's wishes are followed in issues such as custody of her children and how her estate will be doled out. In a post-pandemic flu society, there will be thousands of children in an over-burdened foster care system. Having a will ensures your children avoid foster care.

Advance directives for health care speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself. During the peak of the pandemic, traditional end-of-life issues will be ignored. Nobody will receive heroic, life-prolonging measures such as artificial ventilators or CPR. Too many people will require ventilators and there will not be enough to ethically distribute them equally. If you arrive to a hospital unable to maintain your own airway or unable to breathe effectively because of the flu, you will be kept comfortable until you either get better or stop breathing.

However, at the beginning and the end of the first wave, end-of-life issues will again resurface. Do you want to be on a ventilator? Do you want life support? Do you want that for your children if you should die? What kind of heroic measures do you want the medical staff of your hospital to devote to you if it should be available?

7. Plan your finances. Do you have enough money in the bank to be out of work for 6 months? Do you have enough in your retirement policy to retire early? Does your retirement plan allow you to borrow against it in case of emergency? Do you have enough money on hand to be able to cover unplanned expenses? What does your health insurance policy include? How will you pay the deductible? Do you have enough life insurance to provide your children and/or your spouse with your income until they turn 18? Do you have enough insurance on your house? Your cars? Find a financial planner and address these questions. Even if you never get the flu, you could still get hit by a bus tomorrow and leave your family in dire straites. Even if you live paycheck-to-paycheck, you have to take some accountability right now for what will happen to you and your family if you become disabled or die. The federal government simply does not have enough resources to "save" everybody.

8. Keep cash on hand. During an emergency or the height of pandemic flu, ATM service may be disrupted as banks close. Make sure you have enough cash on hand to purchase emergency supplies if you run short.

9. Plan for interrupted medical care and therapies. If you have a chronic illness, ask your physician how you will maintain your treatments if the clinic you use or dialysis center you go to closes. All clinics and dialysis centers are required by law to have plans in place. Find out what your doctor's plan is and write it down for future reference. Write down all your medical diagnoses, surgeries and therapies to have on hand in case of emergency. If your clinic closes, your treatment at another facility can be virtually uninterrupted if you maintain as much of your personal medical information as you can.

10. Volunteer and stay informed. Join your local Emergency Management Agency. Participate in school planning for emergencies, table-top drills to assess your community's response to pandemic flu, and in city-wide disaster drills. Learn where your resources are. The federal government currently has a stockpile of anti-viral drugs to help treat and prevent the spread of disease. State departments of Health and Human Services are planning on being able to deliver limited rations to people in quarantine or the elderly or disabled. Check the CDC web site for updates on pandemic flu planning and for the status of the Avian Flu Virus nationwide. Call the CDC hotline with questions or for more information.

If you follow these tips, you should be positioned well in case of ANY emergency, not only pandemic flu. You may need to dip into your emergency stores in case of natural disaster like a fire or flood. But when the pandemic flu hits, you don't want to be one of the panicked masses buying out your local grocery store. You and your family will be more emotionally prepared for staying home if you know you're physically and financially prepared. With a little planning, you and your family will come through any disaster much better off.

Sources:
www.cdc.gov
http://pandemicflu.gov/plan/individual/familyguide.html
http://www.who.int/en/