Kansas responds as World Health Organization declares a flu pandemic

Saturday, June 13, 2009

The World Health Organization declared a flu pandemic Thursday, which came as no surprise to public health officials in Kansas who have been responding to infections with the 2009 H1N1 flu virus across the state for nearly two months, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

"The WHO's action today is an important reminder that this entirely new flu virus is still here," KDHE Director of Health and State Health Officer Jason Eberhart-Phillips said. "New cases are still occurring in Kansas as we head into summer, and we have every reason to believe that caseloads will escalate when the regular flu season begins sometime in the fall."

WHO, the global public health agency based in Geneva, elevated the pandemic phase from a level 5 to level 6 on Thursday. Level 6 is the highest level on the agency's pandemic alert scale. The decision confirms that the first flu pandemic in more than 40 years is underway in at least two continents.

Cases of the novel H1N1 flu have now been confirmed in 74 countries, with widespread community transmission occurring both in North America and Australia. The declaration of a pandemic is only a recognition of the wide geographic spread of the new virus, not an indicator of the severity of the disease it causes, according to KDHE.

"Fortunately most illnesses causes by this virus so far have been relatively mild," Eberhart-Phillips said. He also noted that of 97 laboratory-confirmed cases in Kansas, there have only been seven hospitalizations and no deaths.

"But that relatively benign picture could change as the virus infects more people around the world, and it has more opportunities to mutate or exchange bits of its genetic material with other flu viruses," Eberhart-Phillips added. "The severity of illness it causes could be different in the months ahead."

While the pandemic phase level has been elevated, the Kansas response to the virus will remain the same, Eberhart-Phillips said. Kansas, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, responded to cases of H1N1 early on, and health officials are continuing their efforts now to reduce transmission and slow down the spread of the infection, a KDHE statement said.

"Every step we can take to interrupt the spread of this virus buys us time to develop a safe and effective vaccine, the only sure way to protect the public in a full-blown pandemic," Eberhart-Phillips said.

According to KDHE, those steps include careful monitoring of virus activity throughout the state, voluntary isolation of people who are sick with the infection, exclusion of potentially infectious persons from schools and workplaces, and information sharing with the public so everyone can protect themselves and people around them.

Eberhart-Phillips also said that now is the time for schools and employers to prepare for a potential major outbreak later this year.

"School administrators, business owners and other employers need to be thinking now about the continuity of their operations should large numbers of people become ill in the fall."

As of Thursday, KDHE has identified 97 confirmed cases of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus in 15 Kansas counties. In all cases, local health departments are following the guidance provided by KDHE when dealing with a confirmed case.

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