Martes

9am Laburo

Llueve en Londres

Al mediodía fui al banco a pagar Thames Water

2 pm Almorcé en la office

Salió el sol !

A las 5 me fui a casa. Pasé x la biblioteca y saqué dos guías de Escocia y Glasgow

6 pm Home

Me puse a leer las guías etc, por suerte el hostel tiene buenos comentarios y además es bastante cerca del SECC.

Por otro lado, esto llegó a la oficina...

Dear Deputy Head of Mission,

Preparing for an influenza pandemic in the UK

The UK Departments of Health have recently published the revised UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan. This revised Plan updates the version published in March this year. The revised Plan takes into account comments received, and reflects the further work carried out nationally and internationally in recent months. A summary of the plan is provided as an annex to this letter, with the full document being available at: www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu.

I know that members of the public are becoming more aware of pandemic flu, and of avian flu, particularly through the recent coverage in the media – and some of your nationals in the UK may be starting to ask you questions about these issues. I attach in electronic format a leaflet available to UK members of the public, which you may wish to use to inform your own nationals. For now, the best source of further information is the Department of Health website, mentioned above. In case it is of interest, the FCO has a Flu Factsheet aimed at British nationals overseas, accessible through our Travel Advice webpages, at www.fco.gov.uk/avianflu.

We hope to let you have further information in due course.


Yours sincerely,

M K Haddock
Head Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations Unit


SUMMARY OF UPDATED UK INFLUENZA PANDEMIC CONTINGENCY PLAN

The UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan, published in October 2005, sets out actions to reduce the health impact of a pandemic, and the disruption it may cause to essential services and people’s daily lives. This will be through preparing the NHS and society as far as possible and the most effective application of measures such as antiviral treatment and immunisation (when this becomes available).

Origin of a pandemic
Flu pandemics occur when a new strain of influenza virus appears – and most people have little or no immunity to the new virus. The new virus is likely to affect more people, cause more severe illness and result in much more serious disruption to society.

It is possible that a flu pandemic could arise from the avian influenza H5N1 virus strain currently circulating in poultry in South East Asia. Up to September 2005 there have been 115 cases of avian flu in people in this region, resulting in 59 deaths. In order for this virus to develop into a pandemic virus, it needs to mutate to become easily transmissible between people.

Impact of a pandemic
We cannot predict with confidence when a flu pandemic will strike, nor what its impact will be. In light of this uncertainty, the UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan makes a number of planning assumptions, and uses mathematical modelling that is influenced by information from previous pandemics and from seasonal flu. Key results from this work suggest that:

· 25% of UK population - around 15 million people – may suffer from flu during a pandemic;
· In a population of 100,000 people, local healthcare organisations should expect to see at least 1000 new influenza patients a week during a pandemic, with this figure rising up to 5000 a week or more at the peak;
· Hospital admissions for acute respiratory and related conditions are likely to increase by at least 50% with around 20,000 new patients a week requiring hospitalisation at the peak;
· In the UK alone, an influenza pandemic could cause at least 50,000 deaths, but this figure could be much higher;
· Around 25% of the working population may be need to take sick leave (5-8 working days) over the pandemic period – equating to 5-7% of the workforce at the peak of the pandemic. However, more time off work is likely to be taken by parents caring for children and other family members who are ill.


Responding to a flu pandemic

The key elements of the health response to a flu pandemic are:

Clear leadership and co-ordination at all levels;
Effective communication with public and health professionals;
Information and data gathering, and assessment of risks;
Public health response, such as the use of antiviral drugs and vaccines when they become available;
The effective response of the health service in investigation and management of cases, and infection control.

Work is ongoing both locally and nationally in each of these areas to ensure that the UK is as prepared as possible for a flu pandemic. For example, the Government is purchasing 14.6 million treatment courses of antiviral drugs. A range of communication materials are available, and clear guidance on infection control, and on clinical management of cases of pandemic flu, are being developed. Alongside health plans, work is also being taken forward in parallel on the civil emergency response to a pandemic.

It is critical that pandemic flu planning and communications are based on up-to-date information and advice. The latest materials and information will be available at the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu).

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON….

If you are interested in finding out more about pandemic flu and the UK’s preparedness, relevant documents are listed below which give information on particular subjects:

Antivirals: Annex H - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan and UK operational framework for stockpiling, distributing and using antiviral medicines in the event of pandemic influenza

Avian flu:
CMO website – www.dh.gov.uk/cmo
WHO website – www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/
HPA website - www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/avianinfluenza/menu.htm

Business continuity planning: for non-health service organisations, Annex J of the UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan and www.ukresilience.info

Communications Strategy: Annex I - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan

Impact of a flu pandemic: Chapter 4 - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan

Introduction to pandemic flu:
­ Explaining pandemic flu – CMO guide
­ Information for you and your family
­ Frequently Asked Questions

Roles & responsibilities: Chapter 6 - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan

Surveillance and information gathering: Annex F - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan

Vaccine: Annex G - UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan
Unless otherwise indicated, all the materials referred to above can be found at the Department of Health website www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu