By Shannon Eliot
FireRescue1 Staff
GENEVA — The World Health Organization increased the H1N1 swine flu warning to level six on Thursday, officially classifying the virus as a global pandemic.
Although the virus has been promoted to the maximum alert level, it has not become deadlier or more dangerous, but has simply been reported in an increased number of countries, according to WHO.
So what does the first flu pandemic since 1968 mean for first responders?
While the number of cases continues to grow overseas — particularly in Britain, Japan, and Australia — the U.S. public and health care system have little cause for alarm, according to FireRescue1 columnist Mike McEvoy.
“In New York — one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. — the [swine flu] illness is actually milder than the seasonal flu, with much fewer deaths,” said McEvoy, EMS Coordinator for Saratoga County in New York. “The [WHO] warning levels just take the spread — not the seriousness — of the virus into account.”
In New York City, emergency responders are experiencing a 10 to 20 percent increase in call levels, thereby increasing wait time and the number of transports, McEvoy said. As a result, a separate phone line has been established for concerned patients with flu symptoms.
“EMS professionals should continue to take standard safety precautions required for any response, but the best thing they can do at this point is simply find ways of reassuring patients,” McEvoy said.
Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, shares McEvoy’s sentiments that the alert is not cause for overwhelming panic.
“On present evidence, the overwhelming majority of patients experience mild symptoms and make a rapid and full recovery, often in the absence of any form of medical treatment,” Chan said in a press statement.
“Globally, we have good reason to believe that this pandemic, at least in its early days, will be of moderate severity.”
Chan also noted that extra care should be taken around children, as they are more susceptible to the virus.
“We know that the novel H1N1 virus preferentially infects younger people,” Chan said. “In nearly all areas with large and sustained outbreaks, the majority of cases have occurred in people under the age of 25 years.”
McEvoy recommends both children and health care workers acquire the H1N1 vaccine when it comes out in the fall.
“Kids are definitely more susceptible and should be protected, but unvaccinated healthcare workers — while possibly not symptomatic — can unknowingly carry the virus to their patients,” he said. “It has always been recommended, but it may soon be required, that all EMS professionals obtain flu vaccinations.”
The virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has subsequently spread to 74 countries. There have been nearly 30,000 cases globally and more than 140 deaths.