The University of Western Ontario has prepared a guide to help inform and prepare members of the community for an influenza pandemic.
The printable guide provides essential information on what individuals and families need to know to be prepared, as well as notes the challenges during a pandemic, a checklist for planning and tips for prevention and treatment.
Western has a pandemic plan and is prepared in the case of an outbreak. This new guide helps faculty, staff and students reduce their risk of contracting the virus or reduce the spread of the disease.
Shelagh Bantock, Clinical Director, Student Health Services, says everyone needs to take an active role in their own health, including preparing for a possible outbreak.
“I think the best thing we can do is prepare people,” she says.
With more than 5,000 people affected worldwide by the A/H1N1 virus, Bantock says the numbers continue to grow. Although the cases reported in Canada are mild – Ontario health officials report a total of 110 cases as of May 11 – Bantock doesn’t rule out the possibility of a second wave of the disease surfacing.
“It’s looking fairly positive but that’s not to say we won’t get a new wave in six months. Right now it looks like our prevention is working,” she says.
The more severe cases are predominately found in Mexico; however it is still unknown the underlying reason.
Although the outbreak has not reached pandemic levels, locally Bantock reminds residents to take the possibility of an outbreak seriously.
“It may not feel like it is a flu epidemic right now because it isn’t; but it may in fact come again. We need to learn from what Mexico is going through in the event that some mutated virus comes to Ontario or Canada and we experience the same thing.”
As another preventative measure, Western continues to prohibit non-essential, university-related travel by faculty, staff and students to Mexico.
To view the Pandemic Influenza: A Guide for Individuals and Families, visit https://communications.uwo.ca/influenza-microsite/downloads/PandemicPreparedness.pdf.
Watch the Western microsite dedicated to the A1N1 virus for updates at https://communications.uwo.ca/influenza-microsite/.