One flu over the workplace

摘要

1. Influenza A (H1N1) virus or 'swine flu' is the first flu pandemic of the 21st century and the first for 40 yearsrn2. A(H1N1) was formally declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 June 2009rn3. When the first UK cases emerged, the Department of Health predicted that absence-from-work rates would rise to 12% during peak weeks, possibly higherrn4. Most businesses and public sector organisations, however, have not experienced the levels of absence and disruption predicted when A(HiNi) was first declared a pandemicrn5. All the employers contacted by Occupational Health [at Work] had already put in place a plan for dealing with a major epidemic or pandemicrn6. The history of previous flu pandemics shows that a more virulent strain can emerge approximately one year after the first incarnation, so there may be a third or, possibly, a fourth wave in 2010.