Businesses should prepare now for fall flu

Jo Ellen Warner

Monday, July 6, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

Nevada businesses large and small have been preparing for “the big one” — a terrorist attack, a natural disaster or a killer strain of global flu. Now it’s time to prepare for the “little one” — the anticipated resurgence of the recent menace, the H1N1 virus (swine flu), this fall.

Apparently more than 680,000 Americans agree. That is how many private- and public-sector folks participated in a call this month with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the potential for the H1N1 pandemic to create high absenteeism and affect business operations.

Is this really a concern for Nevada? There are 301 confirmed H1N1 cases, and neighboring Arizona and California have some of the higher H1N1 activity in the nation. And even though the number of Southern Nevada’s visitors is down from pre-recession levels to 37 million, that’s a lot of human hosts for microbes to hitch a ride on.

It’s impossible to predict the extent or severity of H1N1 illness this fall, only that the virus will circulate and most people will have no immunity.

So far in the U.S., people infected with H1N1 develop anything from a mild, brief upper respiratory illness with fever that might cause them to stay home for a couple of days to moderate illnesses that cause a person to miss a week or more of school or work to more severe illnesses that can result in hospitalization, intensive care admissions or death.

Certain medical conditions increase the risk of complications. Those hospitalized with H1N1 in the U.S. have had one or more high-risk factors such as heart and lung conditions, and pregnancy. However, CDC officials say we are going to continue to see healthy people develop severe illness. It is not going to be common, but it is important to recognize that even in the absence of an underlying condition, people can become severely ill.

For businesses, the most striking feature of the H1N1 outbreak is that it hits younger age groups, and that of course includes the workforce as well as children who in turn need their parents to stay home to care for them.

One sick employee creates the risk of spreading H1N1 to other employees and their families, as well as customers. Rather than dealing with a sudden surge of illness and staffing shortages on the fly, the CDC is recommending steps employers can take over the summer to prepare the workplace — illness prevention, continuity of operations strategies, flexible leave policies, accessing antiviral medications for treating illness and an eventual vaccine to prevent it.

The No. 1 control strategy is to keep sick people and well people apart. It’s important for employers to encourage sick workers to stay home and away from the workplace.

Formulating special sick leave and pay policies can minimize absenteeism and staffing shortages and halt or at least slow the spread of disease throughout a company’s workforce. Policies need to adjust for sick employees to stay out for seven to 10 days, and for employees to stay home to care for sick family members.

Preparing for absenteeism and smaller staffs will require businesses to identify key functions such as fulfilling customer orders and handling payroll, and cross-train employees to handle multiple functions to minimize interruptions. Supply chains may need rethinking. Facilitating off-site work may enable employees to maintain work responsibilities, especially if the H1N1 scenario includes school closures and minding well children at home.

Common-sense approaches such as requiring hand-washing, maintaining clean work spaces, setting standards with cleaning crews and stocking appropriate supplies will help keep the workplace healthy.

Businesses that have operations in other countries face the extra challenge of setting up feeds of information to monitor local conditions. It is important now as flu season varies around the world and crucial for the fall when flu season in the U.S. often starts as early as October.

In the absence of an H1N1 vaccine, planning for a disruptive scenario is the best chance for managing one successfully. It will take at least 20 to 25 weeks from the start of an outbreak to develop a vaccine, though fortunately anti-viral medications are proving effective in treating people who fall ill.

Ample assistance is available to businesses, at the federal level and in Nevada. CDC planning guides and checklists are available at

www.pandemicflu.gov. Also, Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic is at www.osha.gov and the Pandemic Flu Preparedness Kit for Businesses is at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce’s Web site,

www.lvchamber.com/chamber/business

-continuity. Track the local H1N1 situation at the State Health Division, health.nv.gov.

Preparedness is a shared responsibility — by the private sector, government and health care. Aligning business practices with public health recommendations is a practical investment of time and effort whether we’re facing the “little pandemic” or rehearsing for the big one that yet may come.

Jo Ellen Warner is a frequent public health preparedness consultant to the World Health Organization and has held emergency preparedness positions with U.S. state and local health jurisdictions. She recently moved to Las Vegas to be closer to family.