WHO Pandemic H1N1 Briefing Note

This latest WHO Pandemic H1N1 Briefing Note has a few interesting points. Points that I think we'd be well to remember in the next few months...here they are for you to consider, in no specific order:

• "...further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable."
• "In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks."
• "This pandemic has been characterized, to date, by the mildness of symptoms in the overwhelming majority of patients, who usually recover, even without medical treatment, within a week of the onset of symptoms. However, there is still an ongoing need in all countries to closely monitor unusual events, such as clusters of cases of severe or fatal pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection, clusters of respiratory illness requiring hospitalization, or unexplained or unusual clinical patterns associated with serious or fatal cases."

WHO is also recommending threat assessments be done. Just how will you go about doing a threat assessment or vulnerability analysis for flu?