Pandemic/Biological Accidents

Significant Pandemic Events and Strategies

Past important pandemics include: plague, tuberculosis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), malaria, measles, and influenza. Pandemics may differ in temporal scale: acute outbreaks may last weeks to months (e.g., SARS); while chronic infection spread may continue for years and decades (e.g., AIDS, and tuberculosis). Historians have noted the significant impact of these diseases on the development, success, and failure of nations and societies. Humankind has survived numerous infectious challenges in the past; however, there are several key variables present today that can dramatically raise morbidity and mortality from pandemic disease. World population size, combined with frequency and availability of modern global travel, are poised to rapidly disseminate an infectious agent to large numbers of people worldwide.

It is nearly impossible to achieve quarantine, which was an ancient, but useful strategy employed to prevent potentially infected individuals from socializing and spreading disease. SARS and the 2009 influenza outbreak demonstrated containment difficulties in the age of air travel; by the time a new infectious illness is noted, affected individuals may have already traveled to a location remote from the center of disease activity, spreading the infectious agent worldwide.

Strategies for limiting population illness and deaths from a novel infectious agent, or in essence, preventing pandemics, range from containment to treatment measures. Preparation for a pandemic involves not only addressing medical contingencies, but also infrastructure and business continuity planning geared to supporting essential daily activities in the event that individuals performing necessary functions become ill. On the medical front, resource preparation for infection control measures such as personal protective equipment, system surge capacity, supply and equipment availability, essential medications, and vaccine development all play a role in successfully combating disease morbidity and mortality. Medical ethics are involved in prioritizing treatment decisions, providing medication and/or vaccines to people of different ages, varying socioeconomic status, and citizens of developing nations.

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