Upfront plans required in case of pandemic

When government officials and emergency planners in Washoe County get together this week for serious game-playing to see how an influenza pandemic might unfold in northern Nevada, the steps that businesses might take are a key question.

If a business take steps to reduce the contact among their employees and between employees and the public during a disease outbreak they could sharply reduce the spread of a killer pandemic.

But that requires some upfront planning and the development of policies that might never be needed work that's a hard sell for companies that already are slammed with the pressures of their daily business.

Randall Todd, director of the division of epidemiology and public health preparedness for the Washoe District Health Department, says newly published research throws a new spotlight on the importance of businesses in fighting a widespread outbreak of a disease such as bird flu.

If no drugs are available to fight a disease outbreak, the most important tool that health officials will have at their disposal is social distancing reducing the contacts between people that provide opportunities for a disease to spread.

While much earlier research focused on the effects of school closures in reducing the spread of disease, the newest round of research finds that businesses can play a major role in social distancing among adults.

The difficulty posed by influenza, Todd says, is that people are infected and capable of spreading the disease for about 24 hours before symptoms show up and they realize they're sick.

And the number of opportunities to spread the disease continues to rise if people who are ill show up for work because they're afraid they'll get in trouble if they call in sick.

That means, Todd says, that health officials are encouraging businesses to look at two issues during the planning for a possible influenza pandemic.

First, he says, businesses should be thinking about how they could operate while reducing the face-to-face conduct among employees and customers as much as possible.

In case of a bird flu outbreak, he asks, could employees work from home? Could conference calls replace meetings and reduce business travel? Can essential functions be identified in advance, and non-essential workers told to stay home?

An equally big issue, health officials say, is ensuring that sick-leave policies don't unwittingly encourage workers to show even when they're sick.

Employers whose policies subtly pressure sick employees to come to work may leave themselves open to legal action if an worker spreads illness to customers or other people, Todd says.

In some instances, employers might want to consider development of a special sick-leave policy that would be applicable only in case of emergencies, says Judy Davis, public information officer for the Washoe District Health Department.

No matter what policies they may implement, employers need to clearly tell their workers to stay home if they're ill, health officials say.

"We're talking about a huge cultural realignment," Davis says.

Health officials so far have been talking with major employers as well as professional groups, but small companies also should be thinking about how they would deal with a flu pandemic, Todd says. (For help in getting started on the planning, contact Robin Albrandt at the health department, 328-2432.)

At the same time that they're encouraging business to think through their plans for a pandemic of bird flu or a similar disease, health officials also are addressing the steps that businesses can take to reduce the business effects of an outbreak of ordinary seasonal flu.

The biggest step employers can take: Encouraging their workers to get flu shots.

Then they should push common-sense steps such as frequent hand-washing, regular disinfection of shared surfaces and coughing into a sleeve rather than a hand.