Articles: pandemics.
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In Japan, about 20 million people were infected with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus between July 2009 and March 2010. About 60% of them were under 15 years, but only 38 pediatric deaths were reported. ⋯ The time from onset to appear dyspnea in patients with lower respiratory complications was very short, and encephalopathy also appears very rapidly. It is very important to observe clinical course closely and to start neuraminidase inhibitor within 48 hours.
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Prior to 2009, influenza pandemic planners had primarily planned for a virus that would originate in a location other than North America, giving public health officials in the United States time to determine its severity before widespread disease occurred here. Thus, response plans for schools focused on closure in the case of a severe pandemic and potential closure in the event of a moderate one. ⋯ Thus, as the pandemic unfolded, state and national public health entities found themselves adapting their recommendations for school closure. This article reviews Minnesota's experience with 2009 H1N1, focusing on the pandemic among school-aged children during the spring (April to August 2009) and fall (September 2009 to April 2010), and it chronicles how outbreak surveillance policies and recommendations for K-12 schools changed over the course of the pandemic.
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Against a background of pandemic threat posed by SARS and avian H5N1 influenza, this study used deliberative forums to elucidate informed community perspectives on aspects of pandemic planning. ⋯ The recommendations from the forums suggest that the implementation of pandemic plans in a severe pandemic will be challenging, but not impossible. Implementation may be more successful if the public is engaged in pandemic planning before a pandemic, effective communication of key points is practiced before and during a pandemic and if judicious use is made of supportive measures to assist those in quarantine or affected by social isolation measures.