Columbia University Pandemic Flu Response

What is "pandemic influenza?"

Influenza - "flu" - is widely familiar, causing epidemics every year. Influenza viruses spread very well from person to person.

A pandemic is an influenza epidemic so large that the entire world is affected. Two main conditions are required for an influenza pandemic: the influenza virus strain must be novel to the human population (so that most of the population does not already have some immunity to it), and it must be able to spread efficiently from person to person.

What is the swine flu?

Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports many confirmed human cases of swine Influenza A (H1N1) in the United States. The spread of the swine flu is reported to be happening in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly through coughing or sneezing among people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs caused by the type A influenza virus (H1N1) that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. It is one type of swine flu virus among several strains. An "influenza pandemic" and the swine flu H1N1 are not the same thing.

What are some symptoms of swine Influenza A (H1N1)?

The signs of H1N1 in people are similar to the symptoms of regular flu, which include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, cough, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea. In the current outbreak, cough and fever have been the most commonly reported symptoms.  In the past, severe illness (i.e., pneumonia and lung failure) and deaths have been reported with flu infection.

Like seasonal flu, H1N1 may cause more serious disease in people with underlying chronic medical conditions, such as chronic kidney or liver disease, chronic lung disease (for example, emphysema), and conditions which affect the immune system (for example, HIV/AIDS or certain types of cancer).  In addition, pregnant women and obese individuals have been identified as at-risk group for the current H1N1 outbreak. 

Why is illness from the H1N1 outbreak categorized as "mild," given the recent upgrade of the pandemic alert to Phase 6 by the World Health Organization?

Public health authorities categorize the recent cases of swine Influenza A (H1N1) as 'mild' in the context of this outbreak as an appropriate descriptor of the impact of the disease; for example, the rate of hospitalizations and mortality compared to the impact observed in the past. This is distinct from the number of cases categorized in geographical regions around the world.

What’s different in a pandemic?

Much of the same common-sense advice applies during a pandemic as is recommended for avoiding the seasonal flu. As always, stay well informed and look for up-to-date information from this website, the local Health Department and Health Services at Columbia. Your health and welfare are a prime concern of the University, and we are committed to keeping you up to date, providing the best available information and reducing the impact of a pandemic as much as possible.

How frequent are flu pandemics?

Most scientists believe that occasional influenza pandemics are inevitable, like earthquakes or hurricanes. Influenza pandemics have been documented several times in the 20th century and earlier, including 1918-19 (the most severe on record, with an estimated 50 million deaths worldwide), 1957 and 1968.