“The one thing that is for sure with all of the discussion about pandemics, nurses will be key healthcare provides who will help protect our country and our world. Keeping informed on the developments of the preparedness plan and taking the necessary actions to protect yourself first so that you will be able to care for others is an important aspect we need to keep in mind.” (Rodts, 2005, p.392)














Past influenza pandemics

The history of influenza pandemics has been recorded. In 1918, the Spanish flu, caused by influenza A virus, spread around the globe, in around four to six months (WHO, 2004). Waves of infection occurred over two years and killed many people throughout the world. Depending on the source, the number of people killed varies from 20-21 million (NIAID, 2004 and Sheff, 2005), 40-50 million (WHO, 2004) to more than 50 million (Rodts, 2005 and NIAID, 2004). Within the United States of America the “Spanish flu”, subtype H1N1, killed more than 500,000 people (NIAID, 2004).

Since then, two additional pandemics have been seen: the Asian flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong flu in 1968. The "Asian flu", subtype H2N2, was first identified in China, and caused roughly 70,000 deaths in the United States (Rodts, 2005 and NIAID 2005). The second pandemic seen after the Spanish flu was detected in Hong Kong, and appropriately named the “Hong Kong flu". A different subtype - H3N2, caused this pandemic of influenza. During the 1968-69 season, roughly 34,000 deaths occurred in the United States from this virus (Rodts, 2005 and NIAID, 2005). After 37 years, the “Hong Kong flu” virus H3N2 is still circulating (NIAID 2005).