By Alexis Keller
Staff Writer

Seasonal influenza is just around the corner. However the concern by most health experts has shifted to a much bigger problem: the possibility of a worldwide, pandemic flu. Burlington has recently become one of only nine communities to join a national campaign that encourages Americans to understand the reality of this threat, and to actively engage in personal preparedness.

The essence of the program

The campaign called, “Take the Lead: Working Together to Prepare Now,” is working to help inform and prepare people for an extreme emergency, says Robert Stirewalt of the Vermont Department of Health. The purpose of the program is to “prepare for the possibility of a pandemic in the future,” he says.

Burlington hopes its involvement in this program will bring more awareness and readiness to its residents, Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss says.

Burlington was one of the nine communities selected by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prepare citizens for a worst-case scenario of a pandemic flu outbreak, he says

Burlington became part of “Take the Lead” partly because of its size, Kiss says. Government agencies picked a range of city sizes, and Burlington is a good representative of the New England area.

“As the largest city in the state, we’re very small, but we can work pretty well with our health department,” Kiss says.  

The other communities taking part in the program, are: San Diego, Calif.; Wilmington, Del.; Savannah, Ga.; St. Louis, Mo.; Tuscarawas County, Ohio; Ft. Yates, N.O.; Sisseton, S.D.; Cache County, Utah; and Seattle, Wash., according to a press release from the Vermont Department of Health.

The most important message of “Take the Lead” is to plan ahead. The key lies in getting households to put aside a two-week supply of food, Kiss says.

“Bringing it to people’s attention and trying to begin to create a sense of having supplies on hand makes sense as part of preparedness,” he says..

Should we be worried?

The pandemic flu is a global outbreak of a new, severe strain of influenza for which people have little to no immunity, and no vaccine would be available for a period of time, according to the health department press release.

The strike of a worldwide pandemic flu is “not a question of if, but when,” Kiss says.  

Since St. Michael's ran out of the flu vaccine, students will have to travel to the University of Vermont. (Photo by Megan Davin)

About 90 million Americans could fall ill and close to two million people might die from it, he says.

These numbers are catastrophic compared to the deaths across the country from complications of seasonal influenza, which is about 36,000 a year, Stirewalt says.

The horrors of the 1918 pandemic are not far from Burlington residents' minds, Kiss says.

The 1918 pandemic overwhelmed the United States and swept across Vermont very quickly, catching health officials by surprise, the press release states. Many Vermonters became sick and the state was unable to spare any doctors or nurses to help neighboring states.

“Take the Lead” is in place to raise the awareness and readiness of Americans to help avoid another severe hit like the 1918 pandemic, Kiss says.

Stirewalt says it is too early to tell if this is the year the pandemic flu will hit, however, he does warn citizens that the vaccine for seasonal influenza would not prevent susceptibility to the global pandemic flu.

Students concerned for their health

Many St. Michael's students concerned about contracting the flu rush to get their vaccines every year. Even though the vaccine will not prevent susceptibility to the pandemic flu, Stirewalt and other health experts advise students to still get the flu vaccine.

Junior Megan Walsh heard about the possible worldwide flu pandemic from a friend who read an article about it in the Boston Globe. She is not overly concerned because she has not heard or read anything about it since, she says.

Walsh suffered from the flu for two weeks during her junior year of high school. She remembers itbeing “the worst experience of [her] life.”  Due to her previous episode with the flu and the fact that she suffers from asthma, she always gets the flu vaccine, she says.

Soreness of the arm is a common side-effect of the flu vaccine. (Photo by Megan Davin)

Stirewalt and the Vermont Department of Health encourage people to get their flu shots every year.

They provide the vaccine to some of the pediatric practices around the state, he says.

Students had  the chance to get the vaccine at Health Services here on campus, but supplies have run out.

Walsh’s biggest concern about students having the flu is how quickly it could spread to classmates and roommates, inhibiting them from attending classes.

The best advice for students and Burlington residents is to contain the spread of germs, and  be prepared for an extreme case of the pandemic flu, Stirewalt says.