By the end of February 2010, the swine flu pandemic had caused 15,921 deaths worldwide. In the UK, case numbers rose during the summer through to October of that year after the schools had started the autumn term and, since then, the number of cases in the UK has been falling. On 10 August 2010, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the H1N1 influenza pandemic was officially over and that: “we have now entered the post-pandemic period."[1]
However, NHS Choices tells the public: “it is important not to ignore H1N1 flu. The H1N1 flu virus will be one of the main viruses circulating this winter. Therefore, the H1N1 flu virus has been included in the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine.”[2]
The Department of Health runs an annual campaign to encourage as many of people as possible in the ‘at risk’ flu category as possible to have a jab.[3] It reminds people that:
- The virus infects the lungs and upper airways, causing a sudden high temperature and general aches and pains.
- It is highly contagious - avoiding the flu virus on crowded buses and trains or in an office environment is hard. It is spread by sneezing, coughing and hand contact, as well as indirectly from touching infected door handles, telephones, etc.
- Symptoms develop one to four days (two days on average) after being infected.
- Each year the virus is slightly different, its severity is unpredictable. Some flu seasons are worse than others. It depends on the type of flu virus going around and the number of people who are susceptible to it each winter.
Many organisations, in a bid to reduce sickness-related absence, invest in workplace flu injections each autumn, with this year’s strain of vaccine including swine flu protection (see above). The vaccine is designed to protection against the viral strains advised by WHO as being the most likely to attack the UK. After about a week, the vaccine produces antibodies (chemicals in the blood) that protect against the virus strains. Current vaccines give 70-90% protection against flu. For those who may still get flu, the illness is often milder.
One media company told The People Bulletin that their chief executive had been approached by Doctor Call, a medical services company about the benefits of offering workplace immunisations. The programme has since been going about four years and the HR/facilities team confirmed that with loyalty discounts, they were payiing:
- £289 One off nurse attendance fee
- £8.70 Per vaccine per person
And that in the 2009 season take-up was around 80 employees – representing one-third of the workforce. The HR manager clarified that there was no compulsion to have the vaccine, nor would individuals be penalised in any way if they went down with flu when they had declined the immunisation, but that at less than £1,000 a year outlay it was a cost-effective step to take when working days lost to flue are taken into account.
Organisations operating company sick pay policies more generous than the statutory minimum (Statutory Sick Pay is currently £79.15 a week and paid by the employer[4]) can find themselves badly out of pocket if staff do get struck down with the virus. The organisation we interviewed confirmed it allows 10 full days in a 12-month period on full pay before the individual drops back to the SSP rates and that it was keen to encourage a wider take-up of the jabs.
[1] See our previous coverage of swine flu in The People Bulletin: ‘All penned in?’ (12 May 2009), ‘Employers face prospect of flu pandemic litigation’ (31 July 2009) , ‘Swine flu absence rates set to reach 12% of the workforce.’ (27 August 2009)
[2] www.nhs.uk/conditions/pandemic-flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx
[3] www.nhs.uk/conditions/Flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx
[4] www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_10018786