Travelling and Swine Flu

SGM has told me I *need* to blog about Swine Flu and it’s impact on travel for families, so here we go!

First of all, Swine Flu has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. “Pandemic” sounds like a very scary word but what does this really mean?

“A Phase Six pandemic declaration is based on the sustained worldwide spread of H1N1, not the severity of illness caused by the virus.”

That explanation is provided by Pandemicflu.gov According to WHO themselves,

“At this time, WHO considers the overall severity of the influenza pandemic to be moderate.”

In practical terms in Australia, that means that Swine Flu has so far had less serious consequences than the normal, seasonal flu that does the rounds. In fact, if you check out Centers for Disease Control page for Travellers you will see that there is in fact a huge outbreak of Pertussis (whooping cough) in Australia. NSW has had over 5,000 cases reported with one baby reported to have died from it. Compare that with 1,111 reported cases of Swine Flu in VIC with no reported deaths. And yet, the media is full of Swine Flu and nothing about whooping cough!!!! The Lonely Planet Blog recommends that the swine flu pandemic should not change your travel plans.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a great page with links to countries for travellers to see what is happening in each country. I checked Italy and discovered they have had an outbreak of measles. Sounds dreadful until I click on the information about measles and discover there is an outbreak currently in VIC, Australia as well. Quite frankly it is sounding safer to travel than stay home at the moment! Actually what I like best about CDC is that it includes the warning that car crashes are the leading cause of injury. CDC also publish “The Yellow Book” which although aimed at health professionals may be of interest to especially paranoid travellers or travellers requiring more in depth information. You can search the 2008 edition online.

Pandemic Preparedness has a table of countries with recommendations for travellers in regards to the Swine Flu.

Closer to home, the Australian Government has health and travel advice for travellers.
They have information on dealing with the flu pandemic for individuals and businesses here.
Every Australian who is travelling should also visit the Smart Traveller website. And as the recent “Bar Mat Mum” case has shown, being aware of travel advice for each country is important not just for health reasons. Even just transferring planes in a different country it is important to be aware of local laws, for example “Shoplifting and theft are considered serious offences in Singapore. Australians visiting Singapore and transiting Changi airport have received jail sentences for such offences. Shopping centres, including at Changi airport, have sophisticated surveillance equipment to prevent shoplifting.”

The Smart Traveller site has a page specifically about travelling with children and you can also register with the DFO. “All Australians travelling overseas, whether for tourism or business or for short or long stays, are encouraged to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade before travel.”

The NZ government has a similar website called Safetravel. Again NZers can register before travelling, there are travel advisories by country and health warnings (including stay away from nasty Australia where we have Dengue fever as well *sigh* perhaps it’s just as well none of this appears in the Australian media).

Further information on Swine Flu here:
WHO
and here
Pandemic Preparedness
Australian Guidelines for Dealing with Swine Flu for Health Professionals

Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Advice for Travellers, Influenza pandemic, Swine Flu, Swine influenza, Travel for Families