Karin Grech to serve as isolation unit

In the event of an influenza pandemic breaking out, the Karin Grech wing at St Luke's Hospital will be used to isolate patients, according to the chairman of the National Influenza Pandemic Standing Committee Denis Vella Baldacchino.

Karin Grech, currently being upgraded, would be able to cope with people falling ill even if the attack rate goes up to an improbable 35 per cent, Dr Vella Baldacchino said.

This forms part of a contingency plan that will come into force as soon as the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares the onset of a global pandemic.

It has not yet been decided whether Karin Grech will still be used as the flu hospital once Mater Dei Hospital opens its gates.

Production of the vaccine against the pandemic virus - which is different from the much publicised avian flu - will begin as soon as it starts and the virus is identified and isolated by the WHO.

If the vaccine arrives during the first pandemic wave, plans are in place to vaccinate the whole population over a three-day period, using a model similar to that followed during a general election, when people from different localities go to various points to vote.

"More than 90 per cent of the people vote in one day. We will be adopting a similar procedure, opening up peripheral clinics, including schools, and vaccinate people over three days."

Asked about the possibility of closing borders, Dr Vella Baldacchino said studies had shown that a 99 per cent closure would only delay the disease entering a country by two weeks. Moreover, the WHO and other authoritative bodies are not promoting border closure.

"What will happen to our co-nationals abroad if borders are closed? Will they be unable to return home? Are we self-sufficient? And for how long will we be able to sustain closed borders? It's a nice idea, but the concept is not practical."

Malta, like other countries, is planning to adopt a system of exit screening. This would ensure that people leaving the country do not have signs and symptoms of the pandemic influenza. A plan has been drafted in case someone becomes ill in transit.

Attack and mortality rates are unknown because the virus as yet does not exist.

The Spanish Flu, one of the most infamous pandemics, struck in 1918 at a time when very little was known about influenza pandemics and as a result the level of preparedness was low.

In contrast to previous pandemics, Malta is already in possession of an adequate stockpile of antivirals as recommended by the WHO. Simple hygiene, like covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing, washing hands and disinfecting common surfaces, will help.

A nationwide education campaign on hygiene will soon be launched.