HSE says firms need 'pandemic tsar'

Irish businesses should appoint a "pandemic tsar" to help deal with the potential fallout from the swine flu pandemic, the Health Service Executive said today.

The HSE said that while businesses should not overreact, they should put in place adequate plans to deal with the possibility of increased absenteeism.

The HSE is estimating an absenteeism rate of up to 15 per cent as a result of the H1N1 virus, which has killed more than 700 people globally. A number of studies in the US revealed up to 70 per cent of businesses have not prepared for the flu pandemic.

"It's possible that we have the same scenario in this country," the HSE's national director of communications Paul Connors said.

"This is the perfect smouldering crisis in that we have seen it come for quite a while, and while it's on us at this stage it's very likely...that it's going to get worse."

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Connors warned that businesses should not panic but should start to plan and "use this time as a wake-up call".

He said there was a number of steps businesses could take to prepare themselves. "The first thing that they acknowledge that this pandemic is real and is most likely to get worse and that also it will impact on their businesses," he said.

Mr Connors recommended the appointment of a "pandemic tsar", and a deputy to take over should that person fall ill.

A number of protocols should be implemented in relation to hygiene. Sneezing and coughing etiquette and  guidelines for the disposal of tissues could be introduced, and employers should make handwashing facilities available.

Employers should also be aware that people may need to take time off to look after sick relatives, Mr Connors said, adding that businesses could consider allowing people to work from home. "It's going to be very difficult for people to avoid contracting this," he said.

Speaking on the same programme this morning, Dr Mike Ryan, director of global alert and response in the World Health Organisation's health security and environment office in Geneva, said the speed of transmission was unprecedented due to air travel and the denisty of populations.

Dr Ryan said that while the disease was "very transmissible", it was causing mild symptoms in most of the population, with more severe illnesses seen in specific high risk groups - pregnant women, morbidly obese, those with underlying respiratory disease, on asthma medication, suffering cardiovascular and neurological disease - of the population.

"While we're not seeing many deaths, it's likely to be much more disruptive to the economic and social systems in many countries," he said.

To date, 172 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Ireland, with 21 in-country transmissions.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) said today it was contacting officers and speakers who attended a training session it held in the Waterford Institute of Technology last week, after it emerged that a small number of delegates who attended were diagnosed as having the H1N1 virus.

So far one case has been confirmed on-campus in UCD, and a further two in Northern Ireland.

The student organisation said it was monitoring the situation and had alerted attendees to be vigilant for potential symptoms.

The USI also said it was working in conjunction with the HSE to help minimise the effects of the flu outbreak on campuses in the coming academic year.