SHANDONG - CHINA

Developing the community response guide for A/H1N1 in Shandong province, China

Global concern over outbreaks of A/H1N1 influenza virus reached pandemic levels in 2009. While the government provided advice and technical guidance on how to manage the virus, health workers and doctors at the community level were offered very little practical support in terms of what procedures should be followed or how the health system would cope during an anticipated wider outbreak.

In response, COMDIS China, Shandong CDC and Shandong Chest Hospital have co-developed an A/H1N1 rapid response guide for health workers at the county level, based on the Nuffield avian flu rapid response guide for WHO and the most recent China Ministry of Health (MoH) guidelines. The guide includes the procedures and operational guidance of A/H1N1 control, e.g. case finding and reporting, community and school control, patient management, and hospital infection control. Following the pilot study in one county of Shandong province, the training is now being rolled out across the province to train health workers from county CDC and hospitals, township hospitals or school clinics. This guide turned out to be feasible and practical for the targeted users responding to the A/H1N1 control.

This study fits into the priority of pandemic control on China and will benefit the health workers and community through training on pandemic preparedness and control. The working group that consists of both the Shandong CDC and Chest Hospital experts will also contribute to reducing the communication gap between CDC's and hospitals.