#905
Admittedly, I'm partial to healthcare workers. I was one for many years. Some of my favorite people have been doctors, nurses, and medics. And so, I want to see them have the best possible protection during a pandemic.
Obviously they will need PPE's, Personal Protective Equipment like gloves, masks, and gowns. But less obvious, is whether they should receive prophylactic antiviral medications.
Given the limited supply of drugs, and the amounts needed for prophylaxis, it isn't an easy decision.
Allocation of antivirals for flu pandemic workers stirs debate
Last Updated: Monday, June 18, 2007 | 12:16 PM ET
Public health officials across Canada are grappling with the medical and ethical issues of giving front-line health-care workers preventive antiviral drugs if a flu pandemic strikes.
The federal and provincial governments have stockpiled more than 500 million doses of antiviral drugs to prepare for a pandemic.
'We have to be there to look after the ill population, and if we're not there because we're sick, people are going to die.' —Dr. Michael Gardam
Under the current federal plan, the drugs may only be used to treat people once they are ill, a reversal of an original decision two years ago to stockpile antivirals as a preventive treatment or prophylaxis for front-line health-care workers as well.
Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu offer the best hope of protecting health-care workers in the event of a pandemic and keeping them on the job to treat patients, said Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease expert at Toronto's University Health Network.
Following the outbreak of SARS in 2003 that killed 44 people in Toronto, most large hospitals in Ontario decided not to take chances and have stockpiled Tamiflu for their employees.
If there is a shortage of Tamiflu, Gardam said, hospitals have been told the Ontario government has the right to confiscate the drugs bought for preventive purposes, but he disagrees with that approach.
"It's a bit like we're going to say we're going to war, but not provide our soldiers with the right stuff necessary to actually make them safe in that setting," Gardam said.
"We have to be there to look after the ill population, and if we're not there because we're sick, people are going to die."
(Cont.)
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