It sounds very obvious but the AP has an article about a government disaster plan that warns businesses that they might see a large percentage of the workforce out sick if there is a bird flu pandemic.
Each ill person is expected to infect two others. Symptoms should appear within two days. Flu spreads most among school-age children — expect a 40 percent attack rate among them compared to 20 percent among working adults. But, with caring for sick relatives and stay-at-home precautions to avoid infection, 40 percent of the workforce could be absent for weeks at a time.
To minimize workplace infection, the report gives the most in-depth advice yet for businesses to take such steps as cleaning offices -- flu can live on hard surfaces for 48 hours -- and minimize employee contact by not shaking hands and staying 3 feet from co-workers.
But the 3-feet advice assumes flu only spreads in the large droplets of coughs and sneezes; tiny droplets that stay suspended in the air for long periods can spread it, too.
"Those are the kinds of uncertainties that make it hard to be very dogmatic" about health tips, cautioned Dr. John Treanor, a University of Rochester flu specialist.
Not shaking hands and keeping 3 feet a way from coworkers might reduce some exposure but pandemic bird flu, like the regular flu, would be airborne and it could still spread even if everyone was following those guidelines. Companies should probably expect that even a bird flu scare might see a lot of employees staying at home out of fear.
