WPROST24: The country’s leading epidemiologist, professor Zieliński, said that he was preparing for a heavy flu epidemic in Poland. Does the Ministry also take this scenario into consideration?

Ewa Kopacz: First of all, I hope that Poles are well-prepared due to the systematic efforts made by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, as well as the National Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. These units instruct people how to behave in the flu season. Their current instructions are no different from the instructions which are given before every regular flu season. The new flu, according to experts worldwide, is much more benign than the seasonal flu. For example, 161 people in Poland were hospitalized and treated in accordance to the European rules, and all of them came back home healthy. No one has died of the swine flu in Poland. Those infected with A/H1N1 were quickly diagnosed, taken to appropriately prepared infection wards, furnished with adequate equipment, isolation rooms and medications. This illustrates how well prepared we are.

You said that GPs will receive the necessary aids to diagnose A/H1N1 cases. Will they receive additional funds for the treatment? Does the Ministry have such funds to spare in case of a mass illness?

We have contributed additional funds purposed to provide more laboratories with the equipment necessary to diagnose the flu; therefore, the diagnosis will be possible in more than just several main laboratories which have previously diagnosed the virus. Additional means will be needed to purchase the vaccine, if it enters the market. There is enough of all other means of protection, including protective masks which will be distributed if need be. Necessary drugs are in store and are now being packed, so that we can distribute them to stop the possible first wave of the flu. Should the epidemic of the A/H1N1 virus break out in Poland, we are prepared to purchase additional drugs if necessary.

When will the vaccine be available in Poland?

As soon as it is available worldwide, and it isn’t yet. We don’t know yet whether it is a safe and effective drug, something that we could recommend. Before I can tell Polish citizens to get vaccines, I must be 100% sure that the vaccines work, that it won’t be a treatment by suggestion: "if I get a shot, I won’t get sick". I want to recommend a vaccine whose effectiveness has been proven.

We don’t know if the new vaccine is going to be effective, and all doctors say that the drug which has hitherto been used to cure the new flu works well, in spite of its ill reputation caused by several cases of child dehydration. Therefore, is there any need to hurry the launch of the new, untested vaccine?

That is why we don’t hurry. Some will say: Poland finally wants to get the vaccine. Others: What’s the rush? I  listen neither to the advocates of the new vaccine’s quick launch nor to those who are saying to take it slow. I only listen to experts on the matter and my own common sense. There is no lobbying from either side.

If the vaccine turns out to be effective and makes patients more likely to get through the flu season without infections or complications caused by the A/H1N1 virus, we will recommend it.

We already know that the so-called „high risk groups" will be vaccinated first. What about vaccines for pregnant women? 

Pregnancy is a special time for every woman. Two people, the mother and the baby, must be taken care of. Experts are the ones who must tell every woman individually whether she should be vaccinated during the pregnancy or not. These vaccines include live germs. Ideally, the experts should be gynaecologists or obstetricians, who will consider each case individually. It is doctors’ job to make such decisions.

Are Polish hospitals prepared to provide for a large number of A/H1N1 infected patients? Professor Zieliński claims that there are no rooms at intensive care wards prepared to accommodate exclusively those who have fallen ill with the new flu.

I respect the opinions of professor Zieliński, as he is an authority in epidemiology. But, first of all: there is no epidemic yet. Secondly, the illness caused by the new virus is much more benign. Let’s have a look at a reversed situation. The seasonal flu is usually much more malignant. Has there ever been a situation where hospitals run out of places to take in flu-infected patients? No, because not every flu patient must be hospitalized. If somebody has rhinitis, fever and cold, they shouldn’t go to work, spread the virus and infect their co-workers. Children shouldn’t go to school then, but they may stay at home and take drugs prescribed by their GP. There is no country in the world in which every person sneezing or coughing would be hospitalized. Therefore, I am calling for some common sense. I’m also appealing to the media: don’t hot up the information and say that something horrible is about to happen. We don’t know what will happen.

Of course, as the Ministry of Health, we are trying to be prepared for the most negative scenario as well. Our aim is to secure as many beds as possible, to teach doctors how to behave during an outbreak, to prepare laboratories for diagnoses of the infection, provide an adequate number of drugs and preventive means, such as gloves or masks. This is the Minister of Health’s responsibility. But predicting whether an epidemic as serious as the one of the Spanish flu is about to happen is like a coffee grounds reading. However, it is the Minister’s and the Ministry’s responsibility to prepare for such a possibility. We are preparing for all possible options. Still, in good faith, we want to tell Polish citizens to act in accordance with instructions.

What is the Ministry of Health’s plan in case of a pandemic outbreak?

The World Health Organization has already announced a worldwide pandemic. I must admit that I was somewhat surprised with the reaction from the part of WHO to the number of infected patients. Normally, a pandemic is announced according to the number of deaths. In this case, the speed at which the virus was spreading was taken into account when announcing the pandemic, not the number of the A/H1N1 related deaths.

If there is a pandemic in Poland and the number of patients who require hospitalization exceeds the number of beds on infection wards, we will open the wards whose patients need not be hospitalised. In other words, we will make beds available on other wards so that patients who must be hospitalized will be taken in there. Of course, there is a safety plan coordinator for crises, who supervises all actions of this kind. If a crisis, or an epidemic, is announced, we will hand portions of drugs down to healthcare facilities. We will also distribute the supplies of masks, gloves and protective wear.

What would you advise Poles to do before the flu season?

First of all, stay calm. Act in accordance with the instruction from the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate and epidemiologists. This will protect most Polish citizens from complications caused by the illness.