Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T08:50:25.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic: Mental Health Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Paul C. Perrin ,
O. Lee McCabe ,
George S. Everly Jr.  and
Jonathan M. Links
Paul C. Perrin*
Affiliation:
PhD Candidate, Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
O. Lee McCabe
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
George S. Everly Jr.
Affiliation:
Associate, Center for Public Health Preparedness, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonathan M. Links
Affiliation:
Professor and Director, Center for Public Health Preparedness, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
*
Department of International HealthThe Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health615 North Wolfe StreetBaltimore, Maryland 21205USA E-mail: pperrin@jhsph.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a common belief that an influenza pandemic not only is inevitable, but that it is imminent. It is further believed by some, and dramatized by a 2006 made-for-television-movie, that such a pandemic will herald an end to life as we know it. Are such claims hyperboles, or does a pandemic represent the most significant threat to public health in the new millennium? Any potential effects of a disease on a population are mediated not only through the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease itself, but through the psychological and behavioral reactions that such a disease might engender. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the potential psychological and behavioral reactions that may accompany an influenza pandemic.

Type
Comprehensive Review
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , June 2009 , pp. 223 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Seneca:Oedipus, c.100, Available at http://www.theoi.com/Text/SenecaOedipus.html. Accessed 12 February 2008Google Scholar
2.Khan, IA: Plague: The dreadful visitation occupying the human mind for centuries. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2004;98:270–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Dirckx, J:Pestilence narratives in classical literature:A study in creative imitation. Am J Dermatopathol 2000;22:459–464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Cheng, C, Cheung, MW:Psychological responses to outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome: A prospective, multiple time-point study. J Pers 2005;73:261–285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Ursano, RJ: Preparedness for SARS, influenza, and bioterrorism. Psychiatr Serv 2005;56:7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Beigel, JH, Farrar, J, Han, AM, et al. : Avian influenza a (h5n1) infection in humans. N Engl J Med 2005;353:1374–1385.Google ScholarPubMed
7.Ungchusak, K, Auewarakul, P, Dowell, SF, et al. : Probable person-to-person transmission of avian influenza a (h5n1). N Engl J Med 2005;352:333–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Belshe, RB: The origins of pandemic influenza—Lessons from the 1918 virus. N Engl J Med 2005;353:2209–2211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Taubenberger, JK, Reid, AH, Lourens, RM, et al. :Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes. Nature 2005;437:889–893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.McFee, RB, Bush, LM, Boehm, KM:Avian influenza:Critical considerations for the primary care physician. Johns Hopkins Adv Stud Med 2006;6:8–16.Google Scholar
11.World Health Organization: Cumulative Number of Confirmed Human Cases of Avian Influenza A/(H5N1) Reported to WHO. Geneva: WHO, 2008.Google Scholar
12.US Department of Health and Human Services: HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan. Washington, DC, 2005.Google Scholar
13.Gerberding, J:Pandemic preparedness:Pigs, poultry, and people versus plans, products, and practice. J Infect Dis 2006;194:s77–s81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Poland, GA, Jacobson, RM, Targonski, PV:Avian and pandemic influenza:An overview. Vaccine 2007;25:3057–3061.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.US Department of Health and Human Services: Pandemic Planning Assumptions. Washington DC, 2006.Google Scholar
16.Homeland Security Council: National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. Washington DC, 2005.Google Scholar
17.Ramalingaswami, V: Psychological effects of the 1994 plague outbreak in Surat, India. Mil Med 2001;166:29–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Manderscheid, RW: Preparing for Pandemic Avian Influenza: Ensuring Mental Health Services and Mitigating Panic. Available at http://www.mhsip.org/srcmhs2006/13a-Preparing%20for%20the%20Pandemic%20Avian%20Influenza-Ensuring%20MH%20Services%20&%20Mitigating%20Panic%20-%20Constella%20Group.pdf. Accessed 28 February 2007.Google Scholar
19.De Roo, A, Ado, B, Rose, B, et al. : Survey among survivors of the 1995 ebola epidemic in kikwit, democratic republic of Congo:Their feelings and experiences. Tropical Medicine and International Health 1998;3:883–885.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Tsuruta, K, Fujii, Y, Maeda, H, et al. :Mental health status and effects on daily life of patients of a large outbreak of legionnaires disease. Nippon Koshu Eisei Zasshi 2005;52:308–318.Google ScholarPubMed
21.Wu, KK, Chan, SK, Ma, TM: Posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression in survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). J Trauma Stress 2005;18:39–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Maunder, RG, Lancee, WJ, Rourke, S, et al. : Factors associated with the psy-chological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on nurses and other hospital workers in Toronto. Psychosom Med 2004;66:938–942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Lee, T, Chi, I, Chung, L, et al. : Ageing and psychological response during the post-SARS period. Aging Ment Health 2006;10:303–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Sim, K, Chua, HC:The psychological impact of SARS:A matter of heart and mind. CMAJ 2004;170:811–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Lee, S, Chan, LY, Chau, AM, et al. : The experience of SARS-related stigma at Amoy Gardens. Soc Sci Med 2005;61:2038–2046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Maunder, R, Hunter, J, Vincent, L, et al. : The immediate psychological and occupational impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital. CMAJ 2003;168:1245–1251.Google ScholarPubMed
27.Everly, G, Castellano, C: Psychological Counterterrorism and World War IV. Ellicott City: Chevron, 2004.Google Scholar
28.Iancu, I, Strous, R, Poreh, A, et al. : Psychiatric inpatients' reactions to the SARS epidemic:An Israeli survey. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci 2005;42:258–262.Google Scholar
29.Wilder-Smith, A: The severe acute respiratory syndrome: Impact on travel and tourism. Travel Med Infect Dis 2006;4:53–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Lau, JT, Yang, X, Tsui, HY, et al. :Positive mental health-related impacts of the SARS epidemic on the general public in Hong Kong and their associations with other negative impacts. J Infect 2006;53:114–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Pynoos, R, Nader, K: Issues in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents. In: Wilson, J, Raphael, B (eds): International Handbook ofTraumatic Stress Syndromes. New York: Plenum, 1993.Google Scholar
32.Norris, FH, Kaniasty, K, Conrad, ML, et al. : Placing age differences in cultural context:A comparison of the effects of age on PTSD after disasters in the United States, Mexico, and Poland. Journal of Clinical Geropsychology 2002;8:153–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Galea, S, Ahern, J, Resnick, H, et al. : Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. N Engl J Med 2002;346:982–987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34.Koenig, HG: In the Wake of Disaster: Religious Responses to Terrorism & Catastrophe. Templeton Foundation Press, 2006.Google Scholar
35.Rotter, JB: Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychol Monogr 1966;80:1–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36.Rotter, JB, Chance, JE, Phares, EJ: Applications of a Social Learning Theory of Personality. New York:Holt, Rinehart and Winston,1972.Google Scholar
37.Bandura, A: Self-Efficacy:The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H.Freeman, 1997.Google Scholar
38.Ursano, RJ: Preparedness for SARS, influenza, and bioterrorism. Psychiatr Serv 2005;56:7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39.Bai, Y, Lin, CC, Lin, CY, et al. : Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak. Psychiatr Serv 2004;55:1055–1057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40.Chong, MY, Wang, WC, Hsieh, WC, et al. : Psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on health workers in a tertiary hospital. Br J Psychiatry 2004;185:127–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41.Chan, AO, Huak, CY: Psychological impact of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak on health care workers in a medium size regional general hospital in Singapore. Occup Med (Lond) 2004;54:190–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Wong, TW, Yau, JK, Chan, CL, et al. : The psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak on healthcare workers in emergency departments and how they cope. Eur J Emerg Med 2005;12:13–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
43.Balicer, RD, Omer, SB, Barnett, DJ, et al. : Local public health workers' perceptions toward responding to an influenza pandemic. BMC Public Health 2006;6:99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
44.Lu, J, Konty, K, Mostashari, F, et al. : Could outpatient visits enhance our abil-ity of early detecting influenza-like illness outbreaks? Advances in Disease Surveillance 2006;1:44.Google Scholar
45.Oum, S, Chandramohan, D, Cairncross, S: Community-based surveillance: A pilot study from rural cambodia. Trop Med Int Health 2005;10:689–697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
46.Raphael, B: When disaster strikes: How Individuals and Communities Cope with Catastrophe. New York: Basic Books, 1986.Google Scholar
47.Everly, G, Mitchell, JT: Integrative Crisis Intervention and Disaster Mental Health. Ellicott City: Chevron, 2008.Google Scholar
48.Hawryluck, L, Gold, WL, Robinson, S, et al. : SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine, Toronto, Canada. Emerg Infect Dis 2004;10:1206–1212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
49.Day, T, Park, A, Madras, N, et al. :When is quarantine a useful control strategy for emerging infectious diseases? Am J Epidemiol 2006;163:479–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
50.Saathoff, G, Everly, GS Jr,: Psychological challenges of bioterror:Containing contagion. Int J Emerg Ment Health 2002;4:245–252.Google ScholarPubMed
51.Tzeng, HM, Yin, CY: Nurses' fears and professional obligations concerning possible human-to-human avian flu. Nurs Ethics 2006;13:455–470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
52.O'Boyle, C, Robertson, C, Secor-Turner, M:Public health emergencies:Nurses' recommendations for effective actions. AAOHN J 2006;54:347–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53.Taylor, HG:Personal communication,2007.Google Scholar
54.Eng, E, Hatch, J, Callan, A: Institutionalizing social support through the church and into the community. Health Educ Behav 1985;12:81.Google ScholarPubMed
55.Pearson, JC, Taylor, H: Partnerships for Community Health Care in West Virginia. In: Rohde, JE, Wyon, JB (eds): Community-Based Health Care: Lessons from Bangladesh to Boston. Boston: Management Sciences for Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, 2002.Google Scholar
56.Zahner, SJ: Local public health system partnerships. Public Health Rep 2005;120:76–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
57.McCabe, OL, Mosley, AM, Gwon, HS, et al. : The tower of ivory meets the house of worship:Psychological first aid training for the faith community. Int J EmergMent Health 2007;9(3):171–180.Google Scholar
58.Uscher-Pines, L, Duggan, PS, Garoon, JP, et al. : Planning for an influenza pandemic:Social justice and disadvantaged groups. Hastings Cent Rep 2007;37:32–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
59.Low, JGH, Wilder-Smith, A:Infectious respiratory illnesses and their impact on healthcare workers:A review. Ann Acad Med Singapore 2005;34:105–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed