Not sure what H1N1 means when it comes to your meeting? Join the crowd. While news reports seem to spread panic about the pandemic, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and medical experts advise a calmer, more sensible response. For meeting planners, this means:

1. Know the facts.
2. Develop a plan.
3. Share the facts.

Dr. Jonathan Spero with InHouse Physicians broke these points down in a Webinar presented by Meeting Professionals International (MPI).

The facts:
• H1N1 is a pandemic by definition only, not because it is highly deadly, which it is not. It is a new virus so there is limited immunity (mainly in those people over 55-60 years old). It is highly contagious, because it can spread easily from person-to-person (as opposed to the deadlier avian flu, which is not contagious). It has spread globally.

• The symptoms are similar to seasonal influenza, though 20 percent of those afflicted have no fever). The death rate is low (1-5 out of 1,000; same as with seasonal flu. Avian flu had a 60% death rate or six out of 10 people afflicted). Where H1N1 differs from seasonal flu is that the elderly have some immunity and the highest rate of complications and hospitalizations are in the young.

• It has raised alarm because of the potential to infect a large percentage of the population, which could severely impair the public health system and the economy, and because it can mutate.

So what can you do?

Develop a 2-part plan, detailing prevention procedures and contingency plans, and make sure you communicate with senior management and event sponsors:

• Assess the risk — the physical risk to your attendees, which in most cases will be low, except to pregnant participants, and the financial risk to the business of the event, e.g., people dropping out, sick attendees needing to change travel arrangements, etc.

• Put basic prevention measures in place. Make sure there is easy access to plenty of hand sanitizers onsite (order self-dispensing stands, not touch dispensers). If possible, ask venue manager to wipe down high-contact surfaces in all common spaces daily.

• Deliver pre-conference information to attendees: If they are sick, stay home. If someone in the household is sick, stay home.

• Develop your monitoring and reporting system. How will you notify people if there is an outbreak? Dr. Spero suggests you carry out a tabletop exercise with all staff and stakeholders, e.g.. “We have a key meeting in January. What are we going to do if there is an outbreak of H1N1 at the meeting?”

• Determine what your policies and procedures will be for managing ill attendees. How will you handle social distancing? (CDC currently recommends up to 5 days isolation.) How will you deal with privacy issues? (Dr. Spero advises planners to involve HR early, if possible, as these managers are familiar with HIPAA privacy laws.) How will you make arrangements for extending room nights and changing transportation schedules?

• Put a medical treatment plan in place. The emergency room is not going to be your best default procedure, says Dr. Spero, who predicts emergency rooms are going to be a nightmare this winter, with hundreds of sick people contributing to waits of more than six hours and the further spread of the virus. “They’ll be expensive petri dishes,” he says.

• Hotels may be able to help with advance plans as many have been proactive in developing procedures for sick guests and have sophisticated pandemic systems in place that include food handlers and room staff.

For meetings of more than 400-500 attendees, Dr. Spero recommends extra steps, mainly having a vendor on property that can provide support for those who fall ill.

More information is available from the CDC. For background information, visit cdc.gov/flu/. For current status updates, visit cdc.gov/H1N1flu/.

By Christine Born

Shaking hands, a common greeting among friends and strangers in this country, may be going the way of pay phones (also considered a source of spreading germs). Already, parishioners at Roman Catholic churches are being advised not to hold hands for The Lord’s Prayer or offer handshakes as a sign of peace because of concerns about the H1N1 flu virus. Colleagues at business meetings are refraining from shaking hands.

With the cold and flu season coming up, the online and mainstream media chatter has been revving up the fear factor. Doctors, pundits and comics have all suggested several alternatives to physical contact. The most common (and sensible) include the air handshake, the air fist bump, the air wave and the smile/wink/nod hello.

The fear of a swine flu epidemic may toll the death knell for the traditional U.S. business and social greeting, but the custom has long had its critics. Billionaire real estate mogul and star of “The Apprentice” Donald Trump, a self-confessed “clean freak,” made headlines a few years back when, in reference to a possible run for the presidency, he said there would be no handshaking at Camp Donald, unless he could wash his hands after every shake.

A posting on the Yale Global Forum suggests that in our global world viruses like H1N1 and SARS could become an occasion for improving health practices worldwide. “Each culture could be urged to wage a ‘cultural revolution against unhygienic practices’ in which it improved its hygienic practices – for its own public health and to help other nations secure their public health. Some might give up handshaking, some eating from a common bowl, some eating with their fingers, etc.”

In fact, in many cultures shaking hands is taboo. One of the basic rules of Islam is that men and women who are not intimately related are not allowed to have any form of physical contact. Orthodox Jewish custom does not allow shaking hands with someone from the opposite gender.

So, germs, disease, taboos … What’s a person to do? The advice from one frequent traveler and planner who is in regular contact with hundreds of people: “I respond in kind when people offer me their hand … and use hand sanitizer liberally,” says Laurie Seay of EFCA. The church organization’s Web site prominently features advice about preparing for the effects the virus could have on congregational life.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) offers the following comments on crowds and handshaking on its Web site: “In crowded settings, social distancing (that is, measures that increase the physical space between people and reduce their frequency of close contact) is difficult to maintain. Moreover, at public gathering events that are celebratory in nature (such as weddings, graduation ceremonies), participants frequently have social personal contact (like handshaking and hugging). As a result, there may be increased risk for spread of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus among attendees of such events and subsequent spread of illness in the community or in communities to where attendees return.”

The CDC advisory says that washing hands is the most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick as a result of hand-to-hand contact.

Other measures suggested by the CDC for event organizers include:
• Make hand-washing facilities with soap and running water, hand sanitizer and tissues widely available at the event.
• Provide on-site medical assessment and care for persons with symptoms.
• Provide alternative options and venues for participation (e.g., remote Web-based viewing sites) and simultaneously reduce crowding.

No Teddy Bear
President Theodore Roosevelt may have been the friendliest U.S. president ever. According to legend, he set what was then, and may still be, the world record for the number of handshakes in a single day — 8,150 on New Year’s Day 1907.

Taboo Advice
“Do’s and Taboos Around The World”
Author Roger Axtell has been called “an international Emily Post” and his guide to international behavior is in its third edition, promising even more facts, tips and cautionary tales gleaned from the experiences of more than 500 international business travelers.

The Last Word
“Hands: Stop Shaking Them!, a Cultural Shift to End Handshaking in America”
Wake up, America! This short book is described as a “call to arms” to end what it says is the dangerous and unsanitary practice of handshaking. Author Gayle Westmoreland’s manifesto presents an analysis of the health hazards of handshaking and offers “progressive” alternatives.

Delta says it is committed to adding other international routes to its network this year including Atlanta-Johannesburg, Salt Lake City-Tokyo and Detroit-Shanghai. Three other routes will begin in the second half of the year, beginning with Los Angeles-Sydney on July 1, followed by New York-Prague and Pittsburgh-Paris.

“The protocols call for cruise ship medical staff to screen passengers prior to boarding and to deny boarding only to guests who are feverish and have flu-like symptoms,” the CLIA says. “There are medical options for passengers who present symptoms during their cruise including treatment, isolation in staterooms and disembarkation when necessary.”

The enhanced screening protocols are already employed by the industry and subject to inspection by the CDC in the U.S.

“CDC has been monitoring the ongoing outbreak of novel H1N1 flu in Mexico and, with the assistance of the Mexican authorities, has obtained a more complete picture of the outbreak,” said the CDC on its Web site. “There is evidence that the Mexican outbreak is slowing down in many cities.”

The announcement also cited the fact that there is evidence that an increasing number of H1N1 cases (commonly referred to as swine flu) in the U.S. and other countries have proven to not be associated with travel to Mexico and that the risk of severe disease from the virus infection appears to be less than originally thought.

The CDC has lifted its recommendation that U.S. travelers avoid travel to Mexico, but it still advises Mexico travelers to take steps to protect themselves from the H1N1 flu.