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/.

“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.