The epidemic from the NEW INFLUENZA A (H1N1) VIRUS

This page has been created to provide up-to-date information about the flu epidemic that is currently causing some alarm around the world.  It provides information to consider for all those who plan to travel to attend the WCN 2009. It will be regularly updated until WCN 2009.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
At the moment no European government has applied any restrictions to travellers coming from areas deemed at risk. Airlines flying from Mexico are applying safety countermeasures such as disinfecting the cabin in between flights, providing passengers and crew with sterile masks, making the flight assistants wear disposable gloves as well as masks.

SITUATION IN ITALY
In Italy, as of today, five cases have been ascertained, all of them in people who had recently come back from Mexico. They have been treated with antiviral drugs and two have already recovered completely. The National Health System in Italy has 40 million doses of antiviral medication already available. More will be prepared in case of a pandemic.

Detailed information and recommendations are available in the website of the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

POSITION OF WCN 2009

Being doctors, as well as organizers of the WCN 2009, we wish to remove any obstacles to you making prudent decisions about your travel to WCN 2009.

• In case you need to cancel your participation in WCN 2009 because you have flu symptoms and you live, or have recently been, in areas currently deemed to be at risk, we are prepared to refund you in full your registration fee.
• We will also refund your registration fee in full if travel restrictions applied by your own country prevent you travelling to WCN 2009.
• If you have a poster or oral presentation, and are unable to attend for these reasons, we will do all we can to find alternative ways to ensure your work is still presented.

We are sure all our colleagues will adopt a responsible attitude towards the risks of spreading this new flu virus, so we expect that those who develop symptoms compatible with influenza and live in, or have recently visited, risk areas will refrain from travelling.
We are also asking all companies that participate as exhibitors to staff their stands only with personnel who have not travelled to risk areas in the 10 days before the event,  and to remove from duty at WCN 2009 all those who have  flu symptoms, wherever they have been travelling.