What are the WHO's current pandemic criteria?

[JimO]

I know that the WHO came under fire during and after the pH1N1 pandemic and that one of the criticisms was that the criteria for the various pandemic levels did not include provisions for severity. Has the WHO changed those criteria?

 

[Emily]

Re: What are the WHO's current pandemic criteria?

I don't think they added a severity index. They were opposed to that concept since globally conditions that contribute to vulnerability are so diverse.

I think that is true, but if individual countries could rate severity based on known historic patterns per regional variations in the countries, then submit that data to WHO, perhaps severity anomalies could be analyzed.

This might be the latest WHO position on the severity issue:

http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/surveillance_post_pandemic_20100812/en/
Surveillance recommendations for Member States in the post-pandemic period
Geneva, 12 August 2010

Maybe once they feel like there is enough reliable surveillance data flow to them, they'll add the criteria in the future.