The Bird Flu Preparedness Planner: What it is. How it spreads. What you can do. by Grattan Woodson

Grattan Woodson, MD FACP, is currently an attending physician at the Druid Oaks Health Center in Decatur, Georgia. He completed his internal medicine training at Columbia University and soon after joined the full-time faculty of Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Woodson became concerned about avian influenza after learning about the first human cases in Hong Kong in 1997, and he has studied and followed the virus ever since. He originally authored this book in order to prepare his patients for what could become a worldwide catastrophic event.

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While this book has fewer than a hundred pages, it is packed full of useful information, information that may save your life. Dr. Woodson discusses the bird flu, comparing it to the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, vaccines and what you can do in preparation for a possible pandemic. He suggests that you make sure that you have a will and life insurance, that you get both a flu shot (against the usual seasonal flu) and a Pneumovax vaccination-- while these do not prevent you from getting avian flu, you will be protected from flu and pneumonia, thus making your chances of surviving bird or avian flu much better-- and that you stock up on nonperishable foods, medical supplies and other necessities such as flashlights and shortwave radios. The author includes lists of supplies you will need, along with a section called "Flu Survival Kit." There is also an informative chapter on how to care for a flu victim, should you find yourself in that position. (In the event of a major pandemic hospitals will be overwhelmed.) The book also has other resources listed on the subject of bird flu, a series of maps showing the rapid spread of the earlier 1918 pandemic across the United States and concludes with endnotes to support the author's statements. Dr. Woodson also prints a letter found in a trunk in 1959 from a Dr. N. R. Grist, a military doctor who treated flu victims at a U. S. Army base at Camp Bevens near Boston. Dated September 20, 1918, the letter is written to someone named Burt, apparently another military doctor since Grist mentions that "there is a possibility that you will be assigned here for duty." This poignant letter puts a human face on the the 1918 pandemic in a way that graphs and charts and figures never can. The author says in the "Introduction" that he wrote this manual for his patients, to "inform them about this growing health threat and to provide them with practical guidance on how they and their families can survive." He succeeds admirably in achieving his purpose as he writes in clear but informative language that anyone can understand.