When the next flu pandemic hits, who will be available to provide health care services? A national survey was conducted recently that assessed the behaviours and attitudes of healthcare workers in the event of a flu pandemic. The results paint a picture of uncertainty and the level of confidence that these health care workers and professionals have for infection control measures and protection in their work environment.

• Dr. Allison McGeer, M.D., FRCPC, Director of Infection Control at Mount Sinai Hospital, Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto and she is the principal investigator of the Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network and the Ontario Group A Streptococcal Study, two collaborative surveillance networks studying the epidemiology of severe community-acquired infections.