h1n1 game

Swine flu inspires new videogame
Since swine flu first emerged in April, it has sparked panic, vaccine production and now, a video game. In an effort to further raise
awareness, Dutch researchers have created a game that challenges players to control a new pandemic. "It is actually what is happening now, what is happening in the real world,'' said Albert Osterhaus, head of virology at the Erasmus Medical Center, who designed 'The Great Flu' game with colleagues.

The game can only be played online at www.thegreatflu.com and it is free. The game begins with images of bedridden patients and graveyards from the 1918 Spanish flu. As the head of the fictitious "World Pandemic Control,'' players pick a flu strain, and then monitor that strain's spread around the world.

Players also have a limited budget and are warned that "your actions to control the virus cost money, so keep an eye on it.' To fight the emerging outbreak, players use measures including setting up surveillance systems and stockpiling antivirals and vaccines.

Osterhaus said that the videogame's approximation of combating a pandemic, choosing between various interventions yet still watching the outbreak spread, gives people a sense of how difficult it is to make decisions in the public health world.