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U.S. Must Begin Planning For Flu Pandemic, Official Says
June 5, 2009 4:23 p.m. EST
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Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter
Atlanta, GA (AHN) - Even as the cases of swine flu appear to be declining in the United States, planning for a possible pandemic must begin now, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that the CDC recently supplied drug manufacturers with virus samples to be used in developing a vaccine against the H1N1 virus. "In the meantime," she said, "efforts have begun to plan for immunization, even if we don't have to go there, we really need to start the planning now. That's how vaccinations might go forward."
The CDC will continue to encourage vaccinations against seasonal flu, which causes about 36,000 deaths annually, Schuchat said. "We're really at too soon of a stage to say how extensive a problem we might have with hospitalizations or severe illness in the fall" from the swine flu, she added.
She noted there was "an active effort" between public health organizations and state and county health officials "to say what did work, what didn't work, where can we address some gaps."
Schuchat called for a "dusting off" of emergency plans by communities and school districts to prepare for any outbreaks of the flu.
The director pointed to a report released Thursday by the Trust for America's Health that outlined gaps in preparations as well as lessons learned from the current flu incidents.
The report lists 10 "core areas" that it says must be addressed to strengthen U.S. preparedness. Included are ensuring adequate vaccine stockpiles, improving coordination between government and the private sector and addressing health issues between nations. The report also called for ending layoffs at state and local health departments and ensuring that care is available for the uninsured.
The Trust, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, said a number of lessons had already been learned from the 2009 H1N1 virus. While "investments in pandemic planning and stockpiling antiviral medications paid off," the report said, ""even with a mild outbreak, the health care delivery system was overwhelmed."
Schuchat lauded the report, saying "This is the kind of review that we really encourage organizations and communities to do to think about where the gaps are and what we need to do to strengthen those gaps. As we've been saying, this is not over."
The World Health Organization said last week that the alert level could soon be raised from the current Phase 5 to Phase 6, which would indicate the disease is at pandemic levels.
Schuchat said the number of swine flu cases "seems to be declining in the nation as a whole." Some 11,468 cases had been reported by Thursday, she said, with 19 fatalities. She characterized these numbers as a "minimal estimate."
CDC updated those figures on Friday, reporting 13,217 cases and 27 deaths nationwide.
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