H1N1 Vaccine Production Plodding, But 49.9 Million Doses Available

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Anne Schuchat, Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases acknowledged the slow production of H1N1 vaccines, but says there are nearly 50 million doses available to the States for use.

“Like everyone, I’m disappointed in the initial production,” said Schuchat during a hearing with the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "However, today we can announce there are 49.9 million doses available of H1N1 vaccine for the states to order."

"Its not as much as we wanted to have by now, or, frankly what we needed to have by now, but every dose is being rapidly moved out," Schuchat added.

Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) praised the initial response to the virus, but also recognized the dangers posed by the vaccine shortage.

“The hope was that a robust vaccine supply would arrive before infections began to soar and everyone worked as quickly as possible to meet that goal. These hopes were not met. The past several weeks have reminded us that the process of making flu vaccines is unpredictable and challenging,” said Waxman.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie was grilled by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oregon), who was diagnosed in late October with H1N1.

"We had testimony September 15 from Secretary Sebelius and everything seemed to be on track and fine. So, explain who, did the manufacturers, weren't they straight with you?" asked Walden.

"There's nobody to blame here, there's no smoking gun," Lurie said.

CDC estimates nearly 22 million Americans have been infected with H1N1. Of the 22 million infected, 98,000 were hospitalized and nearly 4,000 have dead.

Pelosi Touts Legislation To Insure Young Americans

By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

During a press conference Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) touted U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper's (D-PA) Young Adult Health Care Coverage Act as one way to insure young Americans.

Dahlkemper's health care reform provision extends young adult's access to their parent's health insurance until age 26. The House provision passed the Senate HELP committee, and if it passes as part of the larger Senate health care reform, it could present yet another way to insure "Young Invincibles," or that section of 18 to 34-year-old Americans who are uninsured whether by choice, hence their invincibility, or by financial situation.

Dahlkemper's proposal would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act, allowing a dependent child access to their parent's insurance if they are unmarried, without dependents and a citizen or national of the United States.

Pelosi was joined by members of the collaborative groups Young Invincibles and Campus Progress.

Schools Receive New Swine Flu Information

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Federal health officials released information Friday detailing steps schools can take to combat the spread of the H1N1 flu pandemic, including keeping infected children out of class for 24 hours after the fever ceases and promoting basic hygiene.

The announcement was made by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Education, along with Tom Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

One change since the end of last flu season is what is known as the period of exclusion. That is how long those with H1N1 should remain away from others, including how long a child should remain out of school. It is now 24 hours after the fever is gone.

The guidance is not specific in terms of whether or not schools should close when there is an outbreak. Instead, they said the ultimate decision is a local decision but they will continue to provide any information. Frieden said it is not always necessary to close the school but agreed with Education Secretary Arne Duncan who discussed the alternative preparatory steps being taken in schools.

Three steps Frieden mentioned were: keep those who are sick home, wash hands, and cover coughs. He said following these simple steps could be used when deciding whether or not to keep a school open even when cases have been reported.

“The guidance we are announcing today will give local school officials the tools they need to make informed decisions about how to decrease exposure to the school while limiting the disruption of day to day learning in schools,” said Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security Secretary.

The guidance issued was for K-12 schools and guidance for higher education institutions is expected to be released by August 23.

The secretaries and CDC Director all discussed the development and availability of the H1N1 vaccination, saying it should be available by mid-October and will be a 2 shot vaccination.

If There's No Pork, Where's The Beef?

Coffee Brown, MD, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News


A typical flu season kill 37,000 Americans. The swine flu, officially known as "2009 H1N1", may be responsible for up to 160 deaths in Mexico and one infant death in the U.S.

Of those who have contracted the disease outside of Mexico, the illness has been relatively mild. So, what's the big deal?

"This is a whole new kind of flu," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Flu viruses mutate slightly every year, but not like this, Fauci said. Genes from four separate viruses - avian, human, and two kinds of swine flus, have combined into this strain.

Our vaccines and immune systems have "never seen anything like it," Fauci said. That's what makes it potentially more dangerous. While this means that we have little or no natural immunity, it does not necessarily mean that this flu must be any more infectious or virulent than the average flu.

So, why is it called "swine flu"? Actually, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) really wishes we wouldn't call it that, as it's hurting the pork industry. Fauci agrees, "The name that is now being used is 'the 2009 H1N1 flu.'"

Despite Egypt's decision to eliminate all swine from the country, people can still eat pork without contracting the swine flu. The American Heart Association may advise moderation, but this flu is entirely unrelated to pigs. Still, the pork industry and health officials are going to have to come up with a catchier name than "2009 H1N1 flu" if they want us to stop calling it "swine flu."

Epidemic or Pandemic? An epidemic means that more cases are occurring than predicted. With seasonal flu, epidemiologists have so much experience that they can usually predict the number of cases fairly accurately. The number they are seeing right now wouldn't even be noticeable in the middle of flu season, but this one was winding down for the year. Since this is really a new type of flu, the CDC don't yet have the experience to predict a "normal" season or number of cases.

A pandemic occurs when a disease covers a large geographic area, such as a continent, or multiple continents, as this one has. The common cold is a type of pandemic, though we usually don't bother to call it that. Neither word actually refers to the severity of the disease, the likelihood that a sufferer will end up in the hospital or even die.

So what about the rising number of cases? If that makes you nervous, stop watching them, because the numbers will rise steeply with every re-count for the foreseeable future, whether this is a killer flu or of ordinary severity.

On April 29, 2009, the WHO raised the level of alert to "phase 5. "What does that mean? Phase 4 meant human to human transmission, phase 5 means the same thing, but in more than one country, phase 6 will mean clusters of cases, outbreaks, in more than one country. Phases 7 and 8 describe the trailing off of the disease.

So, is it going to get worse, or go away? It may do either. The behavior of flus is variable, and epidemiologists don't have enough information yet to predict this one's course. Almost any scenario imaginable could occur.

At a Senate hearing Wednesday, convened on short notice in response to this flu, John McCain (R-Ariz) asked, "Should we close the borders?"

"No," Richard E Besser, MD, Acting Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS,responded. That was tried during the SARS outbreak, and it appears to have been unsuccessful. Simulations suggest that closing the borders would have little, if any, effect on limiting spread, and it would tie up massive resources that could be put to much better use elsewhere. If we had been one of the later countries to be hit, we might have tried closing the borders to buy a few more weeks to get ready, but even then the gain would be slight, Besser said. The World Health Organization concurs.

That led Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) to ask about resources. Besser told him that stockpiles of antivirals , masks, and respirators are sufficient, because they had been bought when funding was better. Recent cutbacks have cost public health thousands of jobs, lost or threatened, and have made it harder for states to exercise their pandemic control plans.

The Office of the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority , which prepares contingency plans and caches supplies, has never had its own funding, but has receives sporadic money from NIH, according to Fauci.

In his 100 day address last night, President Obama re-iterated many of these points, saying "We are continuing to closely monitor the emergency ... (This is) obviously a very serious situation," adding that schools with confirmed or suspected cases should close temporarily.

Obama is requesting $1.5 billion for the further stockpiling of medicines and equipment, and for logistical support. He echoed the CDC and WHO by reminding people, "I've asked every American to take the same steps you would take to prevent any other flu: Keep your hands washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if you're sick; and keep your children home from school if they're sick."

Readers: Please send questions, tell us what you need to know.

Swine Flu At Level Five

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
The World Heath Organization has raised the alert level for the swine flu pandemic of the phase 5, one step away from the highest level.

The CDC continues to evaluate information to determine the potential impact of an outbreak on an international level.

In Mexico more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized and 149 people have died from the flu. In the United States there are 66 confirmed cases in six states; New York, California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Indiana. Globally there are 39 confirmed cases in six other countries including New Zealand, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and Israel.

Today, the House Sub-Committee on Health heard testimony from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to understand the full impact of the virus.

U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) said that, “We should not wait for public health emergencies to come up with ad-hoc responses. Not even counting this recent flu outbreak, about 35,000 Americans die of regular seasonal flu each year.”

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the swine flu is highly contagious and contains genetic pieces from four different virus sources. There is no evidence that the illness comes from pork products, but it seems to come from human to human contact. Symptoms include high fever, body aches, coughing, and sore throats, all similar to regular seasonal flu, but the regular flu shot is not preventative of this new virus.

Anne Schuchat, M.D., acting director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “it’s a very unusual virus and we don’t believe that humans have experienced it before.”

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) , M.D. said that America needs to be careful “not over reacting to the point that we create a pandemic of panic.” Gingrey said that although it is reassuring that Americans are prepared for an outbreak, he said that “I fear we are getting ourselves in a frenzy.”