World Health Organization Says N1H1 Pandemic Over

Even if the World Health Organization’s global “swine flu” pandemic alert was lifted today, the international community was “lucky” the N1H1 virus did not mutate into a a more lethal form , says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.

“This does not mean that the H1N1 virus has gone away”  Dr. Chan told a press conference Tuesday.  “We expect the H1N1 virus to take on the behaviour of a seasonal influenza virus and continue to circulate for some years to come.”

“Continued vigilance is extremely important, and WHO has issued advice on recommended surveillance, vaccination, and clinical management during the post-pandemic period.” said Dr. Chan, adding that vaccination continues to be the most cost effective way to protect H1N1 high risk groups.

 In the past several months governments started scaling back their public health response to the  H1N1 crisis, but WHO officials felt they needed more evidence that there were no out of season outbreaks or changes in the intensity of infection rates before dropping the alert.

Controversy surrounding the organization’s decision to upgrade the H1N1 situation to a pandemic in the summer of 2009 surfaced after a Council of Europe investigation into alleged ties between certain WHO Emergency Committee members and pharmaceutical companies. Chan says the names of its emergency committee members will be released shortly but was unclear if the WHO would continue to disclose the identity of committee members in the future.

Although she agrees there needs to be changes in the guidelines for future pandemic responses, Dr.Chan remains confident elevating the H1N1 status to a pandemic was the right thing to do. “We followed exactly the epidemiological and biological criteria as agreed by the experts of the world. And his was a true pandemic.”

The WHO has been able to confirm that at least 18 500 people died from H1N1 virus but this remains a conservative preliminary estimate and the organization will need to a few more years to determine the full extent of the crisis.

“Pandemics, like the viruses that cause them, are unpredictable.  There will be many questions, and we will have clear answers for only some. “

Cabinet Members Advise Government And Private Cooperation To Combat H1N1

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that it was imperative that the private sector and the government work together to stop the spread of the H1N1 strain which is expected to make a resurgence in mid September.

"This a real shared responsibility. The federal government is doing our part," said Sebelius during a joint news conference Wednesday. "But we really rely on the private sector to make sure that Americans are as safe and secure as possible."

"A little planning now will help ensure that our economy withstands whatever the H1N1 throws us this fall," said Commerce Secretray Gary Locke.

Secretary Napolitano warned against failing to take immediate action to halt the virus.

"Lets not just play wait and see, lets be proactive," said Napolitano. "We are being proactive at the level we are at, but now we are asking the business community to be proactive too."

The new guidelines outline how businesses can help prevent the spread of disease within their workforce, through steps that include enforcing cleanliness standards, encouraging employees to get their regular flu shots and putting plans in place to accommodate the expected absences caused by H1N1.

Secretary Locke said that during the outbreak it would be essential for employers to send their employees home if they showed symptoms and allow them to take time off to recover.

"In America we love to praise puritan work ethic," said Locke. "But this fall it would serve the country better to praise common sense and responsibility."

Responding to the claim that the H1N1 vaccine would not be ready in time for the upcoming flu season, Secretary Sebelius said that production is on schedule.

"We are very much on target," Sebelius said. However, she added, "we never anticipated that all of the vaccine would be available day one, it will be on a role out basis."

To view the guidelines and for more information of preventing the spread of H1N1 visit www.flu.gov

Schools More Susceptible To Swine Flu

Schools are particularly susceptible to an H1N1 outbreak. According to Dr. Jon Kim Andrus, the Lead Technical Advisor for the Immunization Unit of the Pan American Health Organization, up to 33% of those in a school setting exposed to an H1N1 outbreak could become infected.

In the event of an outbreak “closing up schools in certain settings has been helpful,” Andrus said during his address to the National Swine Flu Conference. “Children are what we are calling the amplifiers of infection. There have been studies that have shown the prevention of influenza in children will reduce disease burden in all age groups.”

Still, Andrus warned, closing schools may not be a realistic step since the economic status of many nations prevents financially strapped parents from taking time off watch over infected children at home.

Medical Expert Suggests Precautions Health Care Workers Can Take To Prevent Spread Of Swine Flu

By Annie Berman

In a panel discussion held at the Institute of Medicine on Thursday, doctors and researchers suggested that disposable respirators, hand hygiene stations, and protective eye wear be used by health care workers to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

Leonard Mermel, Medical Director at the Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control at Rhode Island Hospital, described cough etiquette stations that his hospital is using to prevent the spread of infection. These stations have hand sanitizer dispensers, face masks, and instructions for cough etiquette, and are located at every entrance to the hospital building.

“[We need] to do a better job of educating our health care workers as well as the patients and families and why it’s important for them to for example, don a mask, how to do it, why it’s important for them to do hand hygiene. This can’t be overemphasized,” said Mermel.

As for other ways to combat the spread of infection, Mermel suggested that health care workers across the country undergo daily screening for fever and other respiratory symptoms before they begin their shifts. He also suggested that hospitals be properly ventilated and that building temperatures remain at 68 degrees and relative indoor humidity be raised to 50%.

The first outbreak of swine flu was reported in Mexico this past spring and cases of the virus have been reported in the United States and abroad since. For more information on the H1N1 virus visit www.cdc.gov/H1N1.

Swine Flu Still Going Strong

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

The H1N1 virus, widely known as swine flu, is responsible for 127 deaths and more than 27,000 documented cases of infection in the U.S., explained medical experts Tuesday.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discussed the implications of the virus’ spread. He clarified the difference between seasonal and pandemic influenza, while noting that the two categories of disease could potentially overlap.

According to Fauci, seasonal flu is “exquisitely predictable,” and the population has immunity to similar strains of the disease. The seasonal flu causes approximately 36,000 deaths per year in the U.S.

The pandemic flu is comparatively unpredictable. Fauci said that this sort of virus is “new enough that the...vast majority of the population has had not only no exposure to the virus, but they haven’t had exposure to anything that’s even related to that virus.” Because the population has no “residual immunity” to this new virus, the disease is more likely to harm young people, who normally are not deeply affected by the seasonal flu.

The World Health Organization declared a flu pandemic for the first time in 41 years on June 11th.

Fauci said that many measures to protect the public’s health have been taken over the past several months, beginning with low-tech measures such as closing schools. The CDC has isolated the virus, and five companies are currently working to create a vaccine to potentially be administered to the population dependent on a more deadly or wide-spread H1N1 strain.

He said that the recent strain of H1N1 is not as dangerous as other related viruses.

“It’s not killing a high percentage of people, and the same thing holds true for transmissibility,” said Fauci.

Fauci also noted that the virus has been “remarkably constant” and not susceptible to mutations that could render a vaccine ineffective. “Can it change to the point of veering away from the vaccine we’re making? Yes. Is it doing it? No.”

Dr. Harvey V. Fineburg, President of the Institute of Medicine, warned that health care officials should not underestimate the potential threat, even though a campaign to immunize millions of Americans overestimated the impact of the virus in the 1970s.

“In 1976, the focus of policy-makers and public health authorities were almost entirely driven by the worst case. Today we have to be careful not to make the complementary error of having all of our attention only on the most likely case,” Fineburg explained.

The mortality rate for documented H1N1 cases in the U.S. is 0.46 percent.