Second Wave of H1N1 Flu Underway

It’s a subject you’ve already heard a great deal about, and one that won’t be going away anytime soon—the H1N1 flu virus. Widespread flu activity is already being reported in 37 states, virtually all due to H1N1. Across the nation, flu-related doctor visits, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing and are higher than expected for this time of year. From August 30 to October 3, there were 3,874 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated hospitalizations, 240 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated deaths, 12,384 pneumonia and influenza syndrome-based hospitalizations and 1,544 pneumonia and influenza syndrome deaths reported to the CDC. The agency is also reporting 19 influenza-associated pediatric deaths in the past week; 16 of which were associated with H1N1 virus infection and three with influenza A virus for which subtype was undetermined.

As the number of H1N1 flu cases continues to rise, government health officials continue to urge the public to consider getting vaccinated against both swine flu and seasonal flu. “Unfortunately we are seeing more illness, more hospitalizations, and more deaths,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a recent H1N1 briefing. “We are now up to 76 children having died” from swine flu this year; many more already, she said, than the typical toll from influenza in years past.

At the briefing, Schuchat also addressed concerns she knows exist about the new vaccine. “Some people have reservations, they aren’t really sure about this vaccine,” she said. But a recent Associated Press-GfK poll suggests that a large majority of Americans have concerns about the vaccine. The AP poll, conducted October 1-5, found 72 percent of those surveyed are worried about side effects, although more than half say that wouldn’t stop them from getting the vaccine to protect their kids from the new flu. And 38 percent of parents said they were unlikely to give permission for their kids to be vaccinated at school.

“I would say there is moderate concern about the safety of it (H1N1 vaccine),” says Wally Ghurabi, DO, chief of emergency services at Santa Monica-UCLA and Orthopedic Hospital in California and a member of the H1N1 Steering Committee for the University of California Los Angeles. He says “someone always brings up Guillain-Barre,” a neurological condition that was linked with a previous swine flu vaccine manufactured in 1976. However, experts argue that the link was not clear and point out that vaccine production has greatly improved since then, as has testing for contaminants, which may have explained the link. Ghurabi’s advice is for patients to weigh the pros and cons, taking their risk into account. For instance, “if you are caring for a two-month old baby or are pregnant, you are in a high risk group,” he says.

But federal officials say the H1N1 vaccine is made the same way as seasonal flu vaccines that have been used for years. “This isn’t a new vaccine,” Schuchat said. “The vaccine is being manufactured exactly the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine. It is basically a vaccine made against the H1N1 instead of the seasonal viruses (expected to circulate in the upcoming season). Based on everything we know now, we are expecting a good safety record for H1N1.”

The federal government has purchased 250 million doses of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine at a cost of $2 billion, and as of Friday 3.7 million doses have been ordered by states and the District of Columbia, according to Schuchat. She says in all, 6.8 million doses are now available and production is continuing, but exactly when the H1N1 vaccine will be available in a given community is hard to predict. The CDC has recommended that certain at-risk populations, including pregnant women, health care providers and individuals with underlying chronic medical conditions such as asthma, receive the new H1N1 vaccine as a priority before the general population.
from http://www.healthnews.com

Second Wave of H1N1 Flu Underway

It’s a subject you’ve already heard a great deal about, and one that won’t be going away anytime soon—the H1N1 flu virus. Widespread flu activity is already being reported in 37 states, virtually all due to H1N1. Across the nation, flu-related doctor visits, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing and are higher than expected for this time of year. From August 30 to October 3, there were 3,874 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated hospitalizations, 240 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated deaths, 12,384 pneumonia and influenza syndrome-based hospitalizations and 1,544 pneumonia and influenza syndrome deaths reported to the CDC. The agency is also reporting 19 influenza-associated pediatric deaths in the past week; 16 of which were associated with H1N1 virus infection and three with influenza A virus for which subtype was undetermined.

As the number of H1N1 flu cases continues to rise, government health officials continue to urge the public to consider getting vaccinated against both swine flu and seasonal flu. “Unfortunately we are seeing more illness, more hospitalizations, and more deaths,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a recent H1N1 briefing. “We are now up to 76 children having died” from swine flu this year; many more already, she said, than the typical toll from influenza in years past.

At the briefing, Schuchat also addressed concerns she knows exist about the new vaccine. “Some people have reservations, they aren’t really sure about this vaccine,” she said. But a recent Associated Press-GfK poll suggests that a large majority of Americans have concerns about the vaccine. The AP poll, conducted October 1-5, found 72 percent of those surveyed are worried about side effects, although more than half say that wouldn’t stop them from getting the vaccine to protect their kids from the new flu. And 38 percent of parents said they were unlikely to give permission for their kids to be vaccinated at school.

“I would say there is moderate concern about the safety of it (H1N1 vaccine),” says Wally Ghurabi, DO, chief of emergency services at Santa Monica-UCLA and Orthopedic Hospital in California and a member of the H1N1 Steering Committee for the University of California Los Angeles. He says “someone always brings up Guillain-Barre,” a neurological condition that was linked with a previous swine flu vaccine manufactured in 1976. However, experts argue that the link was not clear and point out that vaccine production has greatly improved since then, as has testing for contaminants, which may have explained the link. Ghurabi’s advice is for patients to weigh the pros and cons, taking their risk into account. For instance, “if you are caring for a two-month old baby or are pregnant, you are in a high risk group,” he says.

But federal officials say the H1N1 vaccine is made the same way as seasonal flu vaccines that have been used for years. “This isn’t a new vaccine,” Schuchat said. “The vaccine is being manufactured exactly the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine. It is basically a vaccine made against the H1N1 instead of the seasonal viruses (expected to circulate in the upcoming season). Based on everything we know now, we are expecting a good safety record for H1N1.”

The federal government has purchased 250 million doses of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine at a cost of $2 billion, and as of Friday 3.7 million doses have been ordered by states and the District of Columbia, according to Schuchat. She says in all, 6.8 million doses are now available and production is continuing, but exactly when the H1N1 vaccine will be available in a given community is hard to predict. The CDC has recommended that certain at-risk populations, including pregnant women, health care providers and individuals with underlying chronic medical conditions such as asthma, receive the new H1N1 vaccine as a priority before the general population.

H1N1 Flu Vaccinations Could Begin in October

Since the H1N1 flu emerged in March in Mexico and Southern California, the virus has infected an estimated 1 million Americans, killing 170, and is still spreading, despite the summer’s heat and humidity, which influenza usually cannot tolerate. This persistence makes the virus’ resurgence in the fall all but certain and leaves little time to prepare. “We have a little bit more than a month ... to get our acts together,” Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said during a summit at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on Thursday, where officials announced their game plan to deal with the threat, including the vaccination schedule and the target populations. About 500 state and local health officials were in attendance, as was President Barack Obama, who took time from his G-8 summit in Italy to join by teleconference.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said if all goes well, H1N1 vaccinations could begin by mid-October, and while officials have not yet decided exactly which age groups will be recommended to get the vaccine, school-age children, young adults with risky conditions such as asthma, pregnant women, and health workers are likely to be among the first in line. But the timetable is largely dependent on the outcome of studies with experimental vaccine batches that are set to begin the first week of August. Sebelius said that as soon as the vaccines were approved and available, the federal government would purchase them from the manufacturers and share them free among the states, which must then “try and get this in the arms of the targeted population as soon as possible.”

Sebelius acknowledged that this fall is likely to be a confusing season, with doctors’ offices, clinics, grocery stores and drug stores dispensing doses of regular seasonal flu vaccine as well as the H1N1 vaccine, which will probably have to be given in two separate inoculations. Schools and day care centers may also be utilized to mount a mass vaccination program against the H1N1 virus. “Since the population that seems to be most affected is younger folks, school-aged kids, kids in day care centers, we may well partner with the schools, looking at those as possible sites for a vaccination program,” said Sebelius.

Sebelius urged the summit attendees to go home and get schools, mayors and other community leaders to spread that message. “The last thing we want is millions of parents to be surprised” when the get-your-child-vaccinated-at-school note comes home. She also warned against complacency. “What we can’t do is wait until October and then suddenly decide that we have a very serious situation on our hands,” she said.

Sebelius said the federal government will provide $350 million by the end of July to help states develop specific plans for combating the pandemic and to help hospitals brace for a surge of demand. “We want to make sure we are not promoting panic but we are promoting vigilance and preparation,” Obama told the gathering. “We may end up averting a crisis. That’s our hope.”

Many other issues have yet to be hammered out, such as guidelines for closing schools where infected students are found, and how to keep students learning if schools are closed for extended periods. And an even bigger problem: When schools close and working parents must stay home, or when workers get sick and don’t get paid for time off. Usually, they go to work despite their illness, spreading infection to co-workers. “How are we going to assist people who don’t have benefits?” asked Paul Jarris of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she is currently working with the Labor Department to address that question, and she urged employers to make other provisions, such as telecommuting, should H1N1invade their workplaces this fall.