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Report: Novel H1N1 tested public health resources

The initial U.S. response to the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak showed strong coordination and communication and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, but it also showed how quickly the nation’s public health capacity would be overwhelmed if an outbreak were more severe or widespread, according to a report issued today by the Trust for America’s Health, the Center for Biosecurity and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“H1N1 is a real-world test of our initial emergency response capabilities. All of the planning and preparations have paid off. The country is significantly ahead of where we were a few years ago,” Jeff Levi, PhD,executive director of the group, said in a press release. “However, the outbreak also revealed serious gaps in our nation's preparedness for pandemic flu and other public health emergencies.”

Among those gaps, the report noted that public health departments did not have enough resources to carry out plans. The report also emphasized improving global coordination, caring for the underinsured and uninsured, maintaining the Strategic National Stockpile and improving strategies to limit the spread of disease. The report also emphasized the importance of communities being prepared to limit public gatherings and close schools as necessary.

In a press conference today, Anne Schuchat, MD, interim deputy director for the CDC’s Science and Public Health Program, reacted to the report.

“This is a novel virus. The world has several weeks experience with this virus and we need to remain humble and learn as we go,” Schuchat said. Globally there have been 19,273 cases in 66 countries. There are confirmed cases of this virus in all 50 states, with 11,468 probable and confirmed cases, 19 fatalities and 770 hospitalizations. The bulk of the hospitalizations have been in younger people, between the ages of 5 and 25, she said.

Schuchat said world health officials are watching the situation closely in the southern hemisphere, to guide them on vaccine decisions for the northern hemisphere in the fall.

Trust for America's Health’s stressed the importance of global coordination in responding to this novel virus. The report also took aim at WHO’s pandemic alert system, saying it caused “confusion” for the public.

However, the report noted “investments in pandemic planning and stockpiling antiviral medications paid off.”

The full analysis is available on the trust’s website at www.healthyamericans.org.