U.S. Officials Discuss Next Steps in Addressing Swine Flu

A television news crew reports from outside the Robin Sue Ward School for Exceptional Children April 28, 2009 in the Queens borough of New York City. The school is in the neighborhood of Fresh Meadows, not far from St. Francis Prep where the first cases o (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Various officials throughout the United States addressed the spread of the swine flu Tuesday afternoon amidst growing concern over a global pandemic.

Discussions and press conferences were held on Capitol Hill, in Albany, NY, and at the White House about how the country is responding to the outbreak. The main concern is on how the flu will spread in next Fall’s flu season and the preparatory measures are currently being taken.

The Health and Human Services subcommittee held an emergency panel hearing on the swine flu at Capitol Hill. The panel agreed that currently it is not necessary to test people coming off planes or crossing the border from Mexico, where the outbreak has been the most severe. Their rationale was that it takes 24 hours to five days before a patient shows signs of the swine flu, which could make individual testing of little use.

According to Dr. Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, a vaccine seed strain has been produced and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could have a vaccine ready in seven months.

To counter and treat the flu “there is already pandemic preparedness,” Jarris said, adding that there needs to be more funding for preparation and treatment.

“Even if it were to stop right now, it may come back in Fall,” Jarris said.

Such funding was announced at a White House press briefing. A total of $1.5 billion will go towards making vaccines and ensuring each region has proper resources and training to deal with the swine flu.

“In our opinion this is about prudent planning,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

A Cause Not for Alarm

According to Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence company, “While there obviously have been deaths, we are not seeing numbers that indicate this is [a] particularly horrible disease. Something like the 1918 avian virus would already be killing people in significant numbers in places as scattered as Singapore, Buenos Aires, and Moscow.”

“It appears that this H1N1 [swine flu] strain is simply a new strain of the common flu that is somewhat more virulent. All evidence thus far indicates that a simple paper mask is effective at limiting transmission, and that common anti-viral medications such as Tamiflu and Relenza work well against the new strain,” says Stratfor.

During a White House briefing on Sunday, Dr. Richard Besser, the director of the CDC made a similar statement, saying “this strain is not unlike other new [flu] strains that have emerged” and that it is expected that new flu strains will emerge.

As of Tuesday, the swine flu has yet to kill anyone outside of Mexico.

In Mexico, 19 deaths have been confirmed, according to CNN, although the actual number of deaths there are estimated to be close to 152.

The common flu kills an estimated 36,000 people in the United States alone, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

In Mexico close to 1,600 people are thought to be infected with the swine flu.

The world is on alert as the swine flu continues to spread to other countries.

The World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 4 on Monday. Phase 4 indicates sustained human to human transmission, while Phases 5 and 6 indicate widespread human infection. After the peak at 6, the threat level lowers into Post Peak and Post Pandemic.

On Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared a public health emergency, allowing for federal funds to be used in response to the swine flu.

New York at the Center

In the United States, New York has seen the largest number of swine flu cases, with 45 of the 64 confirmed infections across the nation.

On Tuesday, New York Governor David Paterson said that “we plan for the worst case scenarios and we’ve done that,” adding that it doesn’t mean we are seeing the worst case scenario.

Paterson asked the public to not be alarmed, saying that many people who are showing symptoms of illness or allergies think they have swine flu and are crowding researchers with specimens. “[That’s] what we’re trying to avoid,” Paterson said.

He said that in terms of those who have contracted the illness “many people have recovered from it already” and that among those who have recovered “some of them didn’t receive treatment.”

When asked if people should start wearing masks to protect themselves from the swine flu, N.Y. Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines said “that is not recommended.”