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HHS Will Re-examine its Disaster Preparedness Plan

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that her department would review its disaster preparedness plan in the wake of difficulties to manufacture and distribute H1N1 vaccine for this year's flu season.

To view the Reuters story, click here.

President Obama Signs Emergency Declaration for H1N1 Flu

From the White House blog:

"In an effort to proactively address the ongoing pandemic, the President signed a National Emergency Declaration on H1N1 that allows healthcare systems to quickly implement disaster plans should they become overwhelmed.

As experts expected, H1N1 flu is moving rapidly throughout the country and the majority of states now have widespread influenza activity.  This declaration gives authority for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive certain regulatory requirements for healthcare facilities in response the ongoing pandemic. Specifically, healthcare facilities will be able to submit waivers to establish alternate care sites, and modified patient triage protocols, patient transfer procedures and other actions that occur when they fully implement disaster operations plans."

For more information, visit the White House blog site.

CDC issues new H1N1 flu guidelines for higher education

The Centers for Disease and Control has released new H1N1 flu guidelines for institutions of higher education. From the preface:

This document provides guidance to help decrease the spread of flu among students, faculty, and staff of institutions of higher education (IHE) and post-secondary educational institutions during the 2009-2010 academic year. The guidance expands upon earlier guidance for these settings by providing a menu of tools that IHE and health officials can choose from based on conditions in their area. It recommends actions to take now (during this academic year), suggests strategies to consider if the flu starts causing more severe disease than during the spring/summer 2009 H1N1 outbreak, and provides a checklist for making decisions. Detailed information on the reasons for these strategies and suggestions on how to use them is included in the Technical Report. Based on the severity of 2009 H1N1 flu-related illness thus far, this guidance also recommends that students, faculty, and staff with flu-like illness remain home until 24 hours after resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.

• View the guidelines

Federal agencies issue new employer guidelines for coming H1N1 flu season

Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gary Locke, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano this week announced new guidance for businesses to plan for and respond to the upcoming flu season.

The guidance, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is designed to help employers prepare now for the impact of seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza could have this fall and winter on their employers and operations.

• Read the news release
• View new CDC guidance

2009 briefing notes changes in reporting requirements for pandemic H1N1 2009 virus infection

According to the World Health Organization: As the 2009 pandemic evolves, the data needed for risk assessment, both within affected countries and at the global level, are also changing.  At this point, further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable.  This assumption is fully backed by experience.

The 2009 influenza pandemic has spread internationally with  unprecedented speed. In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks. The increasing number of cases in many countries with sustained community transmission is making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for countries to try and confirm them through laboratory testing. Moreover, the counting of individual cases is now no longer essential in such countries for monitoring either the level or nature of the risk posed by the pandemic virus or to guide implementation of the most appropriate response measures.

• Read the WHO release.

New report: 'The Role of the Department of Defense During a Flu Pandemic'

The Congressional Research Service has released a new report: "The Role of the Department of Defense During a Flu Pandemic." From the introduction:

"A flu pandemic is a worldwide epidemic of an influenza virus. As such, the United States’ response to a flu pandemic would have both international and domestic components. Additionally, the domestic response effort would include contributions from every governmental level (local, state, tribal, and federal), non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. This report will focus largely on the role of the Department of Defense (DOD) in supporting the nation’s domestic response effort, although it will also touch on DOD’s international role."

• Download the 18-page report as a PDF.

10 early lessons from the outbreak of novel H1N1 flu

Trust for America's Health (TFAH), the Center for Biosecurity, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) analyze the initial response to the H1N1 outbreak, "Pandemic Flu: Lessons From the Frontlines," which found that U.S. officials executed strong coordination and communication and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, but also how quickly the nation's core public health capacity would be overwhelmed if an outbreak were more severe or widespread.

The report reviews 10 early lessons learned from the response to the H1N1 (swine) flu outbreak, 10 ongoing core vulnerabilities in U.S. pandemic flu preparedness, and case studies of challenges communities around the country faced when responding to the outbreak.

Download the report as a 24-page PFD.

New report -- "The 2009 H1N1 'Swine Flu' Outbreak: An Overview"

The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report, "The 2009 H1N1 'Swine Flu' Oubreak: An Overview." From the summary:

This report provides an introduction to the situation regarding the potential of a global human influenza pandemic caused by the new H1N1 flu strain; a brief chronology of events; a discussion of key actions taken and authorities invoked by the WHO and the U.S. government; information about key U.S. government pandemic flu planning documents; and sources for additional information about the situation as it unfolds. This report will be continually updated to reflect unfolding events.

Download this report as a 15-page PDF.

Union report says health care workers lack protection from pandemic flu

A group of seven unions has released "Health Care Workers In Peril: Preparing to Protect Worker Health and Safety During Pandemic Influenza,"  a new report based on a survey of health care workers.

From the executive summary:

An influenza pandemic is projected to have a global impact requiring a sustained, large scale response from the healthcare community to provide care to sick patients. Health care workers will be at very high risk of becoming infected when caring for patients with pandemic flu unless adequate health and safety measures are in place, in advance of the pandemic, that will protect them.

There is no existing comprehensive federal OSHA standard with mandatory and enforceable provisions that require planning and preparation designed to protect health care workers from exposures to pandemic influenza. Nevertheless, it is essential that workplaces plan and prepare for safety and health issues before the flu arrives. In an effort to assess the extent of employer efforts in planning adequate safety and health measures for health care workers, a group of unions developed a “pandemic flu preparedness survey” to assess the level of preparedness on a facility basis.

The survey was distributed to union leaders across the country who represent healthcare workers in unionized facilities. One hundred four (104) facility surveys were collected by six unions in fourteen states. The results of the survey indicate that health care facilities have made some progress in preparing for an influenza pandemic but much more needs to be done.

• Download the report as a 14-page PDF.

CRS issues report on legal aspects of flu outbreak

The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report, "The 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Outbreak: Selected Legal Issues."

From the preface:

Recent human cases of infection with a novel influenza A(H1N1) virus have been identified both internationally and in the United States. Since there has been human to human transmission and the new virus has the potential to become pandemic, it is timely to examine the legal issues surrounding this emerging public health threat. This report provides a brief overview of selected legal issues including emergency measures, civil rights, liability issues, and employment issues.

• Download the report.