Swine Flu Declared National Emergency… What Emergency?

Is this really an emergency, or is this the latest power grab by our Federal Government.  See here for another view on this “emergency”. It appears that there is no basis for most of the “facts” supporting this decision…

For example the 1000 deaths is almost certainly a blatant misrepresentation of the actual facts. (go see the other view above) It makes sense to take steps to prevent a pandemic but “crying wolf” when the facts don’t warrant it simply makes it less likely that people will cooperate when it is really needed…

Here was the weekend announcement of the National Emergency…

President Obama declared swine flu a national emergency, a move intended to give hospitals and other medical facilities more flexibility in coping with the possible surge of infected patients, public health experts said Saturday.

The declaration, announced Saturday, allows U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to waive certain regulations or speed up the regulatory process if health providers are inundated with swine flu patients.

For example, an overwhelmed hospital might be able to set aside a specific wing for infectious patients, or even move people to a location outside the hospital for treatment.

The declaration also allows the health secretary to remove some of the red tape associated with treating patients on Medicare and Medicaid. That could be a major help to hospitals that are trying to move patients quickly in and out of health clinics, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, director of infection control at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Swine flu has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States since April, according to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and infectious disease experts believe it has infected millions around the globe. In the Bay Area, 58 people had died from swine flu as of Sept. 26, according to the latest information from the California Department of Health Services. Seven of those deaths occurred in San Francisco.

Outbreak’s severity the same

White House officials were quick to note that the emergency declaration does not signify an increase in severity of the national H1N1 outbreak.

Obama’s declaration states that as the swine flu outbreak continues to progress in the United States, “the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities.”

Art Reingold, head of epidemiology at UC Berkeley, said the declaration doesn’t mean that the national outbreak is “any worse than it was yesterday or last week.” Instead, he suspects it was issued in part to help state and local governments manage an epidemic that could overwhelm already limited resources after public health budgets were slashed all over the country.

He added that the declaration, while not surprising, had to be carefully worded to avoid creating more anxiety about the swine flu.

“It’s difficult to get the right message across to people,” Reingold said. “There’s this balance between the flu is important and people should be vaccinated, but you don’t want an overreaction.”

In the Bay Area, many public health agencies have reported significant increases in flu activity in the first half of October. While health services aren’t yet strained by the increased patient load, public health experts said the president’s declaration comes as a relief.

“This might open up approvals for hospital procedures, and allow us to get our patients in and out faster,” Maldonado said. “Hospitals are tightly regulated. We won’t be exempt from those regulations, but our needs will probably be fast-tracked.”

Several local public health experts said they hope the declaration can be used to speed up distribution of the swine flu vaccine. The vaccine was supposed to have been available in large quantities in mid-October, but as of late last week, many communities – including most Bay Area counties – had very limited supplies.

Speeding drug distribution

In recent months, Sebelius has issued three declarations of a public health emergency to help ease distribution of U.S. supplies of antiviral drugs to treat people with the swine flu. At the local level, some counties may declare emergencies to help corner resources for vaccine distribution.

“Given the variables related to vaccine supply and the need for expanded resources at the municipal level, it’s not unreasonable to assume that a proclamation of emergency may be required at the local level to facilitate the distribution of vaccine,” said Vanessa Cordova, a spokeswoman for the Alameda County Public Health Department.