Posts Tagged ‘Swine flu’


Spectrum Infection: Lessons Learned – H1N1 A Year Later

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

nicGreetings from the 44th National Immunization Conference in Atlanta! With the one year anniversary of the H1N1 outbreak upon us this week, there is not a more fitting place for officials from NIH, HHS, CDC, FDA, state and local health agencies, vaccine advocacy organizations and vaccine manufacturers to gather.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius delivered the conference’s keynote address, which focused on the response to the H1N1 flu pandemic, the lessons learned and efforts to strengthen America’s health security in the future.

On April 21, 2009, the CDC was alerted to a new strain of influenza in California and Texas, similar to one that was presenting in Mexico. Kathleen Sebelius was still serving as governor of Kansas, but seven short days later would be sworn in as our country’s 21st HHS Secretary and quickly whisked into the Situation Room at the White House where President Obama and other government leaders were beginning to mount an attack on what would become the world’s first pandemic in 40 years.

Over the course of the past 12 months, the federal government worked alongside state and local health agencies to ensure that Americans were prepared for and protected against H1N1, and the H1N1 vaccine was the keystone of these efforts. As Secretary Sebelius stated, “The H1N1 vaccine was the most ambitious immunization campaign ever.” (more…)

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The Results Are In: WHO and CDC Release Data on the 2009 Swine Flu

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Last year there was not enough time to include the H1N1 strain in the formulation for the annual seasonal flu vaccine, but this year will be different. After its four-day influenza meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that the 2010 seasonal flu vaccine contain protection from the swine flu.  

Despite the fact that experts believe a third wave in the spring is an improbability, the WHO expects swine flu to remain a significant threat in the years ahead. The WHO plans to discuss this third wave probability during another official meeting, set to take place next week. Is this season’s H1N1 pandemic officially over? We’ll have to wait and see what comes out of the meeting.

From the field, we’re hearing that doctors and clinics throughout the U.S. are reporting a decrease in the typical number of seasonal flu cases. Cases of swine flu, and similar conditions such as RSV, which primarily affects small children, have now surpassed those of seasonal flu patients. Public health officials are slightly puzzled by this. Perhaps more will come to light after we’ve become accustomed to H1N1 as an official part of the influenza conversation. (more…)

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Spectrum

100 Days and Counting

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Whether or not you subscribe to the Axelrod principle that the 100th Day of President Obama’s term was nothing more than a Hallmark holiday for the inside-the-Beltway crew, it remains undeniable that Obama’s first 100 days were the most action-packed of any President’s in history.  On top of the economy, Iraq and Afghanistan, just look at the events of the past five days.

Sebelius, Specter, swine flu – and now Justice David Souter.  Is it humanly possible to add more political excitement to this week?

On the eve of Day 100, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius was finally confirmed as HHS Secretary, just in time to lead the government’s efforts to address the formerly-known-as-swine-flu outbreak.  First order of business was to jump in at the helm to oversee the Administration’s rebranding plan to rename the outbreak the H1N1 flu.  But swine flu was quickly overtaken by Specter fever.

(more…)

Posted in Health Policy, Media Relations, Public Affairs, Uncategorized
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Spectrum

Dispelling the Myths of Pandemic Prevention

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Swine Flu is all over the news – countries are imposing major travel restrictions to Mexico, and the CDC has reported 109 cases in the U.S. as of Thursday at 11:00 am.

The current situation reminds me of an article by Philip Alcabes in the Washington Post titled, “5 Myths about Pandemic Panic.” Alcabes questioned the efficacy of looking to the past for ideas about how to prevent future pandemics, and challenged the following myths:

  • 1. Infectious diseases are spreading faster than ever;
  • 2. To learn to prevent a pandemic, look to the past;
  • 3. We should brace ourselves for another Spanish Flu;
  • 4. The annual flu season is nothing compared to a pandemic; and
  • 5. There’s no such thing as being too prepared

Reuters also published a piece in March questioning the risk of pandemics and there was an article in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases in February suggesting that it was strep, not the Spanish Flu, that killed millions during the 1918 Global Flu Pandemic. The JEID article suggested that had antibiotics against strep been available, many of those people would have survived.

There is now a general feeling that infectious diseases are emerging at alarming rates. Over the next few days we will hear more on the facts about how Swine Flu made it across our borders from Mexico as CDC goes into full swing on contact tracing for the U.S. cases. This is where I think Alcabes’ piece is most relevant. Alcabes wrote:

[W]e run the risk of doing more harm than good by overreacting to the threat of a pandemic. In 1976, swine flu, a strain of influenza similar to the one from 1918, was diagnosed in a small number of soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., one of whom died. That prompted medical experts to warn that the United States faced a crisis reminiscent of the Spanish flu. President Gerald R. Ford authorized a mass inoculation program, and 45 million Americans — more than 20 percent of the population — were vaccinated.

What I enjoyed most about his article was his attempt to debunk the myth that there is no such a thing as being too prepared in terms of pandemic prevention. He believes that we are spending too many resources on useless preparations. This “trial” run of an emergency response to a serious public health threat may help settle the question of whether the risks associated with a public health emergency, such as the one we are facing with the swine flu, are really worth the investments we have made in preparedness for a biological threat.

 Audrey Spolarich, Senior Research Advisor

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Spectrum

Catching Swine Flu. Vector: Social Media

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Swine Flu, or H1N1 Virus, is spreading like wildfire – online, that is.

Beyond the tsunami of news coverage and buzz in the blogosphere, swine flu is demonstrating the power, efficiency and ramifications of digital media – well, at least in times of an impending pandemic. Although we are still in the midst of the crisis, it’s interesting to see how organizations are using social media and digital technology in response.

To put things into perspective, Neilson Online found that online conversations about swine flu are doubling daily and the topic had been discussed on nearly six percent of blogs, news sites and forums by Tuesday morning. In addition, since April 24th, over 13,400 tweets had been tagged with #SwineFlu (the hash tag @CDCemergency is using) on Twitter, and that doesn’t include the other tags people are using! According to MSNBC, the topic accounted for nearly two percent of all tweets during the past few days. 140 characters or not, that’s a lot of conversations.

In addition, HHS responded by creating a Swine widget, which provides a graphic with links to the most recent CDC Swine Flu Info, and Google has launched a useful interactive map charting the course of the flu. John Brownstein, a physician at Children’s Hospital Boston, along with fellow CHB computer scientist Clark Friefeld, also created the HealthMap swine flu tracking service, which was recently modified to include Twitter updates. All this within the last week!

The speed at which organizations are utilizing social media to transmit their swine flu messages, as well as the rate people are consuming that information, is incredible. However, a conversation about the utility and benefits of digital technology and social media in times of crisis cannot ignore the potential of the tools to be used to rapidly propagate misinformation, as well as the need to monitor the conversations and engage if necessary.

As updates emerge hourly (the swine flu Wikipedia page was updated 60 times between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.) response to the spread of the virus, the Centers For Disease control acted quickly, updating their homepage and creating a special section solely for updates and information on swine flu that includes key facts, related items and the ability to share/post the page to social bookmarking and social networking sites. Buzz activity about the CDC mirrors closely the buzz surrounding both health scares. – Neilson Online

During times of crisis, digital technology and social media can provide valuable platforms to transmit messages efficiently. However, it’s important to remember that these tools don’t discriminate on the source, validity and value of information being shared. This is why organizations with vested interests involved during a crisis should not only transmit, but also monitor, engage and participate in the online space to ensure the truth trumps speculation and hearsay.

Chris Rottler, Digital Strategist & Account Executive

Posted in Disease Awareness, New Media, Technology, Tweets
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