PostHeaderIcon Obama calls swine flu a national emergency




As predicted early in spring that the H1N1 flu pandemic will escalate to cause illness in fall and winter. Early this month, about 20% of school children in US have complained of flu-like symptoms, most of them are thought to be caused by the H1N1 virus. In addition, 7% of 10,000 adults surveyed reported manifestations of flu which had claimed the lives of 1,000 people in USA.

The spread of the swine flu has the potential to overtax the healthcare system as 46 out 50 states have reported rising influenza infections. Wordwide, it was reported 5,000 people have so far died of the disease since the first cases were identified in April. This prompted Pres. Barack Obama to declare a national flu emergency.

“The emergency declaration, which Obama signed late Friday, lets doctors and nurses temporarily bypass certain federal requirements so they can better handle a spike in influenza A(H1N1) patients. The declaration comes just days after Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned that demand was outstripping supply of vaccine for the novel flu strain.”----AFP (10/24/09)

More than 1 million Americans have been downed by the H1N1 flu. Facing a vaccine shortage, the state of New York on Friday suspended the controversial ruling that health care personnel be vaccinated against the H1N1 flu by the end of November or face the possibility of job termination.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) about 16.1 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine was ready for distribution and 11 million doses have already been passed on to state health authorities for use. In spite of this, it is believed that the distribution is already late to be able to cover individuals who truly need the vaccine. (Photo Credit: Fassbender, I./ Reuters/ Getty images) =0=

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