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More Severe Swine Flu Toll Expected in U.S., CDC Says (Update1)
2009-04-30 19:06:40.365 GMT
(Adds comparison with 1918 flu pandemic in seventh
paragraph. For related stories, see EXT3 <GO>. For a global
toll on swine flu, click {ALLX H1N1 <GO>}.)
By Nicole Gaouette
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu illnesses in the U.S.
will intensify in severity and spread to more states, U.S.
health officials said today, even as they stressed the response
to the illness is ?going well.?
Vaccine development is under way with the help of drug
manufacturers and 600 million doses may be ready in six months,
said Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, U.S. Health and Human
Services Department assistant secretary for preparedness and
response, at a House health subcommittee hearing today in
Washington. The H1N1 virus appears to be susceptible to the
stockpiled flu treatments, Roche Holding AG?s Tamiflu and
Relenza from GlaxoSmithKline Plc, that are being distributed to
states, he said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based
in Atlanta has identified 109 U.S. cases of flu caused by the
H1N1 virus and the Geneva-based World Health Organization has
found the infection in 11 countries. Health workers don?t know
yet how dangerous the virus ultimately will be, said Rear
Admiral Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director of the CDC?s
Science and Public Health Program.
?We fully expect to find more cases, also of severity of
illness,? Schuchat told the lawmakers at the hearing. ?It?s a
very unusual virus and we don?t believe humans have experienced
it before these cases we?re seeing. We don?t have good
information about how dangerous it is. We?re in early days of
understanding how severe it is.?
Preparation Key
Vanderwagen said money and time spent preparing for such an
outbreak of influenza has allowed health authorities to respond
quickly and communicate well with state and local partners.
?Government efforts are currently focused on saving lives,
slowing the transmission of the disease, and mitigating
consequences of those affected,? Vanderwagen said
Lawmakers asked Schuchat to evaluate Vice President Joe
Biden?s comments today on NBC?s ?Today Show? that he has told
his family to avoid traveling by airplane and subway because of
he virus. ?I would tell my family -- and I have -- that I
wouldn?t go anywhere in confined places now,? Biden said.
Schuchat said the CDC is telling people to avoid non-
essential travel to Mexico. She added she was looking forward to
flying home to Atlanta after the hearing. She repeated the
advice that people frequently wash their hands, and stay home or
keep their children home if they are sick.
?Worrisome? Sign
Schuchat said a ?worrisome sign from Mexico was the
relatively young healthy adults? succumbing to the H1N1 virus.
She said the average age of those in the U.S. confirmed to have
the flu is 22.
?That did ring a bell with cases from 1918,? she said,
responding to questions from lawmakers about the 1918 Spanish
flu pandemic. People now have access to anti-viral drugs and
antibiotics, as well as better health care, communications ?and
hopefully leadership,? Schuchat said.
The effort to produce a vaccine to protect against the H1N1
virus will be difficult, said Joshua Sharfstein, acting
commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. The CDC has
sent samples of the virus to manufacturers, government
scientists and other researchers working to develop a vaccine.
?Unknown Virus?
?There are several steps to make a vaccine, to test a
vaccine, but each step has uncertainties,? said Sharfstein,
whose Silver Spring, Maryland-based agency falls under the
Department of Health and Human Services. ?We?re dealing with an
unknown virus, one that hasn?t been turned into a vaccine
before, so there?s a lot of uncertainty there, but it?s a
scientific uncertainty.?
Sharfstein said ?four months is one scenario? for the
development of a vaccine. Public health officials in a few weeks
may have a better idea of how long it will take to produce a
vaccine.
Public health officials and manufacturers will face
strategic decisions as they create a vaccine, Sharfstein said.
The choices will include whether to produce a ?stand-alone?
vaccine or combine it with other vaccines. Those decisions would
be made by the agencies, researchers and manufacturers together
after the data had been examined, he said after the hearing.
Rep. Philip Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, said he worried
the U.S. may spend money unnecessarily and asked whether health
officials will go ahead with a vaccine if the flu outbreak
diminishes.
Influenza viruses can mutate frequently and the CDC tests
frequently to watch the changes, Schuchat said.
?We are mindful that things might look like they?re
getting better and then have a resurgence in the fall,? she
said.
?The plan is to prepare for the worst,? added Sharfstein.
?We don?t want to be in a situation where we have a pandemic
and no vaccine.?
For Related News and Information:
Health stories from the U.S.: TNI US HEA BN <GO>
Top government stories: TOP GOV <GO>
Today?s most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
News about influenza: NI FLU <GO>
Stories about drugs: NI DRG BN <GO>
For swine flu, see EXT3 <GO>
News about the FDA: NI FDA <GO>
Bloomberg drug database: BDRG <GO>
S&P?s 500 Health-Care Index: S5HLTH <INDEX> MRR 10 <GO>
--Editors: Andrew Pollack, Angela Zimm
More Severe Swine Flu Toll Expected in U.S., CDC Says (Update1)
2009-04-30 19:06:40.365 GMT
(Adds comparison with 1918 flu pandemic in seventh
paragraph. For related stories, see EXT3 <GO>. For a global
toll on swine flu, click {ALLX H1N1 <GO>}.)
By Nicole Gaouette
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu illnesses in the U.S.
will intensify in severity and spread to more states, U.S.
health officials said today, even as they stressed the response
to the illness is ?going well.?
Vaccine development is under way with the help of drug
manufacturers and 600 million doses may be ready in six months,
said Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, U.S. Health and Human
Services Department assistant secretary for preparedness and
response, at a House health subcommittee hearing today in
Washington. The H1N1 virus appears to be susceptible to the
stockpiled flu treatments, Roche Holding AG?s Tamiflu and
Relenza from GlaxoSmithKline Plc, that are being distributed to
states, he said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based
in Atlanta has identified 109 U.S. cases of flu caused by the
H1N1 virus and the Geneva-based World Health Organization has
found the infection in 11 countries. Health workers don?t know
yet how dangerous the virus ultimately will be, said Rear
Admiral Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director of the CDC?s
Science and Public Health Program.
?We fully expect to find more cases, also of severity of
illness,? Schuchat told the lawmakers at the hearing. ?It?s a
very unusual virus and we don?t believe humans have experienced
it before these cases we?re seeing. We don?t have good
information about how dangerous it is. We?re in early days of
understanding how severe it is.?
Preparation Key
Vanderwagen said money and time spent preparing for such an
outbreak of influenza has allowed health authorities to respond
quickly and communicate well with state and local partners.
?Government efforts are currently focused on saving lives,
slowing the transmission of the disease, and mitigating
consequences of those affected,? Vanderwagen said
Lawmakers asked Schuchat to evaluate Vice President Joe
Biden?s comments today on NBC?s ?Today Show? that he has told
his family to avoid traveling by airplane and subway because of
he virus. ?I would tell my family -- and I have -- that I
wouldn?t go anywhere in confined places now,? Biden said.
Schuchat said the CDC is telling people to avoid non-
essential travel to Mexico. She added she was looking forward to
flying home to Atlanta after the hearing. She repeated the
advice that people frequently wash their hands, and stay home or
keep their children home if they are sick.
?Worrisome? Sign
Schuchat said a ?worrisome sign from Mexico was the
relatively young healthy adults? succumbing to the H1N1 virus.
She said the average age of those in the U.S. confirmed to have
the flu is 22.
?That did ring a bell with cases from 1918,? she said,
responding to questions from lawmakers about the 1918 Spanish
flu pandemic. People now have access to anti-viral drugs and
antibiotics, as well as better health care, communications ?and
hopefully leadership,? Schuchat said.
The effort to produce a vaccine to protect against the H1N1
virus will be difficult, said Joshua Sharfstein, acting
commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. The CDC has
sent samples of the virus to manufacturers, government
scientists and other researchers working to develop a vaccine.
?Unknown Virus?
?There are several steps to make a vaccine, to test a
vaccine, but each step has uncertainties,? said Sharfstein,
whose Silver Spring, Maryland-based agency falls under the
Department of Health and Human Services. ?We?re dealing with an
unknown virus, one that hasn?t been turned into a vaccine
before, so there?s a lot of uncertainty there, but it?s a
scientific uncertainty.?
Sharfstein said ?four months is one scenario? for the
development of a vaccine. Public health officials in a few weeks
may have a better idea of how long it will take to produce a
vaccine.
Public health officials and manufacturers will face
strategic decisions as they create a vaccine, Sharfstein said.
The choices will include whether to produce a ?stand-alone?
vaccine or combine it with other vaccines. Those decisions would
be made by the agencies, researchers and manufacturers together
after the data had been examined, he said after the hearing.
Rep. Philip Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, said he worried
the U.S. may spend money unnecessarily and asked whether health
officials will go ahead with a vaccine if the flu outbreak
diminishes.
Influenza viruses can mutate frequently and the CDC tests
frequently to watch the changes, Schuchat said.
?We are mindful that things might look like they?re
getting better and then have a resurgence in the fall,? she
said.
?The plan is to prepare for the worst,? added Sharfstein.
?We don?t want to be in a situation where we have a pandemic
and no vaccine.?
For Related News and Information:
Health stories from the U.S.: TNI US HEA BN <GO>
Top government stories: TOP GOV <GO>
Today?s most popular health-care stories: MNI HEA <GO>
Top health stories: HTOP <GO>
News about influenza: NI FLU <GO>
Stories about drugs: NI DRG BN <GO>
For swine flu, see EXT3 <GO>
News about the FDA: NI FDA <GO>
Bloomberg drug database: BDRG <GO>
S&P?s 500 Health-Care Index: S5HLTH <INDEX> MRR 10 <GO>
--Editors: Andrew Pollack, Angela Zimm