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Source: http://www.times-herald.com/local/Coweta-residents-death-flu-related-890141
Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 in Local
Coweta resident's death flu-related
By Jeff Bishop
The Times-Herald
Even as President Barack Obama declared H1N1 flu a "national emergency," new shipments of the vaccine have not yet arrived in Coweta County.
"There's no vaccine yet," said Alice M. Jackson, lead nurse at the Coweta County Health Department, 137 Jackson St, Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, state officials confirmed Monday that Coweta County has suffered an influenza-related death recently, but no names were released.
"I don't have names but I know in the past two weeks we have had two influenza-related deaths, and one was a Coweta resident," said Hayla Hall, risk communicator for District 4 Health Services.
The other influenza-related death in District 4 occurred in Spalding County.
"And we had two influenza-related deaths in September as well, both Troup residents," Hall said.
On Aug. 29, the federal Centers for Disease Control closed out reports of 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations and deaths for the 2008-09 season, Hall said. Effective Aug. 30, CDC began compiling information from states related to all influenza and pneumonia-associated hospitalizations and deaths for the 2009-2010 season using new case definitions.
"Beginning Aug. 30, all deaths that are flu-related are lumped together instead of being seasonal flu deaths vs. H1N1 flu deaths," she said.
Jackson said some "inaccurate information" has been circulating recently about the H1N1 vaccine's availability.
"There has been some inaccurate information that the health departments all have H1N1 vaccine," she said.
"It is the opposite," said Jackson. "Most or all health departments do not have any H1N1" vaccine, she said.
Jackson said that the purpose of Pres. Obama declaring a national emergency was "to assist hospitals in dealing with the possible increase in clients," and to assist them in relaxing some of their guidelines.
Hall said that the proclamation declaring the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic a national emergency was "to facilitate our ability to respond to the pandemic by enabling -- if warranted on a case-by-case basis -- the waiver of certain statutory requirements for medical treatment facilities.
"In particular, this proclamation is aimed at providing the ability to waive legal requirements that could otherwise limit the ability of our nation's health care system to respond to the surge of patients with the 2009-H1N1 influenza virus," said Hall.
"It is not related to any specific events or vaccine supply issues, but an effort to be as prepared as possible," she said.
Hall confirmed Monday afternoon that no new vaccine shipments have arrived -- not just in Coweta, but throughout the District 4 region.
"I have not been notified of any H1N1 vaccine shipments arriving in the district since the first shipment of nasal spray weeks ago," said Hall.
"I am updating our Web site several times a day as I'm notified of health departments running out of vaccine and am directing people there for information," she said.
The Web site is www.district4health.org.
Associated Press reported that the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday the swine flu vaccine "is coming out the door as fast as it comes off the production line."
But at the same time, she acknowledged delays in getting a sufficient supply for all those demanding it.
"We were relying on the manufacturers to give us their numbers and as soon as we got numbers we put them out to the public. It does appear now that those numbers were overly rosy," Sebelius said in one interview. "We do have a vaccine that works," she said. Sebelius said the immune response is working faster than officials anticipated.
Appearing Monday morning on nationally broadcast news shows, she said officials now have a supply of about 16.5 million doses of the vaccine, while conceding that's millions of doses below the amount needed.
Sebelius said she couldn't predict just how widespread the virus will be. Roughly a thousand people have died from it so far in the United States. But she also said officials do not believe there is yet any cause to close down schools and cease other daily activities.
President Barack Obama declared a health emergency over the weekend to give hospitals and health professionals more leeway from federal regulations to respond to the illness. And on Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Congress would be happy to provide additional support and money on a bipartisan basis, if the need arises.
Said Sebelius: "If we had found the virus a little earlier we could have started a little earlier."
Asked what advice she would give to people who have waited futilely in line for shots, the secretary replied, "I want them to come back."
"I hope that people aren't discouraged," she said. "I know it's frustrating to wait in line and particularly if you end up with no vaccine. We wish this could have been smoother, that we had a larger supply. We knew it would come in waves."
Sebelius sought to assure people that eventually there will be enough supplies "for everyone."
Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it's hard to predict how long the H1N1 wave will continue, so even getting vaccinated a few months from now -- when vaccine supplies are more plentiful -- won't be too late.
"It wouldn't be too late," she said. "We don't know how long this increase will go on. ... We might see another wave after the first of the year. I think it's important for people to take steps to protect themselves."
Sebelius appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "The Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show. Schuchat was interviewed on CNN.
Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 in Local
Coweta resident's death flu-related
By Jeff Bishop
The Times-Herald
Even as President Barack Obama declared H1N1 flu a "national emergency," new shipments of the vaccine have not yet arrived in Coweta County.
"There's no vaccine yet," said Alice M. Jackson, lead nurse at the Coweta County Health Department, 137 Jackson St, Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, state officials confirmed Monday that Coweta County has suffered an influenza-related death recently, but no names were released.
"I don't have names but I know in the past two weeks we have had two influenza-related deaths, and one was a Coweta resident," said Hayla Hall, risk communicator for District 4 Health Services.
The other influenza-related death in District 4 occurred in Spalding County.
"And we had two influenza-related deaths in September as well, both Troup residents," Hall said.
On Aug. 29, the federal Centers for Disease Control closed out reports of 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations and deaths for the 2008-09 season, Hall said. Effective Aug. 30, CDC began compiling information from states related to all influenza and pneumonia-associated hospitalizations and deaths for the 2009-2010 season using new case definitions.
"Beginning Aug. 30, all deaths that are flu-related are lumped together instead of being seasonal flu deaths vs. H1N1 flu deaths," she said.
Jackson said some "inaccurate information" has been circulating recently about the H1N1 vaccine's availability.
"There has been some inaccurate information that the health departments all have H1N1 vaccine," she said.
"It is the opposite," said Jackson. "Most or all health departments do not have any H1N1" vaccine, she said.
Jackson said that the purpose of Pres. Obama declaring a national emergency was "to assist hospitals in dealing with the possible increase in clients," and to assist them in relaxing some of their guidelines.
Hall said that the proclamation declaring the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic a national emergency was "to facilitate our ability to respond to the pandemic by enabling -- if warranted on a case-by-case basis -- the waiver of certain statutory requirements for medical treatment facilities.
"In particular, this proclamation is aimed at providing the ability to waive legal requirements that could otherwise limit the ability of our nation's health care system to respond to the surge of patients with the 2009-H1N1 influenza virus," said Hall.
"It is not related to any specific events or vaccine supply issues, but an effort to be as prepared as possible," she said.
Hall confirmed Monday afternoon that no new vaccine shipments have arrived -- not just in Coweta, but throughout the District 4 region.
"I have not been notified of any H1N1 vaccine shipments arriving in the district since the first shipment of nasal spray weeks ago," said Hall.
"I am updating our Web site several times a day as I'm notified of health departments running out of vaccine and am directing people there for information," she said.
The Web site is www.district4health.org.
Associated Press reported that the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday the swine flu vaccine "is coming out the door as fast as it comes off the production line."
But at the same time, she acknowledged delays in getting a sufficient supply for all those demanding it.
"We were relying on the manufacturers to give us their numbers and as soon as we got numbers we put them out to the public. It does appear now that those numbers were overly rosy," Sebelius said in one interview. "We do have a vaccine that works," she said. Sebelius said the immune response is working faster than officials anticipated.
Appearing Monday morning on nationally broadcast news shows, she said officials now have a supply of about 16.5 million doses of the vaccine, while conceding that's millions of doses below the amount needed.
Sebelius said she couldn't predict just how widespread the virus will be. Roughly a thousand people have died from it so far in the United States. But she also said officials do not believe there is yet any cause to close down schools and cease other daily activities.
President Barack Obama declared a health emergency over the weekend to give hospitals and health professionals more leeway from federal regulations to respond to the illness. And on Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Congress would be happy to provide additional support and money on a bipartisan basis, if the need arises.
Said Sebelius: "If we had found the virus a little earlier we could have started a little earlier."
Asked what advice she would give to people who have waited futilely in line for shots, the secretary replied, "I want them to come back."
"I hope that people aren't discouraged," she said. "I know it's frustrating to wait in line and particularly if you end up with no vaccine. We wish this could have been smoother, that we had a larger supply. We knew it would come in waves."
Sebelius sought to assure people that eventually there will be enough supplies "for everyone."
Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it's hard to predict how long the H1N1 wave will continue, so even getting vaccinated a few months from now -- when vaccine supplies are more plentiful -- won't be too late.
"It wouldn't be too late," she said. "We don't know how long this increase will go on. ... We might see another wave after the first of the year. I think it's important for people to take steps to protect themselves."
Sebelius appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "The Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show. Schuchat was interviewed on CNN.