Report: Local swine flu alerts came too slowly

updated 6:43 p.m. ET July 7, 2009

CHICAGO - Many local health departments in the United States were slow to alert residents to the public health threat posed by the new H1N1 influenza virus in April, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Researchers at the non-profit Rand Corp research organization said only a third of 153 local health departments surveyed posted information about the new swine flu on their websites within the first 24 hours after federal health officials declared a public health emergency.

State health departments did better — 46 of 50 posting some information about the outbreak within 24 hours of the federal announcement, according to the study published in the journal Health Affairs.

U.S. health officials say communication is often the best way to combat a rapidly spreading infectious disease, and the federal government's flu plan stresses that state and local officials must take much of the responsibility.

The H1N1 outbreak, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, came at a vulnerable time for cash-strapped state and local health departments, following a decision by Congress last spring to cut $870 million slated for flu preparedness from the economic stimulus bill.

Concerns over drug resistance
Late in April, President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion to pay for swine flu measures. The White House has scheduled a H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit for Thursday to discuss preparations for the possibility of a more severe outbreak of H1N1 this fall.

The H1N1 virus has infected at least 1 million people in the United States alone, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

While it has caused mild flu symptoms in most people, 440 people have died globally, according to WHO, and health experts are keeping a close watch in case it changes into a more serious form that cannot be treated by existing drugs.

According to the Rand study, responses varied widely by local health departments across the five states that had confirmed cases at the outset of the epidemic — California, Texas, New York, Ohio and Kansas.

While 73 percent of the California counties sampled provided some online information, just 8 percent of the counties in Kansas and 18 percent of the Texas counties quickly provided information online, the researchers found.

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They said the swine flu outbreak offered a rare chance to assess how well state and local health departments could respond during an actual emergency.

Companies are currently making test batches of a vaccine against the virus in advance of flu season in the northern hemisphere, and the CDC has asked state and local health departments to draw up plans for administering the shot in case it is needed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it has scheduled a July 23 advisory panel meeting to discuss clinical trials of the vaccines against the H1N1 influenza virus.

Companies working on an H1N1 vaccine include Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis AG, Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline and Solvay.

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