Federal funds put flu response in place, but may not keep coming in

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050309dnmetfluprep.4195d3d.html


Local health officials say federal budget cuts, however, are threatening to end or curtail such training exercises. They warn that a loss of funding endangers their ability to protect people.

A surge of federal support for public health emergency planning that followed bioterrorism fears in 2001 and the bird flu outbreak of 2004 ended last August. Now local health officials say they are struggling to prepare for unpredictable new bugs for which there's no vaccine, not nearly enough medicine, and a chance that throngs of patients could overwhelm hospitals.

"We took a significant cut nationwide in the pandemic influenza funding," said Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson. "That has impacted local health departments in terms of reductions in staff to respond to these types of outbreaks.

"Right now is showing you why you need public health preparedness funding," Thompson said. "Any reduction would be devastating."

[madrchsod]

1. republicans wanted us to die!

[rainbow4321]

2. Their funding cuts did not helped matters..Texas has ONE machine to test for swine

That's it. One. I can't see it being any better in any of the other states.

As a Texan, I can tell you this is not being widely reported..I found it buried in an article in the Austin newspaper.

As a health care professional, this bothers me even more. We shouldn't have to wait weeks to find out if we have been exposed. Guess at this point, though, we will have to assume that if the rapid test that we do onsite comes back positive for flu A, the odds of it being swine are pretty high.

Out of the 2,400+ samples sent to them for testing (as of 4/22/09), they have only been able to test about 180 of them.



http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/swineflu/entries/2009/05/03/cdc_officials_says_us_not_out.html


A leading official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the swine flu outbreak is percolating throughout the United States, as Texas reported 43 confirmed cases — four more than yesterday.


The numbers in Texas could change quickly, too. The state lab received so many nasal swabs last week it could not keep up. A Department of State Health Services spokesman said on Friday that the lab had tested just 181 of 2,492 swabs sent since April 22. It has just one testing machine but was adding three more, in addition to more personnel and two shifts so it could catch up, spokesman Doug McBride said. The CDC also said it was sending supplies to the states so they could confirm their own tests.

Schuchat said there are encouraging signs that the virus is not that severe, but “we do remain cautious (because) it is too soon for us to know how this is going to play out.” She also is encouraged because the flu is showing signs of weakening its spread in Mexico where it started, but she is cautious, she said, because flu is unpredictable