The World Health Organization raised the swine flu health alert level to 5 (out of six) last week, putting the planet on a pandemic alert.

"Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world," said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO's Director-General. Her caution appears appropriate in the U.S. right now as cases are on the rise and the health emergency continues.

Meanwhile in Mexico the problem appears to be subsiding and public schools and many other institutions are expected to re-open next week.
The health emergency declaration by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will free up funds to track and respond to the growing spread of the disease now reported in 36 states, according to the CDC.

"Most people will not have immunity to this new virus and, as it continues to spread, more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths are expected in the coming days and weeks," CDC's website indicated.

The U.S. emergency resource allocation allows the government to ship millions of flu vaccine doses from a federal stockpile. (However note that a vaccine specifically targeted to this swine flu (H1N1) would have to be developed and would take many months to produce. See https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/8964 and /8975.) The U.S. has also stockpiled an effective flu drug treatment.

The international crisis is centered in Mexico, based on the high case load and death toll there. Border checks for those with symptoms are taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border. Travel is not restricted across the border, although "non-essential" travel is discouraged. European health officials recommend against non-essential travel to North America and Asian travel security teams are scanning passengers for elevated body temperature.

Back in the states, investigations are ongoing to determine the source of the infection and whether additional people have been infected with swine influenza viruses, CDC reports.

CDC is working very closely with officials in states where human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) have been identified, as well as with health officials in Mexico, Canada and the World Health Organization. This includes deploying staff domestically and internationally to provide guidance and technical support. CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate this investigation.

Laboratory testing has found the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir and has issued interim guidance for the use of these drugs to treat and prevent infection with swine influenza viruses. CDC also has prepared interim guidance on how to care for people who are sick and interim guidance on the use of face masks in a community setting where spread of this swine flu virus has been detected. This is a rapidly evolving situation and CDC says it will provide new information as it becomes available.

Resources:

Read the latest from CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu

Read CDC guidance for healthcare professionals:
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance

WHO links:
http://www.who.int/en/

National Swine Flu Situation Page
(View a comprehensive flu-tracking dashboard):
http://www.vuetoo.com/vue1/Situationpagenews.asp?af=&sit=4540&z=&np=&tp=14

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