H1N1 response shows need for better medical emergency plans

By Bob Graham and Jim Talent
Monday, January 4, 2010; A13

For generations, the United States has neglected to nurture the technologies and systems needed to respond to emergencies related to disease. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the response to H1N1.

To make flu vaccine, we rely on a 60-year-old production method based on chicken eggs. It is safe but slow and has led to long lines at clinics and shortages of vaccine. It is not just that priority groups have been left unprotected. We learned last month that this method leads to multiple manufacturing issues, such as the recall of 800,000 children’s vaccine doses, due to diminished potency.

Our nation relies on a disease surveillance system that doesn’t give useful information about an epidemic, such as the severity of illness, transmission rates and spread of disease in communities. Even today, we have no idea how many people have had the H1N1 virus. If this country had an up-to-date system, we could make better decisions about school closings, infection control guidance and antiviral drug use. Read the rest of this entry »