Grab the tissues, swine flu "may well be getting ahead of the public health system's ability to prevent and respond effectively to it," Senator Joseph Lieberman said during a hearing with public health officials on Wednesday.
Connecticut's junior senator, along with Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, met with with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which is investigating whether the U.S. can cope with the swine flu, which has already killed almost 300 people in 28 states, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Across the country, there have been vaccine shortages and Lieberman said he is concerned because the supply is falling a whopping 25 percent below what was supposed to be available.
“There are now very unsettling reports of growing vaccine shortages that are leading a lot of people to ask if enough vaccine will be produced in time for all who will need it as we continue to experience the spread of H1N1 flu,” he said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said there was an initial glitch in manufacturing, but production should be on target by early November.
Then there is the problem of whether hospitals will be ready if the illness strikes in large numbers.
He painted an alarming picture of what we could be dealing with -- 1 million people could come down with swine flu, in Connecticut alone, and 17,300 may need to hospitalized, he said, citing information from Trust for America’s Health.
That number is “150 percent” of the state’s hospital-bed capacity, Lieberman said.
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Sebelius said the feds are working on emergency planning to boost hospital surge capacity and Congress appropriated $3 billion for this purpose over the past few years.
He’s also worried about the availability of intravenous anti-viral medications to treat the most critically ill with the H1N1 virus.
“A lot of those people, from what I’ve heard from doctors, are probably not going to be able to be treated with the existing anti-virals, such as Tamiflu and Relenza,” said.
He lauded the government for investing money in some breakthrough work to develop intravenous retrovirals for those who are critically ill with this flu, but pointed out an ethical issue because the trials are not done.
“Your departments have worked very aggressively and to the best of your ability. My concern is that this flu, the H1N1 virus, is moving very rapidly. While it seems to be affecting most people mildly, it is clearly affecting a small percentage quite seriously, so I am worried that the virus is getting ahead of the public health system’s capacity at this moment to prevent it and respond to it,” he said.
He asked Sebelius to "overorder" experimental intravenous anti-viral medication for the sickest patients, something Sebelius said would soon get FDA approval.
