President Obama declared the H1N1 flu outbreak a national emergency over the weekend, but experts in infectiousdisease and emergency medicine say the public should not be alarmed by the move.
"This is not a reaction to any new developments; it's a proactive step, a useful tool going forward," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin says.
Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, agrees. "It's really more a continuation of our preparedness steps," she told USA TODAY on Sunday. The declaration will help with flexibility in case hospitals see a greater influx of flu cases in coming months, she said.
According to White House documents, the proclamation will allow the government to grant waivers that will enable health care facilities to set up alternate care sites if needed, as well as to modify patient screening protocols and transfer procedures, among other actions that make up hospital disaster plans.
"It will help save time and resources for those of us taking care of patients," says Dan Hanfling, special adviser for emergency preparedness and response for Inova Health System and an emergency physician at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. If the staff needs to set up a remote area for large flu screenings, for example, he says they could now bypass some protocols to get the job done.
"The public ought to take some solace, some relief in this. It's not a suggestion that things have deteriorated in any way. In no way is the virus more severe or more difficult to manage," says infectious-disease expert P.J. Brennan, chief medical officer for the Penn Health System at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Both Hanfling and Brennan say their emergency rooms have seen a noticeable climb in H1N1 cases in the past two weeks.
The president's declaration comes on the heels of Friday's report that swine flu is still on the rise in schools, forcing many to temporarily close. The Department of Education on Friday reported 351 school closings in 19 states, but 45 schools in seven states have reopened, says department spokesman Justin Hamilton.
"We don't know if all those school dismissals were for administrative reasons, like not enough staff," says Schuchat. Closing decisions are made locally. But she says CDC's advice remains the same: "The best thing is to keep healthy kids in schools."
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.