This afternoon CDC held a "media availability" on the evolving swine flu cases. Evolving is an understatement. There are now more recognized cases, although not all cases are "new," with some cases retrospectively recognized now that more intense investigation is occurring. The total is now seven cases. Two occurred in San Antonio, Texas, two sixteen year old boys in the same school. Three more were found in California (in addition to the initial two cases), including a father - daughter pair. All California cases are in San Diego and neighboring Imperial counties, the location of the initial cases. Those counties are also where there has been the most intense looking. CDC expects more cases to be recognized with the ramped up index of suspicion. They promise to update the situation daily at 3 pm on its website. None of the cases gives a history of contact with pigs, so together with the two "doubles" (the schoolmates and family pair), this strongly suggests active person to person spread. Moreover, the initial two viruses have been completely sequenced and are very similar. Partial information on some of the additional viruses from California are also similar, which reinforces the idea that the virus is in active circulation. How widely we don't yet know.
This again points out how important flu surveillance is, also covered here. The virus appears to be relatively mild. More here from Science. Separately, there's an outbreak of flu in Mexico. That flu virus is currently being typed.
UPDATE: The unique strain of swine flu found in seven people in California in Texas has been connected to the deadly flu that has broken out in Mexico, killing as many as 60 people, NBC News has confirmed.
Dr. David Himmelstein, co-founder of PNHP, and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a primary care doctor at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., testified to the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions today.
For months now, global health advocates have been sounding alarm bells about the impact of the global economic downturn on health spending. This story and others like it out of Burma and Uganda are the first indication of the consequences of funding shortfalls in developing countries. This problem could be compounded if the U.S. and other donor countries are unwilling to step into the gap, by increasing spending on global health and upping contributions to the vital programs like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
With solid majorities in both houses of Congress, Democrats are tempted to use their political muscle to speed passage of health care legislation with minimal concessions to the Republican minority.
More details at Congress Matters on the reconciliation process.
A majority of U.S. residents believe electronic health records would improve coordination and quality of medical care, but most do not believe health IT will lead to cost savings, according to a new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR.org reports (Shapiro, NPR.org, 4/22). The telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,238 adults was conducted between March 12 and March 22 ("The Public and the Health Care Delivery System," NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, April 2009). President Obama last week said health reform is a "pillar" of the U.S. economy's recovery, and EHRs would be a major part of health reform plans.
A majority of U.S. residents believe electronic health records would improve coordination and quality of medical care, but most do not believe health IT will lead to cost savings, according to a new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR.org reports (Shapiro, NPR.org, 4/22). The telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,238 adults was conducted between March 12 and March 22 ("The Public and the Health Care Delivery System," NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, April 2009).
President Obama last week said health reform is a "pillar" of the U.S. economy's recovery, and EHRs would be a major part of health reform plans.
According to the poll:
The country’s overall economic problems have not dampened their interest in pursuing health care reform: a solid majority of the public (59%) believes health care reform is more important than ever compared with the thirty-seven percent who say we can’t afford health reform because of economic problems. The most common actions taken due to costs were substituting home remedies or over-the-counter drugs for doctors visits (42%) and skipping dental care or check ups (36%). Additionally, three in ten (29%) did not fill a prescription for medicine and two in ten (18%) cut pills in half or skipped doses.
The country’s overall economic problems have not dampened their interest in pursuing health care reform: a solid majority of the public (59%) believes health care reform is more important than ever compared with the thirty-seven percent who say we can’t afford health reform because of economic problems.
The most common actions taken due to costs were substituting home remedies or over-the-counter drugs for doctors visits (42%) and skipping dental care or check ups (36%). Additionally, three in ten (29%) did not fill a prescription for medicine and two in ten (18%) cut pills in half or skipped doses.
Officials are considering whether or not Medicare will cover virtual colonoscopies, a technology that, while cheaper and far less invasive, may also be less reliable. Los Angeles Timesreporter Noam N. Levey looked at how the debate over colorectal screening illuminates the difficulties inherent in the larger discussion about the Obama administration’s push for efficient health-care spending.