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Why Public Health Agencies Lack Funds to Fight Swine Flu

Public health agencies in the United States, at all levels from city to national, have always needs more funding. Since the defeat of the major killing diseases in this country, such as polio, measles and yellow fever, there hasn’t been as much “public health” work to do.

We are in the seventh week of an outbreak of a new, novel type of influenza. Most of us call it the swine flu. The government calls it novel H1N1. As of June 8, there were over 15,000 confirmed cases in the United States and 27 deaths.

As the number of cases has increased, the public reporting of case counts and other data by the Centers for Disease Control and the various state public health agencies has declined. The CDC is reporting its data weekly. States like Florida and Wisconsin have stopped reporting data altogether. The CDC has this to say about novel H1N1, from Friday, June 5, 2009:

It’s uncertain at this time how serious or severe this novel H1N1 virus will be in terms of how many people infected will develop serious complications or die or how this new virus may affect the U.S. during its upcoming influenza season in the fall and winter. Because this is a new virus, most people will have little or no immunity against it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, currently there is no vaccine to protect against this novel H1N1 virus. CDC anticipates that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this new virus.

CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce the spread and severity of illness, and to provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this new public health threat.

These statements seem to contradict the policy of reporting the case counts weekly.

As for the state agencies, let’s look at the top three states with the most reported cases.

The CDC reports that Wisconsin has 2,217 cases as of June 4 at 5 pm. Here is an image of the front page for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services site. June is home safety month and tick borne illness is a concern. You may read a statement about Wisconsin’s first death due to novel H1N1 or read about the 14 Carrot Award winners.

Wisconsin has a swine flu site. The most current situation report shown is dated May 14. The most current press release shown in June 4. Wisconsin has stopped posting case counts.

Texas has 1,670 cases according to the CDC. Here is an image of part of the front page of the Texas Department of State Health Services. You can learn about obesity, or how to avoid a waiting period for your marriage.

The Texas site for novel H1N1 information is here. The latest news release is dated May 27. The site also advises:

The Texas Department of State Health Services H1N1 Call Center is no longer operational.
For general health questions regarding H1N1 flu, please contact your health care provider, local health department or nearest DSHS Regional Office.

There is a case count link, as of June 5. It advises that the next update will be June 10.

Illinois has reported 1,357 cases to the CDC as of their deadline for last Friday’s report. Here is an image of the Illinois Department of Public Health home page. They’re worried about West Nile virus, childhood obesity, a smoke-free Illinois and cancer screening.

Illinois has a site dedicated to novel H1N1 / swine flu, as well. It provides a great deal of information and a case count. The count is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The public health agency websites for the three states with the most swine flu cases tell us a great deal about how those agencies view the novel H1N1 outbreak. The state with the most cases reports no data at all. Texas, in the number two spot, seems to be reporting weekly. Illinois, currently in third, reports three times a week. It is certain that the obese population of these three states can sleep well at night knowing that their public health agencies are devoting time and funding to their protection from fat.

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Table of contents for Swine flu outbreak 2009

  1. Swine Flu Outbreak
  2. WHO Press Release on Swine Flu
  3. New Swine Flu Cases in Kansas
  4. Swine Flu Update – 04-26-2009
  5. Canada Has 6 Cases of Swine Flu
  6. CDC Briefing on Swine Flu for 4-26-2009
  7. Swine Flu Update: Early Morning 4-27-2009
  8. Swine Flu Found in Scotland
  9. WHO Declares Stage 4 Influenza Pandemic Alert
  10. New Swine Flu Cases in California
  11. Swine Flu Report – Early Morning 4-28-2009
  12. Military Flu Screening IDs Texas Swine Flu Cases
  13. Swine Flu – Midday 4-28-2009
  14. Swine Flu – Morning Update 4-29-2009
  15. 91 Swine Flu Cases in US
  16. Worldwide Swine Flu Cases from WHO 4-29-2009
  17. Suspected H1N1 Flu Case Reported at California Marine Base
  18. Swine Flu Pandemic Alert Level Raised to 5
  19. WHO Raises Pandemic Alert Level to 5
  20. Swine Flu Update – Early Morning 4-30-2009
  21. Swine Flu Involving Marines in California
  22. Swine Flu Cases in the U.S. 4-30-2009
  23. Swine Flu Cases in the United States May 2, 2009
  24. WHO Count of Swine Flu Cases
  25. U.S. Swine Flu Cases for May 1, 2009
  26. Mexican Swine Flu Testing Catching Up
  27. Worldwide Swine Flu Update 5-3-2009
  28. Swine Flu Update for the United States 5-03-2009
  29. Swine Flu in Texas
  30. Swine Flu in California
  31. Worlwide Swine Flu Update for May 4, 2009
  32. Worlwide Swine Flu Update for May 5, 2009
  33. Swine Flu Update for the United States May 6 2009
  34. Illinois Swine Flu Case Count Leaps
  35. US Swine Flu Case Count Up 45% May 5, 2009
  36. Swine Flu H1N1 Update for May 7, 2009
  37. United States Swine Flu – H1N1 Update for May 9 2009
  38. Worldwide Swine Flu Update for Early Morning May 11 2009
  39. United States Swine Flu H1N1 Update May 11 2009
  40. Swine Flu – H1N1 Update for May 13, 2009
  41. United States Swine Flu – H1N1 Update May 14 2009
  42. Swine Flu – H1N1 Update for the United States May 15 2009
  43. Colds and Influenza
  44. Swine Flu – H1N1 Update for the United States May 18 2009
  45. Swine Flu – H1N1 World Report May 19 2009
  46. Swine Flu – H1N1 in New York May 19 2009
  47. Swine Flu – Novel H1N1 Update for the United States May 20 2009
  48. Swine Flu – Novel H1N1 Weekend Summary May 23 2009
  49. Warning About Swine Flu – H1N1 May 23 2009
  50. Agencies Hide Swine Flu Cases
  51. Lost Swine Flu – H1N1 Cases in the United States
  52. Lost Swine Flu Cases for May 28 2009
  53. Novel H1N1 or Swine Flu Cases in the United States May 29 2009
  54. Swine Flu Weekend Update – United States May 30 2009
  55. Swine Flu or H1N1 in the United States – June 1 2009
  56. World Swine Flu – Novel H1N1 Cases for June 3 2009
  57. Swine Flu or H1N1 in the United States for June 3 2009
  58. World Swine Flu or H1N1 Cases June 5 2009
  59. Swine Flu or Novel H1N1 Cases in the United States June 5 2009
  60. Is Swine Flu or Novel H1N1 in Decline in the U.S.?
  61. New Orleans Mayor Nagin Quarantined In China
  62. Swine Flu or Novel H1N1 in the United States June 8 2009
  63. Why Public Health Agencies Lack Funds to Fight Swine Flu
  64. Pandemic Flu Announcement to Come on Wednesday
  65. Swine Flu or Novel H1N1 in the United States June 10 2009
  66. Pandemic! Swine Flu or Novel H1N1 Official Pandemic as of 6 pm GMT
  67. Swine Flu Parties
  68. How to prevent catching Swine Flu


This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under Original writing, Commentary, Medicine, Influenza, Medicine, Original writing, Medicine, Pandemic, Medicine, Swine Flu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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