By Anthony D. Avincula, New America Media
ATLANTA — Contrary to perception in the South and other parts of the country that
H1N1 virus has already ebbed in recent months, health department
officials here reported an unusual uptick in flu cases and warned that
the H1N1 pandemic is far from over.
The last week of February alone saw 36 people hospitalized because of
H1N1 and seasonal flu. In the first week of March the number had almost
doubled, rising to 63. The victims, at least in DeKalb County, have been
mostly people of color and women. As of March 4, there have been 66
seasonal flu and H1N1-related deaths in Georgia.
“The H1N1 is still here,” said Dr. Elizabeth S. Ford, district health
director of Atlanta’s DeKalb County Board of Health, at an ethnic media
press conference on March 4. “The local and state health agencies will
continue to monitor this trend.” The press event was organized by New
America Media and sponsored by AIR, a nonprofit social science research
organization.
Grappling with budget cuts, a shortage of vaccines, and an insufficient
public health workforce, Ford attributed the spike of H1N1 and seasonal
flu fatalities in Georgia to its low vaccination rate. In DeKalb County
alone, the third most populated county in the Atlanta area, only 7
percent of the population got the vaccine since the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.
“There are 760,000 residents in DeKalb County — and the population count
is more than double during daytime — but less than 55,000 got
vaccinated,” said Ford, adding that she was disappointed that the
vaccines arrived late.
When the virus hit the country and peaked around June 2009, vaccines ran
out and the federal government identified states by priority. While
Georgia got the first shipments of H1N1 vaccine in mid-October, many
people took the wait-and-see approach, trying to ascertain how the new
vaccine affected people before taking it themselves.
“When we get out there, we’re really struggling. Everyone in the state
is asking the federal government for the same funding,” Ford added.
Although no conclusive investigation has made an association between the
deaths and race and gender, health officials here believe that
minorities and women are considerably more vulnerable and at higher risk
due to lack of health insurance and access to better health services.
Amid the enormous challenges in getting a majority of residents
vaccinated, DeKalb County health officials have given their H1N1
awareness effort a grade of A, but B for messaging and sending the
information out to the public, caregivers and infrastructure partners,
and C+ for their mass vaccination effort.
“The economic situation has affected public health tremendously,” said
Dr. Patrick O’Neal, chief of Emergency Preparedness and Response
Division of Georgia Department of Community Health.
Because of the unstable economy, he pointed out that many public health
workers are searching for a more stable job by moving to a federal
health agency, like the CDC. “Our workforce is essentially lured to a
higher pay scale. We’ve lost a large number of workers to the CDC.”
But O’Neal is concerned more about the possible third wave of H1N1
pandemic than the economic constraints. With re-assortment of the virus,
which is very likely to happen, as was reported earlier this year in
Hong Kong, he said that any genetic mutation of H1N1 is far more
dangerous, as the virus could develop a new strain.
“If the case in Hong Kong will be found to be a re-assorted virus, then
the global H1N1 pandemic remains very active,” O’Neal said after the
press briefing. “That creates the next wave of the virus.”
The only way that the virus will be curbed, he added, is when 90 percent
of the population gets protected through vaccination, or has been
exposed to the same H1N1 strain before and thus becomes immune to its
ill effects.
Historically, the United States was able to successfully eliminate
through vaccination some serious viral illnesses, such as polio and
typhoid fever. But many people still believe that the H1N1 virus is very
unstable — and certainly different from a uniform virus that causes
polio and typhoid fever. Skeptics also say that H1N1, like any influenza
virus, mutates and therefore no one-size-fits-all vaccination can
prevent it.
“It is a usual spin for people who have not been vaccinated to ask, ‘If
H1N1 is more fatal than any other flu virus, then how come nothing
really happens to us?’ That’s the problem right there,” said Pam Jones,
AIR media associate, adding that many Georgians are still wary of
getting the H1N1 vaccine.
“Even though H1N1 may be low and flat right now, come flu season it could
rise again,” O’Neal said. “It is clear that the virus still exists.”