Swine flu is hot topic at Sacramento disaster-planning conference

A potential surge this fall of a novel strain of influenza turned a three-day disaster-planning conference into a mobilization effort to protect against the spread of the virus.

Much remains unknown about the H1N1 virus – already deemed a worldwide pandemic – and hospitals are bracing for what they expect to be a busy flu season made complicated by the new strain, also known as swine flu.

"Everyone's focus has become H1N1. It's here. It's a real event," said Dr. Hernando Garzon, an emergency medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente's Sacramento Medical Center and Sacramento County's emergency medical services director.

"Its onset is predictable, but its severity is not, nor is its duration," said Garzon, who spoke on the opening day of the Sacramento conference organized by the California Hospital Association.

Today, some of California's top health officials, including the state's chief for infectious diseases, will brief hundreds of doctors, nurses and disaster crisis planners on the precautions under way to protect not only the public, but the thousands of hospital workers and first responders who could be at particular risk of infection.

Planning for the three-day conference was done months in advance, and there seemed little reason to devote more time to H1N1, said Jan Emerson, spokeswoman for the hospital association. But it became apparent in recent weeks, she said, that "there was a tremendous hunger for more information, particularly among public health officials, given the fact there's been a quick surge" in the flu.

The California Nurses Association has expressed concern about the lack of preparedness by some hospitals.

For example, some hospitals may not have enough protective masks.

"The manufacturer can't keep up," Garzon said.

Sacramento County health officials have been absorbing as much new information as they can to help control the spread of the novel strain of flu, Garzon said.

As of last week, 1,806 people in California had been infected by the H1N1 virus – and 152 had died, according to the state's Department of Public Health.

The first outbreak was reported in the United States in the spring. Since then, 9,079 people have been hospitalized, with 593 deaths blamed on H1N1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The seasonal flu typically causes 36,000 deaths in the United States every year, according to government health estimates.

State officials are drafting an updated health operations manual and expect to release the document in the next few weeks to hospitals, clinics and other care facilities, said Susan Fanelli, the health department's assistant deputy director of public health emergency preparedness.

New studies made public Monday suggest that the flu could be contagious for much longer than originally thought – perhaps more than a week after symptoms first appear.

While symptoms have been relatively mild, public health officials warn against complacency.

Although the H1N1 flu has been mild so far, said Ken August, spokesman for the state Public Health Department, "there have been serious illness and deaths, and we expect more serious illness and deaths from the H1N1 flu.

"I think it's very important for people to understand that a pandemic is not something you can control," August said.

A vaccine being developed is expected to be available in October.