WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama told governors and health professionals at a swine-flu preparedness summit Thursday that he expects "rigorous" planning by them to prepare for a possible outbreak of the H1N1
We want to make sure we aren't promoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance and preparation," Obama said.
He spoke to the group via video link from Italy, where he is attending the G-8 meeting of industrialized nations.
Obama urged state and local officials, including school districts, to prepare for a vaccination campaign in the fall and to anticipate that schools could be largely affected.
Before Obama spoke, the nation's secretary of health and human services said some H1N1 vaccine should be available for distribution in mid-October. Kathleen Sebelius' announcement came at the opening of a "flu summit" called by the Obama administration. She spoke to a seminar of governors, top health planners and managers who have gathered to discuss preparations for a possible swine flu reappearance this fall.
Health care workers hope to evaluate a candidate vaccine in early August, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who also spoke at the meeting.
The White House, months before flu season, rolled out the big guns for the summit, underscoring the importance the Obama administration is placing on the pandemic.
The sessions at the National Institutes of Health will be attended by Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and National Security Adviser John Brennan.
"The goal of the summit is to launch a national influenza campaign by bringing federal, state and local officials, emergency managers, educators and others together with the nation's public health experts to build on and tailor states' existing pandemic plans, share lessons learned and best practices during the spring and summer H1N1 wave, and discuss preparedness priorities," Sebelius said in a statement.
Commonly called swine flu, the virus is also known as Influenza A(H1N1). The World Health Organization declared the virus a global pandemic on June 11.
The H1N1 virus continues to circulate in the United States and more than 120 other countries, especially in the southern hemisphere, where flu season is under way.
"Scientists and public health experts forecast that the impact of H1N1 may well worsen in the fall -- when the regular flu season hits -- or even earlier -- when schools start to open -- which is only five or six weeks away. in some cases," Sebelius said.
There are more than 33,900 confirmed and probable cases of the virus in the United States, with 170 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 98,000 cases have been documented worldwide, with 440 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
The virus has bucked traditional flu outbreak patterns. Influenza is typically more active during winter and then slows when the weather turns hot.
"Now, in the UK, as in many of the North American countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States, there has been quite widespread activity, or a lot of activity of this pandemic influenza virus. And right now, it is at a typical point of the year where the activity should be pretty low, but the activity is quite high because it is a pandemic situation for these countries," Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general, said this week.
Swine flu has become so widespread that the WHO will, in a few days, recommend that nations that already have major outbreaks no longer test for the H1N1 virus, Fukuda said.
"The reason for this is that, because the numbers of cases have increased in so many countries, it is very hard to keep up," according to Fukuda. The virus is showing up in most of the lab tests in countries with major outbreaks.
"Now in countries that do not have cases, however, we will be continuing to recommend that people who are suspected to have pandemic influenza be tested, so that the presence of this virus can be confirmed in countries,"
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