Thread: Op Ed on Swine Flu by Sebelius, Nepolitano & Duncan

Why do they need to have food on had for children in the schools in case of an outbreak. Will the schools be closed with the kids in them?

Fighting new flu strain will take collective vigilance

Op-Ed: By Kathleen Sebelius, Janet Napolitano, and Arne Duncan

Washington, DC — Every fall, we deal with new strains of seasonal flu. But this year, we'll also confront a potentially serious flu virus that first appeared last spring. While scientists won’t know exactly how strong the 2009 H1N1 flu will be until the middle of the flu season, they’re warning it could cause more illness as our kids return to school.

We don’t need to wait to act. In the fight against flu, preparation is more than half the battle — and we need everyone to chip in.

We in the federal government have been aggressively responding to the new H1N1 since April. We’re building on what we learned from the early spring season and from health officials in the southern hemisphere where flu seasons are already underway.

In addition to preparing the seasonal flu vaccine as usual, government scientists and vaccine manufacturers are working around the clock to produce a vaccine to protect people from the new H1N1 flu virus. And we’re making good progress on both fronts — the seasonal flu vaccine is ready for distribution and we’re on track to have an H1N1 vaccine by mid-October.

We’re also working closely with cities, states and across government agencies to make sure we have a rapid, coordinated response this fall. In the last few months, we’ve sent more than $350 million in federal grants to states, tribes, territories and hospitals to help them strengthen their flu response.

In early July, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Education held a flu summit for governors and public health officials. Just this week, we hosted another summit for mayors and county officials and webcast it on flu.gov — which has become the best place to find up-to-date information about flu.

[b]Our agencies are working with the Department of Agriculture to make sure children will have access to healthy meals if their schools close, and with Departments of Commerce and Labor to reach people at work. The Obama Administration has briefed members of Congress at a special bi-cameral, bi-partisan session. And HHS has worked with Members — Republicans and Democrats — on “prevent the fluâ€

According to what I have read recently.... each year almost 200,000 people die from infections and improper medical treatment in hospitals in US..... Can't even begin to put the numbers on what illegals do to American, taxpaying... law abiding citizens.. But 1,000 contract the swine flu and the federal government ready to step in and force you to be immunized with some kind of crap that might make you radioactive for the next century.

No thank you Feds.... back where I come from respect must be earned... and you have not done one thing in my 57 year old lifetime that has caused me to even consider you to even be a player in sanity....... Let Reid, Pelosi, Ted Kennedy and Dingle take my shots... I willingly volunteer to pass the injection on to them; and may they light up the moon for the next century... Hopefully that is far enough away...