Letter from Dean Marla Gold

Dear Friends:

Within the course of one week, the nation, indeed the world, has experienced words including "preparedness," "epidemic," "pandemic" and the more familiar "outbreak," as the swine influenza A/H1N1 moved from pigs to people, and then people to people, in Mexico, the United States and several other nations. As of April 29, nine countries have reported swine flu cases, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 91 cases in the U.S. No doubt more will follow. The CDC, along with other public health officials, has been working to identify new cases of the disease, isolate known infected persons, and get information on how to prevent infection to the public through various media. Thus far, there is one death related to swine flu in the U.S. The reason why the disease in Mexico has been significantly worse with more hospitalizations and deaths is currently unclear, but is likely due to reporting issues.

A disease outbreak is a time when public health is at the forefront of our society. In fact, public health is at the center of it all. We are saddened by the loss of life thus far in the epidemic and it remains critically important that people are kept informed and prepared to deal with the outbreak. Yet, while the pandemic is constantly evolving, the coordinated preparedness and response efforts of Drexel University, the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond, have been strong. While there is always room for improved planning, lessons learned from the flu pandemic of 1918, the SARS outbreak, the more recent pandemic planning for avian flu and even Hurricane Katrina, have contributed to today's public health response to swine flu.

I encourage you to visit our web site, http://publichealth.drexel.edu, where there is a wide variety of resources and the latest news about the swine flu. The site also includes links to national and local resources for staying healthy, as well as information about influenza preparedness in diverse communities. We also worked with Drexel University to establish a similar online resource center at http://www.drexel.edu/swine. In addition, I discussed preparedness planning on WHYY and responded to viewers' questions about the disease during a live chat on Philadelphia's ABC affiliate this week. You can find more media interviews throughout the week on our web site, and learn more about public health in action.

In fact, every aspect of modern public health is illustrated by the current flu epidemic. Swine flu is connected at the start with occupational health exposure among farmers. The actual tracking of the spread of disease through surveillance is an intensive epidemiologic investigation guided by biostatistical facts and formulas. Public health communication systems are used for both disease tracking and for communicating with the public concerning how to protect oneself and be prepared should the situation increase in severity. Frequent hand washing and practicing good "respiratory etiquette" involves a change of behavior for many, underscoring the importance of behavioral intervention. The many key public health officials and their roles further illustrate public health management and policy in action within Health and Human Services at the national level, as well as state and local health departments. It doesn’t stop there. The entire epidemic underscores how public health is really global health, with disease able to cross borders and countries within hours, and humanity impacted across the globe by a disease that started in one person, in one location.

A central mission of the DREXEL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH involves working to ensure conditions in which people can be healthy through education, research and practice. We educate many students on how to help others stay healthy. Some of our students will join various parts of the public health workforce, and play vital roles in preventing outbreaks, as well as containing them. Those of us who do the work of public health often say that when the public health system is fully supported and working well, it’s a challenge to teach people what we do since the system that helps keep us all healthy, is often not obvious to us until the word outbreak flashes on the screen along with images of people wearing masks. While it should not take an evolving epidemic without a vaccine to shed a sharp light on the role of public health, the fact is, the public is often most concerned with health when the threat of disease rises. In my interviews with various media this week, I have been heartened that the public health system is working well enough in the U.S. for some questions to lack answers simply because it’s too early in the epidemic to know exactly what will happen. The ensuing weeks will no doubt provide more critical information concerning swine flu transmission, severity of disease and how well the systems we have in place will be able to contain the disease and ultimately resolve the epidemic this season. Readiness for next flu season with a vaccine that includes coverage for swine flu will be an important development by public health researchers, and next fall may mark the most important delivery system of flu vaccine in the U.S. in a very long time.

Surveillance, containment, treatment, prevention and preparedness. It’s all about health – public health.

Drexel strongly contributes to the public health infrastructure. Staying calm, keeping up to date on the disease and knowing what you can do to help stay healthy are the best preventative measures. We will continue to serve as a valuable resource and coordinate efforts with the community during the course of the outbreak.