Health and Human Services secretary holds briefing on flu preparedness, response

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar held a briefing this week on preparedness and response efforts for seasonal and pandemic influenza.

Secretary Azar discussed his experience overseeing HHS ongoing flu activities and his time working with other public health leaders during his previous time at HHS.

Acting Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director Anne Schuchat presented on the status of seasonal flu in the United States and pandemic flu around the world and CDC efforts to monitor and coordinate reliable supplies of seasonal flu vaccine and flu antivirals. Information about the effectiveness of this year’s seasonal flu vaccine, she said, will be released soon.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci discussed ongoing research to develop more effective seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines, including a universal flu vaccine.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec covered efforts, in collaboration with the private sector, to develop and procure pandemic flu vaccines in greater volume and with greater effectiveness.

Other Participants included Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health Don Wright, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Peter Marks and HHS Office of Global Affairs Director Garrett Grigsby.

Hospitalizations for this year’s flu season reached the highest levels since HHS began tracking such data closely in 2010. HHS has also reported high levels of flu activity in more regions of the country than is typical.

Secretary Azar and the other participants concluded the meeting by agreeing to continue collaborating on ongoing prevention efforts this year and identified several issues on which to coordinate going forward.