Early lessons learned from the H1N1 flu

WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- An analysis of the U.S. swine flu outbreak found stockpiling medication paid off, but keeping sick children and workers home problematic, researchers said.

The report, by the Trust for America's Health, the Center for Biosecurity and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reviewed lessons learned from the response to the H1N1 flu outbreak.

"H1N1 is a real-world test of our initial emergency response capabilities -- all of the planning and preparations have paid off. The country is significantly ahead of where we were a few years ago," Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said in a statement.

"However, the outbreak also revealed serious gaps in our nation's preparedness for pandemic flu and other public health emergencies."

The 10 early lessons learned from the H1N1 flu outbreak were:

-- Investments in pandemic planning and stockpiling antiviral medications paid off.

-- Public health departments did not have enough resources to carry out plans.

-- Response plans must be adaptable and science-driven.

-- Providing clear, straightforward information to the public was essential for allaying fears and building trust.

-- School closings have major ramifications for students, parents and employers.

-- Sick leave and policies for limiting mass gatherings were also problematic.

-- Even with a mild outbreak, the healthcare delivery system was overwhelmed;

-- Communication between the public health system and health providers was not well coordinated.

-- WHO pandemic alert phases caused confusion.

-- International coordination was more complicated than expected.