Flu exposed gaps in medical supply chain

BOSTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Gaps in the medical supply chain must be plugged before autumn when two flu strains are expected to circulate widely, U.S. health officials said.

Hospitals and doctors' offices in some parts of the United States, including Massachusetts, ran short of masks, medication and testing swabs with the onset of H1N1 flu, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

"We really didn't have a good handle on how much commercial supplies were out there, who had them, how rapidly were they being drawn down, and how to blend the public and private stockpiles so there would be no disruption of service," said James Blumenstock, a spokesman for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Come fall, the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu, and the seasonal variety of flu are expected to circulate widely and unpredictably. In years past, earlier strains of flu weakened while others mutated into deadlier forms, the newspaper reported.

Last week, the World Health Organization declared H1N1 flu had reached pandemic status, based how broadly it has spread rather than its virulence.