This brutal flu season would only get worse with another shutdown
U.S. public health professionals are bracing for the possibility of yet another government shutdown looming next month. Should a closure happen again in the heart of winter — when communicable diseases travel like wildfire — the effect on America’s health would be potentially catastrophic.
Here’s why: The gathering and distribution of critical health information, which the U.S. government conducts on an ongoing basis, abruptly halted during the recent 43-day federal closure.
This created a massive blind spot for the public health community as it worked to keep Americans safe. It will be worse if the same thing happens during the height of respiratory illness transmission.
Experts depend on reliable and accurate data from federal authorities. This analysis helps them make critical decisions about where to place resources and how to respond to public health threats.
The recent data blackout occurred as viruses such as influenza were spreading earlier than usual this year, and challenged experts and policy makers to respond once the information came back online.
U.S. health professionals monitor the way influenza strains travel throughout the southern hemisphere every year. But late this summer, a new strain acquired seven new mutations after the composition of this year’s flu shot had been determined.
The public health community worried the mutations would evade flu shot immunity. That fear was compounded by the recent shutdown, as it forced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop publishing its FluView reports from Sept. 20 to Nov. 12 — a critical juncture when U.S. health systems need to plan for the virus’ arrival.
Epidemiologist Dr. W. Ian Lipkin said the report “allows you to see if there’s an uptick in a particular area of an infectious disease,” which is “very helpful for public health practitioners to make decisions about how to allocate resources and whether or not those resources are used effectively.”
Healthcare facilities depend heavily on this reporting to assess how to prepare for a surge in flu cases. Hospital staffing, room availability and other actions are predicated on regular updates from the CDC regarding the flu’s circulation in other parts of the world. U.S. health systems were in the dark for weeks while the shutdown was in effect.
The flu is already spreading rapidly overseas. In the United Kingdom, it arrived a month earlier than normal, and rates have already tripled. In Japan, the surge has caused the country’s health authorities to declare a flu epidemic. U.S. cases are now on the rise.
Those who think the flu is nothing to be concerned about are wrong. Last year alone in the U.S., the virus sent an estimated 18 million people to a doctor or to seek health care. Over 450,000 people had to be hospitalized, and 28,000 people died. Influenza is not a virus anyone should take lightly.
Another example of the recent shutdown’s health impact: wastewater surveillance. The CDC regularly monitors wastewater in communities throughout the U.S. to detect upticks in respiratory illnesses around the country.
But the CDC stopped providing these updates as of Sept. 25, and the next update didn’t arrive until Nov. 21 During this time there was no centralized method of tracking outbreaks of COVID-19, influenza, RSV or monkeypox.
Food and waterborne illness detection are additional examples of public health challenges exacerbated by the government shutdown.
During the 43 day closure, all U.S. food safety inspections — already scaled back due to Trump administration workforce reductions — were suspended altogether. The Environmental Protection Agency also stopped inspections of drinking water facilities, risking the potential safety of our water supply.
Collectively, these government data stoppages put pressure on states to close the gap. But the result is a decentralized patchwork of data that’s neither as informed nor as comprehensive as the analysis provided by federal health institutions.
Diseases and pathogens don’t stop at state lines, and the best way to protect the health of all Americans is to collect, analyze and share cohesive national information in a timely fashion.
Respiratory illnesses typically peak in America in January and February each year, and their infectious spread can last deep into early April before they eventually subside. If another shutdown occurs at the height of our virus season — where health experts have no ability to understand disease rates across the nation — the impact on our already stressed U.S. health system could be severe.
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The health of Americans should not be held hostage to dysfunction in Washington. When lawmakers shut down the government as a tactic to gain political advantage, they put the health and welfare of millions of Americans in jeopardy.
Congress must prioritize the wellbeing of the nation by supporting federal health agencies — and ensuring the public health community has uninterrupted access to vital, real-time data to help keep America safe.
Lyndon Haviland, DrPH, MPH, is a distinguished scholar at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy.
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