EDITOR’S MESSAGE
The Medical Association of Georgia 1849 The Exchange, Suite 200 Atlanta, Georgia 30339 800.282.0224 www.mag.org MAG’s Mission To enhance patient care and the health of the public by advancing the art and science of medicine and by representing physicians and patients in the policy-making process. Editor Stanley W. Sherman, M.D. Executive Director Donald J. Palmisano Jr. Publisher PubMan, Inc. Richard Goldman, rgoldman@pubman.net 770.855.3608 Editorial Board Sara Acree, M.D. John S. Antalis, M.D. Mark G. Hanly, M.D. John S. Harvey, M.D. William Kanich, M.D. Frank McDonald, M.D. Mark E. Murphy, M.D. Barry D. Silverman, M.D. Michael Zoller, M.D. MAG Executive Committee Andrew B. Reisman, M.D., President Lisa Perry-Gilkes, M.D., President-elect Rutledge Forney, M.D., Immediate Past President Thekkepat G. Sekhar, M.D., First Vice President James L. Smith Jr., M.D., Second Vice President Frederick C. Flandry, M.D., Chair, Board of Directors Steven M. Huffman, M.D., Vice Chair, Board of Directors Edmund R. Donoghue Jr., M.D., Speaker James W. Barber, M.D., Vice Speaker Debi D. Dalton, M.D., Secretary Thomas Emerson, M.D., Treasurer S. William Clark III, M.D., Chair, AMA Delegation W. Scott Bohlke, M.D., Chair, Council on Legislation Advertising PubMan, Inc. Brian Botkin, bbotkin@pubman.net 678.643.7250 Subscriptions Members $40 per year or non-members $60 per year. Foreign $200 per year (U.S. currency only). The Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia (ISSN 0025-7028) is the quarterly journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, 1849 The Exchange, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30339. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, Georgia, and additional mailing offices. The articles published in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Medical Association of Georgia. Publication of an advertisement is not to be considered an endorsement or approval by MAG of the product or service involved. Postmaster Send address changes to the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia,1849 The Exchange, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30339. Established in 1911, the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia is owned and published by the Medical Association of Georgia. © 2017.
The coronavirus pandemic war
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Stanley W. Sherman, M.D.
iven the fact that, at the time of this writing, there is little else in the news than the current coronavirus pandemic, it is only appropriate for me to write about this unfortunate subject. I also would not want to miss the opportunity to say how grateful and proud I am of all of my colleagues who in any way care for COVID-19 patients. They brave the risks to themselves and their families to treat them. Because of these efforts, the public is appreciating, respecting, and honoring the medical profession.
Perhaps not unlike Pearl Harbor, we had a surprise attack that woke up our country and led us to join in the war against a powerful foe. I recently, however, read the Winter 2019 Emory Health Digest with the cover article entitled ‘CONTAGION – Flu is coming.’ The article asked if we are ready for the next pandemic. The article recounted that when a new strain of the flu appears, it is so different than previous strains that people have no immunity to it. The 1918 H1N1 Spanish flu pandemic infected a third of the world’s population, killing an estimated 50 million to 100 million people. Since then, the 1957 Asian flu pandemic death toll was 1.5 million to 2 million, the Hong Kong flu of 1968 was one million, while the Swine flu in 2009 had an estimated death toll of 284,000 people. A normal flu season claims between 12,000 and 56,000 lives in the United States. The 2018 flu season, however, was the deadliest in 40 years, killing an estimated 80,000 Americans, including 180 children. The article stated that “the demand for hospital beds and services quickly outstripped supply. Grady Memorial Hospital converted waiting rooms into inpatient units, rented ‘mobile ERs’ for the parking lot, and asked staff to work overtime.” Although this article dealt with potential ways to deal with another influenza virus pandemic, what was written and predicted is exactly what we have had to do to deal with during this similar SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus infection. As of June 23, this virus has caused more than 120,000 deaths in the U.S. with, unfortunately, many more to come. This is an even higher mortality rate than most influenza strains. The article goes on to quote infectious disease experts who met for a Rollins School of Public Health/CDC Conference in 2018 – the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 pandemic – to discuss pandemic preparedness. They noted that the majority of our critical medical supplies are not made in the U.S., that federal funding for emergency preparedness was 30 percent lower, and hospital preparedness was 50 percent lower than it was in 2003. This status quo was felt to be unacceptable. Clearly, these experts thought preparedness requires better support yearly, not just in response to a pandemic crisis. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the stock market has been crashing and unemployment claims are at a historical level. The appropriate legislative action to support our people and businesses through our “shelter in place” and business closings has caused the largest budget deficit since World War II. Do any of us believe that more spending yearly on pandemic preparedness can cost anywhere near what COVID-19 has cost us? I do not want to point any fingers at anyone for not realizing the cost of human life, suffering, and devastation our economy
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