News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity in the United States and Europe showed more signs of picking up last week, with labs in both parts of the world finding higher percentages of positives in tests of respiratory samples, according to new surveillance reports today.

(CIDRAP News) – A lengthy new analysis of unpublished clinical trial data is renewing questions about the effectiveness of the influenza drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), saying that although the drug shortens flu symptoms by about a day, there is no evidence that it reduces hospital admissions.

(CIDRAP News) – Though flu activity is still below epidemic thresholds in most of the Northern Hemisphere, increases in areas such as Spain, northern Africa, and part of Canada suggest that the season is starting, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the deaths of two men from H5N1 avian influenza, one from Egypt and another from China whose death was reported earlier in the media.