News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia will be the first three countries to receive donated supplies of pandemic H1N1 vaccine funneled through the World Health Organization, the WHO announced today as it cautioned that it's too early to declare the pandemic over.

(CIDRAP News) –Pandemic activity is showing early signs of peaking in some parts of North America, but is on the rise in several European countries as well as those in Central and Eastern Asia, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Citing reports that hospitals and clinics in some countries are being overwhelmed by pandemic influenza cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) today put an exclamation on its advice about the importance of prompt antiviral treatment for high-risk patients.

(CIDRAP News) – Responding to lobbying by the Obama administration and public health advocates, Congress last week approved $7.65 billion for battling pandemic influenza, more than three times what the House and Senate had earlier proposed.

(CIDRAP News) – President Barack Obama this week asked Congress for another $2 billion in supplemental funds to fight the novel H1N1 influenza epidemic, on top of $2 billion requested a month ago, and also proposed to tap federal economic stimulus funds for up to another $3.1 billion for the same purpose.

Meanwhile, public health advocates said even more may be needed if a nationwide H1N1 vaccination campaign is launched in the fall.

Texas reported the nation's second death from the novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu), in a woman from Cameron County who had a chronic health condition. According to an update posted on the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) Web site, she died earlier this week. The first US death from the new flu strain also occurred in Texas, a 22-month-old boy from Mexico City.

(CIDRAP News) – Minnesota health officials said today that they are investigating the death last month of a Minnesotan who was infected with a polio virus strain found in the oral polio vaccine (OPV).