News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today said flu transmission is increasing across the European Union (EU), led by a spike in the United Kingdom, and warned people in recommended groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

(CIDRAP News) – In a flu vaccine update at a federal advisory meeting today, officials with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said early signs suggest flu vaccine uptake in children is on par with last year and that enhanced monitoring for narcolepsy and seizures has turned up no signals of trouble.

(CIDRAP News) – A thorough surveillance study from France reinforces findings from other countries about obesity and delayed antiviral treatment as risk factors for severe 2009 H1N1 influenza, while indicating that the pandemic put a greater burden on intensive care units (ICUs) than seasonal flu typically does.

(CIDRAP News) – Laboratory experts from Australia and Singapore have identified changes in the 2009 H1N1 flu virus that they say don't seem to make the vaccine less effective but bear watching.

Researchers first identified the genetic variants in April 2010 in Singapore, where they became more common, spreading to New Zealand and Australia during their winter flu seasons.

(CIDRAP News) – More signals suggest the Southern Hemisphere's flu season is winding down, while activity is low at the start of the Northern Hemisphere's flu season, except in China, which is seeing moderate H3N2 circulation.

(CIDRAP News) – In its review of summer flu activity in the United States and across the globe today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that patterns, which included a few clusters and sporadic illness, were typical.

(CIDRAP News) – A review of how the first wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic affected Southern Hemisphere countries found many similarities with Northern Hemisphere countries, though many patients had no underlying risk factors for flu complications and pregnant women didn't seem to have severe outcomes.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity is showing a late-season flourish in some parts of the Southern Hemisphere, such as Chile, where levels in some areas exceed last year's pandemic peak, and in parts of Australia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its most rent influenza update.