News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A West Nile virus (WNV) seroprevalence study of Italian organ donors revealed that 1.2% of 1,248 serum samples were positive and that some of the donors who had been exposed to the virus were from regions where infection wasn't thought to be a risk.

(CIDRAP News) – While donor countries and organizations have responded well to the need for pandemic flu vaccine for developing countries, the level of giving for other pandemic response efforts in needy countries so far has fallen short, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent report.

(CIDRAP News) – Low levels of flu activity across the United States resemble a summer pattern, while globally only sporadic pandemic flu activity is occurring with the most active areas in parts of the Caribbean and Central America, according to updates today.

(CIDRAP News) – A variety of new findings concerning diagnostic issues and other aspects of pandemic H1N1 influenza were among the hundreds of studies presented at the 20th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), which concluded today in Vienna, Austria. Here is a sampling:

(CIDRAP News) – Though pandemic flu activity stayed stable in most parts of the world, Chile is reporting new detections of the pandemic virus in at least three regions in advance of the start of its flu season, with other hot spots occurring in Bangladesh and parts of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday reported moderately active pandemic influenza activity in parts of the tropical regions of Asia, the Americas, and Africa, as well as influenza B activity in much of East Asia.