News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – US flu indicators continued their decline last week, though many states are still reporting brisk levels of flu activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza activity persists at medium to high levels in most European Union countries but is showing signs of decreasing, according to the latest report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

(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) – The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche announced today it is scaling back production of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) because of waning demand, and simultaneously questioned whether countries stockpiling the drug are buying enough to protect their citizens in the event of an influenza pandemic.