News & Perspective

(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) – Despite a rapidly launched range of studies, investigators in Canada are still unable to say—or to rule out—whether receiving a seasonal flu vaccination in the 2008-09 season made it more likely that Canadians would become ill from 2009 pandemic H1N1 flu.

(CIDRAP News) – During a week federal officials set aside to push flu immunization, a new report today reveals that pandemic vaccine uptake is low in two of the top priority groups—those with chronic conditions and healthcare workers.

The report outlining the challenges public health officials face in vaccinating target groups came as federal officials released their latest estimates of pandemic flu cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) and vaccine makers from Europe today defended themselves against the charges of some European officials that the agency was improperly influenced by vaccine companies and exaggerated the threat of the pandemic H1N1 virus.