News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The influenza vaccine that was developed to fight the 2009 pandemic saved roughly 300 lives and prevented about 1 million illnesses and 6,000 hospitalizations, or under 3% of the estimated total burden in each category, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently awarded a new round of contracts to the five US-licensed influenza vaccine manufacturers to make pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines—projects that could be worth billions of dollars if another pandemic arises in the next few years.

(CIDRAP News) – A survey of school nurses in 26 states about pandemic influenza preparedness in schools found some worrisome gaps, despite a federal requirement that the facilities must prepare for all types of disasters, including infectious diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – Among kids who died during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the disease was most lethal for those who had neurologic conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – As researchers continue to sort out safety issues surrounding the monovalent vaccine used during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, two new reports focusing mainly on an adjuvanted version suggest that immunization was safe for babies born to vaccinated pregnant women and that it was linked to a small but significant risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in some patients.

(CIDRAP News) – Working with admittedly sparse data, a research team led by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated the global death toll from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic at more than 284,000, about 15 times the number of laboratory-confirmed cases.