News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Signs of an increasingly severe flu season prompted city officials to declare a public health emergency in Boston, where infections have increased tenfold compared with last season.

(CIDRAP News) – The brisk pace of flu activity in Canada and the United States has triggered concerns about possible oseltamivir (Tamiflu) shortages, with a Canadian announcement today of the drug’s release from the national stockpile and news that some parts of the United States may face low supplies of the liquid suspension for kids.

(CIDRAP News) – In the wake of recent killings of polio vaccinators in Pakistan, some questions are being raised about the all-out push to eradicate polio, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says the world can't afford to back off on the eradication drive now.

(CIDRAP News) – The House of Representative's final approval last night of a deal to stave off severe "fiscal cliff" budget cuts protects public health preparedness funding, at least for the next 2 months.

(CIDRAP News) – Some professional groups and scientists think it's a good idea to classify highly pathogenic avian (HPAI) H5N1 influenza viruses as "select agents" requiring special research precautions, while others say the step is unnecessary and would impede research, according to comments they have filed with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

(CIDRAP News) – An annual report on state and local public health preparedness offered mixed grades today, saying much progress has been made in the past decade but that important gaps persist and an ominous budget-cutting trend continued in most states.

(CIDRAP News) – Increased surveillance in recent years has begun to fill in some of the huge information gaps regarding influenza in Africa, which should eventually make it possible to develop or improve public health interventions, according to a big collection of articles published recently in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID).