All News

(CIDRAP News) – After a slow start in producing H1N1 flu vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur has improved yields threefold and expects to fulfill its government order for 75 million doses by the end of the year, company officials said today.

Vaccine maker donates 50 million doses
Pharmaceuticals manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline will donate 50 million doses of H1N1 vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) for distribution to countries that cannot afford to buy it, the WHO said today. The agency said that 95 countries are eligible to receive the vaccine and it hopes to procure enough vaccine to cover 10% of their populations.

Editor's note: This story was revised after initial posting to specify which arm of the CDC issued the statement described.

(CIDRAP News) – Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday rejected a contention from several professional groups that its guidance on respiratory protection for healthcare workers caring for H1N1 patients was influenced by a recent controversial study by Australian researchers.

Pandemic guide for HR professionals released

(CIDRAP News) – Pandemic flu activity continues its vigorous spread across the United States, with 48 states experiencing widespread activity and reports of 18 more deaths in children, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) –An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) today said he expects serious cases and deaths as pandemic flu activity picks up in the Northern Hemisphere, and he warned people not to underestimate the virus, even though illnesses are often mild.

Nov 5, 2009

A reanalysis prompted by reviewers has changed the conclusions of a study comparing N-95 respirators with surgical masks, raising questions about earlier findings that the N-95 devices were clearly more effective in protecting healthcare workers from respiratory illness.

(CIDRAP News) – The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicted today that the current wave of H1N1 influenza is likely to begin to wane before the shortage of vaccine for it eases.

Dr. Thomas Frieden made the comment at a wide-ranging US House subcommittee session that aired the reasons for and impact of the vaccine delays and the prospects for avoiding a repeat of the problem. The session was streamed over the Web.

Norway OKs OTC antiviral salesTo ease response to the H1N1 pandemic, Norway is allowing over-the-counter sales of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), the Associated Press (AP) reported. The new policy starts tomorrow and is in effect until the middle of 2010. Norway has ordered 9.4 million doses of vaccine, but the manufacturer has reportedly not produced enough to meet demand.

Nov 3, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said its team arrived in the Ukraine last night and met with the country's health ministry today to discuss a dramatic spike in flulike illnesses and deaths, particularly in the western part of the country.

Nov 3, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – A study of California's most severely ill patients during the first 16 weeks of the novel H1N1 pandemic is in line with other recent studies that have shown two unique features of the virus—that it hits young people hard and that obesity appears to be a risk factor.

(CIDRAP News) – Interim clinical trial findings announced today affirm that children younger than 10 need two pandemic H1N1 vaccine doses, and initial findings in pregnant women reveal no safety concerns and a need for only one dose.

Federal officials also detailed the role of an independent panel of experts to review vaccine safety data and released a report outlining the government's vaccine safety monitoring system.

Canadian advisors push seasonal vaccine

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed yesterday that it was sending a team of experts to help the government of Ukraine, where it said more than 2,300 people have been hospitalized for what is suspected to be pandemic H1N1 influenza and 38 have died.

(CIDRAP News) – The H1N1 influenza virus is now widespread in all but two states and has claimed the lives of 114 children, 19 more than the toll a week ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in an update today.

"Essentially what we see is more virus, more vaccine, and more deaths," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said at a press briefing.

(CIDRAP News) – Ukranian officials today shuttered schools and banned public meeting for the next 3 weeks in the wake of a spike in pandemic flu and the country's first H1N1 deaths, which have sparked speculation that the disease has become worse in some patients or that another pathogen is circulating.