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(CIDRAP News) – US health officials offered more evidence today that a single dose of pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccines may be enough to protect adults, saying preliminary findings in government-sponsored trials reinforce early results from company trials announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) –The United States is seeing increased levels of pandemic H1N1 influenza activity, with cases being reported in all 50 states and widespread activity in Guam and 11 states, most of them in the Southeast, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

In last week's surveillance report, six states and Puerto Rico reported widespread activity, so the number of states reporting the highest activity has increased by five.

(CIDRAP News) – Officials from Roche today said the company is producing Tamiflu (oseltamivir) at near-capacity levels and is collaborating on dozens of research studies, focusing on groups such as pregnant women who are at higher risk of complications from pandemic H1N1 flu.

(CIDRAP News) – Preliminary clinical trial results suggest that pandemic H1N1 vaccines made by Novartis and CSL Ltd. will provide protection in adults with just one dose, raising hope for a less difficult immunization program than has been anticipated.

(CIDRAP News) – Today was the 12th year the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has held a press conference to discuss its expectations for the upcoming flu season, but discussions were far from routine, reflecting uncertainty surrounding the pandemic flu strain and the complexity of launching two vaccine campaigns.

CDC says H1N1 virus has claimed 47 children's lives

Editor's note: It’s here; the novel H1N1 influenza is rapidly morphing into its second wave assault. We’re all making our last-minute plans for response and preparedness an immediate reality. One of the most important actions we can take right now to reduce H1N1 transmission in the workplace is to keep infected employees out!

(CIDRAP News) – In a follow-up to new influenza guidelines for child care settings, federal experts were on hand today during a Web telecast to answer questions from parents, focusing on child care and concerns about youngsters who have chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

(CIDRAP News) – As children return to school and promptly become infected with H1N1 influenza, emergency-room (ER) physicians nationwide are becoming increasingly anxious over their ERs' capacity to deal with an influx of flu patients.

(CIDRAP News) – Just as this year's early seasonal influenza immunization drive is getting under way, some vaccination providers are having trouble getting vaccine doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

Sep 9, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Revised recommendations from federal health officials on the use of influenza antiviral drugs suggest that clinicians consider providing prescriptions over the phone for high-risk patients as a way to start treatment faster if they come down with flu symptoms.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today launched the Reportable Food Registry, an electronic portal designed to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks in real-time by speeding the response at the first sign of a positive test for a pathogen or contaminant in food or animal feed.

Sep 8, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reported an increase in pandemic H1N1 flu activity in the nation, focused primarily in five southeastern states, along with an isolated case of swine H3N2 influenza in a patient from Kansas.

Officials from the CDC have said they expect flu activity to pick up again when students return to school, and many districts in the southeast resumed classes on Aug 10.

Sep 4, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials provided updated guidelines today for responding to novel H1N1 and seasonal influenza in child care settings, recommending that providers conduct daily health checks on all children and staff, among other steps.

Sep 3, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Though the pandemic H1N1 virus never faded from the scene during the summer, illnesses are starting to pick up again, particularly in the southeastern states where school has already started, Thomas Frieden, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.