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(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.

(CIDRAP News) – The Institute of Medicine (IOM) today affirmed existing federal guidance that healthcare workers caring for H1N1 influenza patients should wear fit-tested N95 respirators, not just surgical masks, to protect them from the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – In advance of the expected pandemic H1N1 vaccination campaign this fall, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday invited the media to join federal officials in a tabletop exercise to prepare for some possible communications challenges.

(CIDRAP News) – When a novel H1N1 influenza virus meets up with a seasonal flu virus inside an animal, the novel virus is likely to outdo the seasonal strain—and unlikely to mix with it, according to a report published yesterday.

Sep 2, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Vaccination against the pandemic H1N1 influenza will be required for all uniformed US military personnel, with the immunizations starting in early October, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced yesterday.

In a news release, Army Lt. Col. Wayne Hachey, the department's director of preventive medicine, said vaccination will be mandatory for uniformed personnel and will be available to all military family members who want it.

(CIDRAP News) – President Barack Obama warned today that a larger wave of novel H1N1 influenza is likely this fall and called on all Americans to prepare for it.

"I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I do want everybody to be prepared," Obama said in a Rose Garden statement after a meeting with several cabinet secretaries to discuss the pandemic.

Sep 1, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Egyptian authorities have reported two more H5N1 avian influenza cases, both in children, raising the country's total for this year to 34, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

Both patients have been treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and are in stable condition, the WHO said.

Aug 31, 2009

The race is on. The next few months will pit all of our preparedness planning (or lack thereof) against a novel H1N1 virus that is certain to sweep through northern hemisphere countries.

(CIDRAP News) – Novel H1N1 influenza outbreaks are starting to wane in the southern hemisphere, and while most cases are still mild, clinicians are reporting some severe cases of viral pneumonia in young, previously healthy people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

Aug 28, 2009

Judge rejects bid to ban use of some H1N1 vaccines in pregnant women

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials today hosted a Web telecast to help pregnant women and new mothers prepare for an uptick in novel H1N1 flu infections, a day after a federal judge rejected an advocacy group's request to limit use of the H1N1 vaccine in pregnant women.

Aug 27, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that the recent novel H1N1 influenza outbreak in turkeys in Chile points up the possibility of poultry outbreaks elsewhere, increasing the risk of H1N1 mixing with the more deadly H5N1 avian flu virus.

(CIDRAP News) – A White House expert advisory group's report on influenza preparedness on Aug 24 contained many recommendations, such as appointing a flu czar, but its illness and death projections seem to be drawing most of the public's attention.

Aug 26, 2009

Aug 25, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – If schoolchildren have to stay home for extended periods because of H1N1 flu, there are options for making sure they keep up their studies, the US Department of Education said yesterday.