CDC releases pandemic H1N1 vaccine guidance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommendations today to help state and local health officials decide who should get novel H1N1 vaccine when supplies are initially limited. Target groups include schoolchildren and staff, children in daycare and staff, pregnant women and contacts of newborns, those with medical underling conditions, and health workers. The report also discusses weighing the needs of other nations and military personnel, but it focuses on US civilians.
[Jul 8 CDC recommendations]
Novel strain may dominate Australia's flu season
The novel flu virus seems poised to dominate Australia's flu season, the country's health minister, Nicola Roxon, said today, according to the Adelaide Advertiser. Flu surveillance for the week ending Jun 20 revealed that almost two thirds of the infections were from the pandemic H1N1 virus. Roxon said the new virus will likely replace seasonal flu, rather than circulate alongside it.
[Jul 9 Advertiser story]
Tamiflu-resistant strain found in US traveler
Federal and state health departments are increasing their testing of novel flu viruses for oseltamivir (Tamiflu) resistance, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. The measures were prompted by a report of a resistant strain isolated from a San Francisco resident who had arrived in Hong Kong in June. The girl had had not taken osteltamivir. The CDC has asked states to send more samples for resistance testing, and California said it has stepped up its testing.
[Jul 8 AP story]
Paraguay lawmakers pass emergency measures
Paraguay's government passed emergency legislation yesterday aimed at curbing the spread of pandemic flu, the AP reported today. The law gives the country's president expanded powers to respond to the flu outbreak and allows health officials to use $19.2 million from the treasury to fund programs to boost healthcare capacity.
[Jul 8 AP story]
Live feeds from tomorrow's White House flu summit
The two plenary sessions of tomorrow's White House pandemic H1N1 flu preparedness summit—a substantial portion of the event— will be broadcast over the Web via flu.gov, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, David Hale, a biomedical informatics and social media expert, will be providing live Twitter updates during the entire event. His Twitter name is lostonroute66. The day-long event starts at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
[Dave Hale's Twitter home page]
