H1N1 2009 Pandemic Influenza

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday posted updated proposed guidance for preventing pandemic H1N1 and seasonal influenza in healthcare settings, which relaxes some respiratory protection advice and stops short of recommending mandatory flu shots for healthcare workers.

Jun 22, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – An informatics expert from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today spoke with clinicians about possible public health connections to electronic medical records, which she said could have been useful during the H1N1 pandemic and might ease information flow during future public health events.

The discussion follows recent federal investments to promote greater use of health information technology.

(CIDRAP News) – Two experts have resigned from the committee reviewing the World Health Organization's (WHO's) pandemic response because their involvement in the response itself may appear to compromise the independence of the review, the WHO said yesterday.

Jun 21, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – Two new reports in the medical literature today suggest that secondary transmission of the pandemic H1N1 virus in households is low, which seems to confirm earlier reports that the virus is less contagious than past pandemic viruses and some seasonal flu viruses.

(CIDRAP News) – More than half of workers without paid sick days went to work when they had an infectious illness such as the flu, compared with 37% of those with paid leave, according to a report today from a nonprofit group that also found strong support for legislating paid sick days.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials looked to the relatively new model of school-based immunization clinics as an efficient way to deliver the pandemic vaccine to children, and a report from clinic observers detailed that the process worked well, though most schools would need more resources to hold future clinics.

Global activity remains stable

Jun 17, 2010