Pandemic Influenza

(CIDRAP News) – Though infectious disease experts say it is impossible to predict how severe the next wave of the novel H1N1 pandemic will be, experts from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) observe that it so far resembles the 1957-58 influenza pandemic in several ways. They report that the earlier pandemic caused minimal disruptions, in part because public health officials didn't close schools, cancel public events, or impose travel restrictions.

(CIDRAP News) – Pregnant women who have pandemic H1N1 influenza infection appear to be at greater risk of complications, but some healthcare providers have been hesitant to treat them early with antivirals despite recommendations to do so, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The immunization advisory group for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meets tomorrow in an emergency session to discuss which groups should be targeted to receive the pandemic H1N1 vaccine and whether some should have priority.

(CIDRAP News) – Pandemic H1N1 influenza activity decreased for the fourth consecutive week, though the percentage of deaths from pneumonia and influenza rose a bit above the epidemic threshold, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) - The World Health Organization (WHO) recently posted surveillance and status updates for regions where the pandemic H1N1 is just gaining a foothold, including the Mideast, Africa, and parts of Asia and the Pacific, which showed Southeast Asia as the hardest hit of those areas.

(CIDRAP News) – An expert panel that advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today supported the idea of moving quickly on pandemic H1N1 vaccine production with a goal of having "tens of millions of doses" available in September instead of October.

Jul 16, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – Citing the questionable usefulness of reporting pandemic H1N1 case counts and the burden it puts on countries experiencing widespread transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today it will no longer issue regular reports of confirmed global case totals.

The WHO has issued 58 such reports since the start of the novel H1N1 outbreak, the last one on Jul 6.

(CIDRAP News) – Outpatient clinics should provide separate waiting and exam rooms for possible H1N1 flu patients and prepare business continuity plans, among other steps to prepare for a potential flood of pandemic flu patients this fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended today that governments put healthcare workers first in line for pandemic H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available and that countries should choose other priority groups on the basis of their own situations.