(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today hosted a live webcast to teach laypeople and community groups how to prepare their homes and families for a pandemic, and they fielded a range of questions, from the size of food stockpiles to elbow bumps versus high fives in sports settings.
(CIDRAP News) The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests in a new report that an increased focus on the development of vaccine adjuvants could save the US government money while improving the nation's preparedness for an influenza pandemic.
(CIDRAP News) GlaxoSmithKline, maker of the antiviral drug zanamivir (Relenza), today launched a program designed to help businesses stockpile the drug as a strategy to protect employees in the event of an influenza pandemic.
Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools (www.pandemicpractices.org) online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.
(CIDRAP News) A study of the blood of older people who survived the 1918 influenza pandemic reveals that antibodies to the strain have lasted a lifetime and can perhaps be engineered to protect future generations against similar strains.
(CIDRAP News) Scientists have warned it's impossible to predict which avian influenza virus will spark the next pandemic, and while most of the attention has been on highly pathogenic H5N1, one research group is reporting new findings that raise concerns about the threat from the low-pathogenic H9N2 virus.
(CIDRAP News) A new report from the British government ranks pandemic influenza very high on the list of major security threats to the United Kingdom.
(CIDRAP News) Two pharmaceutical companies that are developing a second-generation version of the inhaled antiviral drug zanamivir (Relenza) reported promising phase 2 results showing that one dose was as effective against influenza as a course of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
(CIDRAP News) Despite a wide range of pandemic planning guidance documents from federal and private groups, states say they still need more information from federal officials, particularly on community mitigation measures, fatality management, and supporting medical surge efforts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported recently.
(CIDRAP News) – A recent survey of nursing homes in two states found that fewer than half had a plan for coping with pandemic influenza, according to a report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.
