(CIDRAP News) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the nation's first H5N1 influenza vaccine, made by Sanofi Pasteur, which federal officials hope will buy some time to develop a more precisely targeted vaccine if the virus evolves into a pandemic strain.
(CIDRAP News) N-95 respirators are regarded as a key tool for protecting people from airborne influenza viruses in the event of a pandemic, but a recent study suggests that without special instruction, most people are likely to wear the devices incorrectly, limiting their effectiveness.
(CIDRAP News) Social control measures such as closing schools and banning public gatherings played a significant role in slowing the advance of the 1918 influenza pandemic in a number of US cities, but their success depended on how soon the measures were deployed and how slowly they were lifted, two teams of researchers reported yesterday.
(CIDRAP Source Weekly Briefing) A severe influenza pandemic could cost the United States $683 billion and plunge the American economy into the second-deepest recession since World War II, a nonprofit health advocacy group warned on Mar 22.
Editor's note: Because of a technical problem, this story was not published until Mar 27.
(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) opened a meeting with Asian health officials in Jakarta today to hear their concerns about access to H5N1 influenza vaccines and discuss solutions that might allow researchers to regain unrestricted access to H5N1 samples.
Editor's note: Contrary to this story, information obtained Mar 23 from the World Health Organization and from another news report indicated that Thailand had no plans to withhold H5N1 virus samples. See link at end of story for more information.
(CIDRAP News) An influenza pandemic as severe as the great flu of 1918 could cost the United States $683 billion and plunge the American economy into the second-deepest recession since World War II, a nonprofit health advocacy group warned today.
(CIDRAP News) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a pandemic influenza preparedness plan that defines the agency's current role in federal pandemic planning, such as expediting the review of new vaccines and antivirals, and spells out work it will do in areas such as food safety and targeting counterfeit drugs.
Editor's note: This story was revised Mar 14 to correct a misquote, introduced in editing, that was attributed to Michael T. Osterholm and to include qualifying details that were omitted from the earlier version.
(CIDRAP News) Some professors at the University of Iowa think that a kind of betting system may help predict the timing and extent of the next influenza pandemic, and a large health foundation is betting they are right.
