(CIDRAP News) The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported "encouraging progress" on development of H5N1 avian influenza vaccines, while cautioning that global capacity to make the vaccines remains very limited.
Following a 2-day meeting of vaccine experts in Geneva, the WHO said new vaccines aimed at various strains of H5N1considered the likeliest candidate to spark a flu pandemiclook promising.
(CIDRAP News) Predictions and observations at this week's conference on business preparedness for pandemic influenza ran the gamut from how fast a pandemic would circle the globe to how well the Internet would hold up, with many topics in between.
(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Labor (DOL) has introduced workplace health guidelines to help businesses understand their pandemic influenza risks and what they need to do to prepare.
(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration's new budget proposes adding funds for pandemic preparedness while cutting some support for bioterrorism and local preparedness, drawing mixed reviews from national public health groups.
(CIDRAP News) Orlando, FL As businesses develop pandemic preparedness plans, they need to cut through a "fog" of uncertainty about exactly what pandemic influenza will look like and how their companies will be able to respond to it, infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, said at a summit in Orlando Monday.
(CIDRAP News) Orlando, FL Julie Gerberding, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), today challenged health and business leaders to stay focused on the "marathon" of preparing for an influenza pandemic.
Gerberding, speaking at a conference on business preparedness, said it's not possible to maintain high public interest in the pandemic threat indefinitely, but leaders must keep preparing anyway.
(CIDRAP News) Indonesia, the country that has seen more human deaths from avian influenza H5N1 than any other, has ceased sharing viruses isolated from its patients with international health authorities, challenging the global system for flu-strain identification and vaccine development.
(CIDRAP News) Orlando, FL Corporate America is showing signs of a growing recognition of the threat of an influenza pandemic, but the concern is not yet a major topic in executive suites, according to recent surveys by a business consultant.
(CIDRAP News) Inducing just two small changes in the virus that caused the influenza pandemic of 1918 inhibits the pathogen's ability to spread, researchers reported Thursday, a finding that may help identify potential pandemic flu strains in the future.
(CIDRAP News) New federal recommendations on nonpharmaceutical measures communities can use to fight an influenza pandemic are drawing generally high marks from public health officials and others, but they say the plan spells a massive workload for local planners.
