Pandemic Influenza

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a new draft of its plan for spotting and stopping a budding influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Drug manufacturer Roche said today it is increasing its production capacity for the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) by a third this year and is keeping ahead of the demand from governments stockpiling the drug in preparation for a possible influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt, reporting this week on preparations for a possible influenza pandemic, promised to act soon to boost US flu vaccine production capacity and promote cell-based vaccine technology.

(CIDRAP News) – A second vaccine against human H5N1 influenza is being developed, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt announced yesterday.

In a speech at an immunization conference, Leavitt announced that he has authorized the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start work on a second vaccine, according to an Associated Press (AP) report published yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – As the H5N1 avian influenza virus continued to claim human victims, World Health Organization (WHO) and other experts met in Geneva today for a 3-day conference to hone the agency's pandemic response plan.

(CIDRAP News) – Public health experts will meet in Geneva next week to continue developing the World Health Organization's (WHO's) draft plan for quick action to head off a potential influenza pandemic.

The WHO announced the meeting as a Hong Kong official reported another possible human case of H5N1 avian flu in China, involving a 32-year-old man who died yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – US health officials announced today they have ordered more than 14 million treatment courses of two antiviral drugs to add to the 5.5 million courses already bought in preparation for a possible influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Critical for businesses in preparing for a flu pandemic will be taking care of their primary asset—their employees. This was an overarching theme expressed by participants in this week's Business Planning for Pandemic Influenza: A National Summit, held in Minneapolis.

(CIDRAP News) – One expert's advice to leaders trying to prepare the world for an influenza pandemic: Don't be scared of scaring people.

Peter M. Sandman, PhD, a risk communication expert from Princeton, N.J., told those attending a Minneapolis conference on business planning for pandemic flu that fear is what motivates people to take sensible precautions in the face of a real threat.

(CIDRAP News) – If the next influenza pandemic imitates past ones and plays out in waves, the first wave might serve as a warning that gives the world a little time to prepare for the worst, a leading expert on the pandemic of 1918 told business leaders at a Minneapolis meeting this week.