Public Health

As the world recovers its bearings after spikes in pandemic flu activity and anticipates how the upcoming flu season will unfold, antiviral and vaccine experts in Atlanta today plotted out the new prevention and treatment tools public health officials may someday use to fine-tune their disease responses.

– ATLANTA (CIDRAP News) – The vital role of preparedness, from diagnostic testing to stockpiling of antiviral medications, was one of the most important lessons from assessments of the world's response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization's (WHO's) top flu expert told an international infectious diseases conference yesterday.

– ATLANTA

(CIDRAP News) – States and territories will receive a total of $390.5 million in federal grants this year to help hospitals and other healthcare facilities improve their capability to cope with emergencies and disasters, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – While donor countries and organizations have responded well to the need for pandemic flu vaccine for developing countries, the level of giving for other pandemic response efforts in needy countries so far has fallen short, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent report.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has formally adopted tougher safety standards for ground beef used in the National School Lunch program, a move that was first proposed in May and was originally spurred by a newspaper investigative report last December.

(CIDRAP News) – An independent review of the United Kingdom's response to the H1N1 pandemic gave the government good marks for the way it handled the outbreak, but said the experience yielded useful lessons for the next such health emergency, such as including break clauses in all future vaccine contracts.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released draft guidance to help reduce resistance to antibiotics used to treat humans—such as penicillin, tetracycline, and macrolides—with more careful use of the drugs in food-producing animals

The agency seeks stakeholder input to help plan its next steps.

(CIDRAP News) – The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) voted overwhelmingly today to endorse its health committee's controversial report that criticizes the handling of the H1N1 pandemic by the World Health Organization and European governments.