H1N1 Influenza Center

Antiviral Treatment for Patients Hospitalized with 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1)

With the 2009 H1N1 pandemic well under way, many clinicians are providing care to patients with influenza. Previously, although antiviral treatment was recommended,^1,2 clinicians may not always have prescribed it to patients hospitalized with seasonal influenza, perhaps because of a perception that antiviral treatment had limited benefit. (more…)

Estimates of Flu’s Toll; Seasonal Vaccine Not Effective Against 2009 H1N1

Reports on 2009 H1N1 influenza in the U.S. will now use estimates from the CDC’s Emerging Infection Program, rather than counting only laboratory-confirmed cases, according to a CDC news briefing. (more…)

CDC Releases ‘Quick Facts’ for Providers on Antiviral Drug Use

At Friday’s CDC press briefing on 2009 H1N1 flu, Dr. Anne Schuchat stressed the importance of antiviral drugs for severe illness and directed clinicians to a fact sheet on “some of the myths and misconceptions about antivirals.” (more…)

Questions on Pediatric Dosing of H1N1 Vaccine

The World Health Organization’s immunization advisory group recommended on Friday that in countries where children are given early vaccination priority, one dose of the vaccine should be administered to as many children as possible. In contrast, the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices currently recommends two vaccine doses for children aged 6 months to 9 years. (more…)

No Resurgence — Yet — in Cities Hardest Hit by H1N1 Last Spring

Some cities are reporting near-normal levels of flu activity for this time of year, according to an article in Thursday’s New York Times. The cities were those hardest hit at the outset of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. (more…)

A Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine in Various Age Groups

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine in Various Age Groups
F.-C. Zhu and Others

The administration of an inactivated vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 virus achieved typical protective immune responses after one dose in subjects between 12 and 60 years of age, whereas two doses were required for younger subjects (3 to 11 years of age).

Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Material

Use of Ribavirin to Treat Influenza

CORRESPONDENCE
Use of Ribavirin to Treat Influenza
K.M. Chan-Tack, J.S. Murray, and D.B. Birnkrant

With the current H1N1 influenza pandemic, questions have arisen regarding the potential for ribavirin as a treatment option. These authors report that the published studies are inconclusive regarding the potential clinical benefits of the drug for the treatment of influenza.

Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Material

Mandatory Vaccination of Health Care Workers

PERSPECTIVE
Mandatory Vaccination of Health Care Workers
A.M. Stewart

Alexandra Stewart writes that mandatory vaccination of health care workers raises important questions about a state’s power to compel individuals to engage in particular activities in order to protect the public.

Full Text | PDF

Online First May 27, 2009, from the New England Journal of Medicine

PERSPECTIVE
Managing and Reducing Uncertainty in an Emerging Influenza Pandemic
M. Lipsitch and Others
Full Text | PDF

Geographic Dependence, Surveillance, and Origins of the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Virus
V. Trifonov, H. Khiabanian, and R. Rabadan
Full Text | PDF

H1N1 News: Nov. 20, 2009

China’s Health Ministry said Thursday that it will punish officials who underreport H1N1 cases. Dr. Zhong Nanshan, director of Guangzhou’s Institute of Respiratory Diseases, told a local newspaper that he believed cases were being concealed in order to make local government efforts appear more successful. (11/20, AP)

Healthy children under five in England will receive the H1N1 vaccine next month. (11/20, The Guardian, London)