Nine decades after the disappearance of the infamous Spanish flu, its ghost is threatening again. In many countries, panicking citizens are buying drugs from uncertain sources through the internet for a disease that does not yet exist. In September 2005, Dr Nabarro, the World Health Organization’s public health expert coordinating the response to avian influenza, told the Associated Press that ...

A phase 6 alert has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the ongoing global spread of the influenza H1N1 virus in humans. Genetic sequence analysis suggests that this pandemic strain evolves from reassortment of swine viruses. The objective of this research is to conduct a series of bioinformatics analyses to characterize currently circulating pandemic influenza v...

As a vulnerable population, Aboriginal people in NSW were thought likely to be at more risk of serious illness from pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza than non-Aboriginal people. As such, the importance of consulting with Aboriginal people and communities was recognised early in the pandemic. This consultation was to enable key messages to be disseminated appropriately and to facilitate access to h...

BACKGROUND Recently isolated Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains have displayed multiple antibiotic resistance. Alternatives to conventional antibiotics are needed, especially for the multiple-antibiotic-resistant V. parahaemolyticus pandemic strain. METHODS A bacteriophage, designated pVp-1, showed effective infectivity for multiple-antibiotic-resistant V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus, inc...

Background The H5N1 avian influenza was first recognized in humans in Hong Kong 20 years ago. Current enzootic spread of highly pathogenic H5N1 virus among wild and domestic poultry and a number of severe human respiratory diseases caused by this pathogen have stimulated necessity of development of potentially pandemic influenza vaccines. Discussion In the past few years, significant research...

Recent epidemics and pandemics have highlighted a number of ethical concerns about the response to the increasing threat of emerging infectious diseases. Some of these ethical concerns are very fundamental. They include why a pandemic was declared, how much clinical information can be collected for public health without threatening patient confidentiality and how to ensure fairness in the distr...

The 2009 influenza pandemic highlighted the limited options available for scholarly publications to rapidly communicate research findings in a time of crisis. In response to the needs of the community, PLOS launched PLOS Currents: Influenza as a publication channel that would meet the need for swift publication of research during that influenza pandemic. PLOS Currents: Influenza allowed the pro...

We evaluated a cohort of Canadian donors for T cell and antibody responses against influenza A/California/7/2009 (pH1N1) at 8-10 months after the 2nd pandemic wave by flow cytometry and microneutralization assays. Memory CD8 T cell responses to pH1N1 were detectable in 58% (61/105) of donors. These responses were largely due to cross-reactive CD8 T cell epitopes as, for those donors tested, sim...

BACKGROUND Many countries have amassed antiviral stockpiles for pandemic preparedness. Despite extensive trial data and modelling studies, it remains unclear how to make optimal use of antiviral stockpiles within the constraints of healthcare infrastructure. Modelling studies informed recommendations for liberal antiviral distribution in the pandemic phase, primarily to prevent infection, but f...

A twenty-first century novel influenza A (H1N1) pandemic is currently unfolding, and the eventual scope of this public health crisis is not clear. In addition, ongoing surveillance of the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus reveals outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of the virus, with significant mortality. Effective pandemic management depends on pharmaceutical intervention with two different...