The specter of avian influenza H5N1 has raised concerns globally and brought back memories of the feared 1918 influenza pandemic. Concerns about a newly mutated strain of avian influenza virus, with the capacity to become a pandemic organism with high morbidity and mortality, has spurred pandemic influenza plans at all levels of the public and private sectors across the globe. The World Health ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the acceptability of pre-pandemic influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in public hospitals in Hong Kong and the effect of escalation in the World Health Organization's alert level for an influenza pandemic. DESIGN Repeated cross sectional studies using self administered, anonymous questionnaires SETTING Surveys at 31 hospital departments of internal medicine, p...

BACKGROUND The response to the next influenza pandemic will likely include extensive use of antiviral drugs (mainly oseltamivir), combined with other transmission-reducing measures. Animal and in vitro studies suggest that some strains of influenza may become resistant to oseltamivir while maintaining infectiousness (fitness). Use of antiviral agents on the scale anticipated for the control of ...

BACKGROUND The impact of socio-demographic factors and baseline health on the mortality burden of seasonal and pandemic influenza remains debated. Here we analyzed the spatial-temporal mortality patterns of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Spain, one of the countries of Europe that experienced the highest mortality burden. METHODS We analyzed monthly death rates from respiratory diseases and al...

We studied preexisting immunity to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus in persons in Taiwan. A total of 18 (36%) of 50 elderly adults in Taiwan born before 1935 had protective antibodies against currently circulating pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus. Seasonal influenza vaccines induced antibodies that did not protect against pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus.

This paper will address the current pandemic threat from avian and other influenza viruses, the treatments available, federal, state and local response and planning, and the policy implications should a pandemic occur. The paper concludes with some discussion about where we are and where we need to go, and some recommendations for policymakers and legislators grappling with the issue of pandemi...

Few studies have addressed the impact and dynamics of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in tropical and sub-tropical areas. To help cover this gap, we analyzed all death certificates issued from October 1913 to June 1921 in Florianopolis (Brazil), a subtropical state capital with a population of 41,298 inhabitants in 1920. In November and December 1918 (spring) there were a total of 70 and 14 de...

UNLABELLED The diversity of influenza A viruses in swine (swIAVs) presents an important pandemic threat. Knowledge of the human-swine interface is particularly important for understanding how viruses with pandemic potential evolve in swine hosts. Through phylogenetic analysis of contemporary swIAVs in the United States, we demonstrate that human-to-swine transmission of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) vi...

Background: Massive growth in human mobility has dramatically increased the risk and rate of pandemic spread. Macro-level descriptors of the topology of the World Airline Network (WAN) explains middle and late stage dynamics of pandemic spread mediated by this network, but necessarily regard early stage variation as stochastic. We propose that much of early stage variation can be explained by a...

BACKGROUND Influenza viruses can generate novel reassortants in coinfected cells. The global circulation and occasional introductions of pandemic H1N1/2009 virus in humans and in pigs, respectively, may allow this virus to reassort with other influenza viruses. These possible reassortment events might alter virulence and/or transmissibility of the new reassortants. Investigations to detect such...