Articles: pandemics.
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Global public health · Jan 2012
The securitisation of pandemic influenza: framing, security and public policy.
This article examines how pandemic influenza has been framed as a security issue, threatening the functioning of both state and society, and the policy responses to this framing. Pandemic influenza has long been recognised as a threat to human health. ⋯ This article addresses the construction of pandemic influenza as a threat. Drawing on the work of the Copenhagen School, it examines how it was successfully securitised at the turn of the millennium and with what consequences for public policy.
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The World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have highlighted the importance of establishing systems to monitor severe influenza. Following the H1N1 (2009) influenza pandemic, a sentinel network of 23 Trusts, the UK Severe Influenza Surveillance System (USISS), was established to monitor hospitalisations due to confirmed seasonal influenza in England. This article presents the results of the first season of operation of USISS in 2010/11. ⋯ The Health Protection Agency successfully established a sentinel surveillance system for severe influenza in 2010/11, detecting a rise in influenza cases mirroring other surveillance indicators. The data indicate an upward shift in the age-distribution of influenza A/H1N1 (2009) during the 2010/11 influenza season as compared to the 2009/10 pandemic. Systems to enable the ongoing surveillance of severe influenza will be a key component in understanding and responding to the evolving epidemiology of influenza in the post-pandemic era.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyCritically ill children with pandemic influenza (H1N1) in pediatric intensive care units in Turkey.
To outline the epidemiologic features, clinical presentation, clinical courses, and outcomes in critically ill children with pandemic influenza in pediatric intensive care units. ⋯ Severe disease and high mortality rates were seen in children with pandemic influenza. Death attributable to pandemic influenza occurred in all age groups of children with or without underlying illness. Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome is associated with increased mortality, and death is frequently secondary to severe lung infection caused by pandemic influenza.
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Comparative Study
Genetic characterization of human influenza viruses in the pandemic (2009-2010) and post-pandemic (2010-2011) periods in Japan.
Pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus was first detected in Japan in May 2009 and continued to circulate in the 2010-2011 season. This study aims to characterize human influenza viruses circulating in Japan in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods and to determine the prevalence of antiviral-resistant viruses. ⋯ In the pandemic period (2009-2010), the pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus was the only circulating strain isolated. None of the 601 A(H1N1)pdm09 virus isolates had the H275Y substitution in NA (oseltamivir resistance) while 599/601 isolates (99.7%) had the S31N substitution in M2 (amantadine resistance). In the post-pandemic period (2010-2011), cocirculation of different types and subtypes of influenza viruses was observed. Of the 1,278 samples analyzed, 414 (42.6%) were A(H1N1)pdm09, 525 (54.0%) were A(H3N2) and 33 (3.4%) were type-B viruses. Among A(H1N1)pdm09 isolates, 2 (0.5%) were oseltamivir-resistant and all were amantadine-resistant. Among A(H3N2) viruses, 520 (99.0%) were amantadine-resistant. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses from the post-pandemic period showed further evolution from the pandemic period viruses. For viruses that circulated in 2010-2011, strain predominance varied among prefectures. In Hokkaido, Niigata, Gunma and Nagasaki, A(H3N2) viruses (A/Perth/16/2009-like) were predominant whereas, in Kyoto, Hyogo and Osaka, A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses (A/New_York/10/2009-like) were predominant. Influenza B Victoria(HA)-Yamagata(NA) reassortant viruses (B/Brisbane/60/2008-like) were predominant while a small proportion was in Yamagata lineage. Genetic variants with mutations at antigenic sites were identified in A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2) and type-B viruses in the 2010-2011 season but did not show a change in antigenicity when compared with respective vaccine strains.
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Data on the burden of the 2009 influenza pandemic in Asia are limited. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was first reported in Thailand in May 2009. We assessed incidence and epidemiology of influenza-associated hospitalizations during 2009-2010. ⋯ Influenza-associated hospitalization rates in Thailand during 2009-10 were substantial and exceeded rates described in western countries. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 predominated, but H3N2 also caused notable morbidity. Expanded influenza vaccination coverage could have considerable public health impact, especially in young children.