Articles: pandemics.
-
On 16 April 2011, a working group of World Health Organization (WHO) member states agreed on a pandemic influenza preparedness framework. It regulates the sharing of viruses within the WHO Laboratory Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN) and the access to vaccines, antiviral drugs, diagnostic kits, and other benefits, in particular with regard to lower-income countries. It foresees mandatory regular contributions from industry partners. ⋯ The agreed framework will be presented to the World Health Assembly in May 2011 for its consideration and approval. The agreement will strengthen global preparedness for potential future influenza pandemics. More detailed background information and a comment on the implications of this achievement has been published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
-
Understanding transmission dynamics of the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in various exposure settings and determining whether transmissibility differed from seasonal influenza viruses was a priority for decision making on mitigation strategies at the beginning of the pandemic. The objective of this study was to estimate household secondary attack rates for pandemic influenza in a susceptible population where control measures had yet to be implemented. ⋯ Secondary attack rates for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) were comparable to seasonal influenza estimates suggesting similarities in transmission. High secondary attack rates in children provide additional support for increased susceptibility to infection.
-
The H1N1 pandemic has highlighted the importance of reliable and valid triage instruments. A Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 has been proposed to exclude patients from critical care resources quoting an associated mortality of >90%. We sought to assess the mortality associated with this Sequential Organ Failure Assessment threshold and the resource implications of such a triage protocol. ⋯ A Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 was not associated with a hospital mortality of >90% at any time during intensive care unit stay. Only a small proportion of patients have the extreme initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment values associated with a hospital mortality of >90% limiting the usefulness of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment as a triage instrument for pandemic planning. Application of a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment threshold of >11 to the recent H1N1 pandemic would have excluded patients with a markedly lower mortality than seen in a large regional cohort of intensive care unit patients.
-
Current HIV research · Apr 2011
Canada's international response to HIV during times of global transition: a qualitative inquiry.
Canada's international response to HIV may be under threat given CIDA's new aid priorities that appear to exclude health. Drivers of this recent priority shift have been the influence of global aid trends among public sector donors and changes within the global HIV milieu itself. However, this is not the first time Canada has shifted in response to these two global trends. The era from 2000-2004 also witnessed dramatic changes in both the HIV field and in global thinking around international aid. As such, this article presents an evaluation of the Government of Canada's international response to HIV during the first era of transition (2000-2004) in order to derive lessons for decision-making around HIV in the current climate of change. ⋯ Lessons from the 2000-2004 era of transition focus on strategic investments, the inextricable connection between HIV and development and strategy coherence. These results highlight that it is more constructive to ensure that Canadian development responses in all areas engage with both the upstream drivers of HIV as well as the impacts of the epidemic itself in order to achieve the greatest results from international investment and the most effective contributions to the lives of the people that these endeavours seek to support.
-
Drug Resist. Updat. · Apr 2011
ReviewThe global need for effective antibiotics-a summary of plenary presentations.
To highlight the global need for effective antibiotics and explore possible concerted actions for change, cross-cutting plenary sessions served to frame the program of the conference. These sessions contained presentations on the present state of antibacterial resistance and the availability, the use and misuse of antibiotics. ⋯ The value chain for research and development (R&D) of antibiotics has to be reengineered if we are to realize the development of much needed new antibiotics. This challenge will require a multitude of actions, some of which are related to changing the financial realities of antibiotics and interventions by global and regional institutions.