Health
HHS' pandemic plan on vaccines, flu
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 13, 2004
Global surveillance, the rapid development and production of effective vaccines and an adequate stockpile of antivirals are among the issues covered in the Dept. of Health and Human Services' pandemic influenza preparedness plan unveiled Aug. 26.
The plan is a draft and can be found online (link). Comments on it are being accepted through October.
The plan includes increasing the demand for annual flu vaccines to help improve annual levels of flu protection, strengthening the vaccine delivery system and helping expand manufacturing capacity to meet this increased demand.
There are only three U.S.-licensed manufacturers producing influenza vaccine, just two with all or part of their production process located in the country.
The plan also covers the need to have in place containment measures such as isolation and quarantine and limits on travel to slow disease spread and to gain time to develop a vaccine and distribute antiviral medications.
Three pandemics have occurred during the 20th century, with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic being the worst by far, resulting in about 675,000 deaths in the United States.
The most recent candidate for a possible pandemic flu is an avian strain that has killed some people in Asia. Experts fear that if the strain jumps to humans and develops the ability to be transmitted from person to person, a pandemic could occur.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/09/13/hlbf0913.htm.
