Clinicians' Biosecurity News Archive: 2008
- 12-19-2008: Update on Personal Protective Equipment In virtually all pandemic plans, the use of PPE is a key component of protection for healthcare workers (HCWs) and prevention of disease spread.
- 12-05-2008: Long-lived Immunity after Smallpox Vaccination It has long been held that smallpox vaccination confers 5 to 10 years of protection for recipients, who may then require a booster to maintain immunity.
- 11-21-2008: Modeling Drug Resistant Influenza Brockmann and colleagues report that drug resistant influenza was capable of increasing hospitalization rates by up to 233% in a hypothetical Swiss town
- 11-07-2008: New Arenavirus Identified as Cause of Cluster of Illness and Death in South Africa and Zambia Through molecular diagnostic techniques, a previously unknown arenavirus has been identified as the etiologic agent responsible for 4 deaths in Africa
- 10-10-2008: Rising Staphylococcus aureus Co-infection among Pediatric Influenza Deaths Results of a study of pediatric influenza mortality for 3 influenza seasons (2004-2007), by investigators at the CDC, were published in the October 2008 issue.
- 09-26-2008: Hong Kong Study Finds that Closing Schools May Not Have Helped Slow the Spread of Flu Hong Kong’s efforts to close schools for two weeks during the 2008 influenza season may have done little to limit the community-wide spread of influenza.
- 09-12-2008: The Role of Bacterial Pneumonia in Pandemic Influenza A paper concludes that most deaths during the 1918 flu pandemic appear to have involved bacterial pneumonia rather than purely viral pneumonia.
- 07-30-2008: Utility of Antivirals During a Pandemic: Uncertainties Persist neuraminidase inhibitors will be the antivirals of choice. Based on their potential utility, the US government has made investments to ensure availability
- 07-14-2008: AHRQ Releases Report on Home Healthcare During a Pandemic On July 8, 2008, the HHS AHRQ released a report1 on the issues and resources associated with home healthcare during a pandemic.
- 06-27-2008: Atypical Presentation of Cutaneous Tularemia Byington and colleagues describe cutaneous tularemia in two children who were initially misdiagnosed due to atypical presentations of the disease
- 06-06-2008: Evolution of H7 Avian Influenza: Another Pandemic Candidate? Since 2002, H7 strains of influenza virus have caused both HPAI and LPAI avian influenza outbreaks in poultry in North America and Eurasia
- 05-30-2008: OSHA Issues Guidance for Stockpiling Masks and Respirators OSHA recently proposed guidance for employers to use in determining the numbers of masks and respirators to stockpile for an influenza pandemic
- 05-15-2008: Definitive Care for the Critically Ill During a Disaster The DHS National Planning Scenarios predict that a catastrophic disaster could produce tens of thousands of critically ill patients in a metropolitan area
- 05-01-2008: Indonesia Conducts 3-Day Drill of Pandemic Influenza National Response Plan A small rural village in Bali spent months preparing to participate in what the Jakarta Post described as Indonesia’s first massive pandemic influenza exercise
- 04-14-2008: CDC Publishes Report on Meeting of Experts to Update Guidelines for Management of Anthrax On March 13-14, 2006, the CDC, in collaboration with the Southeastern Center for Emerging Biologic Threats, convened a meeting in Atlanta
- 03-28-2008: ASPR Makes First Playbook Available The HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has posted online its Hurricane Playbook (ESF-8 Hurricane Response)
- 03-14-2008: The Use of MedKits to Augment Rapid Distribution of Antibiotics after an Anthrax Attack Following an anthrax attack, many lives could be saved by timely distribution of antibiotics to exposed populations
- 02-29-2008: California Releases Healthcare Surge Guidelines On February 19, 2008, the California Department of Public Health released its Standards and Guidelines for Healthcare Surge during Emergencies.
- 02-14-2008: This Year's flu Season Marked by Vaccine Mismatch in the U.S. and Antiviral Resistance in Europe As the seasonal flu gets into full swing across the U.S., the CDC is reporting that this year’s flu epidemic is more severe than those of the last two years.
- 02-01-2008: Progress Toward the Development of a Universal Influenza Vaccine A vaccine development company, issued a press release announcing positive preliminary results from two studies of its universal influenza vaccine, ACAM-FLU-A™.
- 01-18-2008: WHO Update on Human H5N1 Infections On January 17, 2008, a review article was published providing updated information on human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) infection.
