Topics in Clinical Biosecurity: Influenza

Listed below are all CBN articles on Influenza published since 2005

• 09-09-2019: Respiratory Protection in the Outpatient Setting: The ResPECT Trial A new study attempts to answer the question of whether N95 masks offer greater protection than medical masks to healthcare workers in an outpatient setting.
• 07-24-2019: Respecting RSV in Adults Influenza has an outsized influence, but RSV is a neglected cause of severe disease in adults that rivals influenza.
• 04-22-2019: Home Respiratory Infection Testing: An Important Tool to Develop The broader use of home testing could be important for outbreak management, antibiotic stewardship, situational awareness, and pandemic response.
• 01-10-2019: Moderate-Sized Cities and the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic It is widely believed that major cities—especially megacities—play an outsized role in the transmission of infectious diseases.
• 09-12-2018: Early Vaccinations and Waning Immunity Create Dilemma for Flu Season A review describe rates of waning immunity in a single season among individuals vaccinated against seasonal influenza using the traditional inactivated vaccine.
• 01-26-2018: How Severe Is an Influenza Season? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new methodology to assess and communicate the severity of flu seasons.
• 11-01-2017: The Ascent of H7N9 The H7N9 avian influenza virus has now caused more human cases than H5N1 and tops CDC’s list of potential pandemic threats.
• 10-20-2017: Anticipating a Severe Flu Season While the flu season in this hemisphere has yet to fully commence, there are important signals that it may be severe.
• 09-15-2017: The Risks and Benefits of Repeated First Trimester Influenza Vaccination Against Pandemic H1N1 We put in context a new study showing an association between first trimester pH1N1 vaccination and miscarriage.
• 06-09-2017: NSAID-Macrolide-Antiviral Combination Improves Mortality in Flu results of a clinical trial that combined the NSAID naproxen and the macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin with oseltamivir and broad spectrum antibiotics.
• 03-03-2017: The Increasing Pandemic Potential of H7N9 Avian Influenza Recent expanded activity related to the H7N9 virus in China has become increasingly worrisome and underscores the ongoing need to continue preparedness.
• 08-19-16: Hutterite Flu Vaccine Trial: Questions on Optimal Flu Vaccine In a study, children in 52 Hutterite colonies received IIV or LAIV to assess whether LAIV was superior in inducing herd immunity.
• 02-05-2016: Severe H1N1 Influenza: Still a Risk The CDC has been notified of severe flu infections in young to middle-aged adults, some of whom died. Rapid antigen diagnostic testing was negative in some.
• 01-08-2016: An Influenza Viral Swarm infections are actually made up of a swarm of related but distinct virus and that many different variants may be transmitted from one individual.
• 11-06-15: Diminishing Returns with Healthcare Worker Influenza Vaccination? A new study shows limited incremental reduction in nosocomial influenza infections when healthcare worker vaccination rates exceed 50%.
• 09-18-2015: More Evidence for Herd Protection of the Elderly Herd protection is a real phenomenon that has great potential to change the face of vaccine-preventable diseases.
• 05-29-2015: Afebrile Influenza in Healthcare Workers One of the chief means of arresting the spread of influenza through healthcare facilities is vaccination of healthcare workers.
• 05-01-2015: Asymptomatic H5N1 Avian Influenza Infections A new, well-designed and well-controlled study in Egypt demonstrates a low level of asymptomatic infection in people exposed to backyard poultry.
• 02-20-2015: A Flock of Bird Flu Viruses There has been a spate of bird flu viruses causing human and avian disease all over the world. Some are infecting only birds; others both birds and people.
• 01-09-2015: New Tools for a Harsh Flu Season A new IV antiviral (peramivir) and a new CLIA-waived, PCR-based, rapid flu test (Alere i) have just been approved and are now available.
• 12-19-2014: Preparing for Influenza: An H3N2 Season with a Vaccine Mismatch The predominance of H3N2 this year and the mismatch of the H3N2 component of this year’s vaccine are driving this concern.
• 08-01-2014: Harnessing the Power of Convalescents for Severe Viral Infections The use of convalescent serum has sometimes been advocated for the treatment of acute severe viral diseases for which no specific countermeasure exists.
• 02-21-2014: Another Visit from H1N1 Anecdotes from this year’s flu season include a high number of young adults with severe disease admitted to ICUs.
• 05-03-2013: Statins for Treatment of Severe Sepsis Results of a recent study provide new data about use of statins for treating patients with severe sepsis, which many patients with severe influenza develop.
• 04-19-2013: Factors Influencing Control of the H7N9 Epidemic The ongoing outbreak of a novel H7N9 avian influenza in eastern China poses a significant threat to public health.
• 04-12-2013: Update on Novel H7N9 Influenza Epidemic The epidemic of novel H7N9 avian influenza in eastern China continues with no sign of abating. As of today, there have been 38 confirmed cases, with 10 deaths.
• 04-05-2013: Novel H7N9 Outbreak in China There have been 14 confirmed human cases of infection with a novel H7N9 influenza A virus reported in eastern China; 6 have died; source not yet confirmed.
• 03-22-2013: Nitazoxanide for Treatment of Drug-resistant Influenza Nitazoxanide was recently the subject of a $44 million BARDA contract for advanced development as a treatment for drug-resistant influenza.
• 02-22-2013: Influenza Vaccine Efficacy: As Low as 31%? Influenza prevention relies most on annual flu vaccines, which have 60% efficacy rate even when well matched to circulating strains.
• 01-25-2013: The D222G Mutation and Severe Influenza During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the D222G mutation was posited to affect disease severity when it was found in isolates from 3 patients in Norway.
• 01-11-2013: Influenza Type C as a Cause of Pediatric Pneumonia More sophisticated respiratory viral testing is now shedding light on the role of influenza type C in causing disease, particularly in children.
• 12-21-2012: A Prospective Study of Influenza Shedding in the Community A new paper from the Robert Koch Institute, published in PLOS ONE, offers important insights into viral shedding of influenza.
• 12-07-2012: Flu Season Starts Early CDC flu data for the week ending Nov. 24, 2012 indicated a rise above the regional baseline in influenza-like illness (ILI).
• 11-09-2012: CIDRAP Report Calls for Novel Influenza Vaccine A report by CIDRAP provides a detailed review of the status of influenza vaccine in the US and calls into question the efficacy of currently available vaccines.
• 07-27-2012: Deaths in the Elderly Associated with Several Common Viruses Pneumonia and influenza are often a leading cause of death among the elderly, unbundling that category reveals important pathogen-specific granularity.
• 06-29-2012: Revised Estimate Increases Global H1N1 Mortality Figures by Factor of 15 Previously reported deaths due to lab-confirmed H1N1 during the 2009 pandemic were grossly underestimated because most flu patients were not tested.
• 06-15-2012: Intensive Care Outcomes During the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic A new article by authors from the CDC provides detailed descriptions of ICU care provided to patients during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
• 05-11-2012 H5N1 Transmission in Ferrets Two studies of genetically modified H5N1 influenza viruses have sparked debate about the biosecurity risks of increased mammalian droplet transmissibility.
• 03-16-2012: Fatal Flu Cluster in Maryland Highlights Complications of MRSA Three deaths and 1 case of severe pneumonia were recently reported in 1 MD family; H3N2 flu confirmed in all 4; MRSA in at least 2.
• 03-02-2012: Rapid Influenza Antigen Tests: Specific But Not Sensitive Results indicate that rapid tests have low sensitivity, but high specificity, which makes them most useful for confirming DX in patients with flu-like symptoms.
• 02-03-2012: Influenza B and Severe Disease To better understand the pathology of fatal cases of influenza B, a CDC team analyzed autopsy data from the decade between May 2000 and February 2010.
• 01-06-2012: Statins and Influenza A study, conducted by Vandermeer and colleagues, provides new evidence of the benefits of statins in treating influenza.
• 12-16-2011: Transmission of 2009 Pandemic Influenza to Healthcare Workers A recent study reinforces the importance of droplet precautions, PPE, and other prevention measures during a flu pandemic.
• 12-02-2011: Does Asymptomatic H5N1 Influenza Infection Occur? Asymptomatic H5N1 infection may be more common than thought. A new study suggests that standard methods to detect H5 antibodies are not sensitive enough.
• 08-19-2011: Chinese Herbal Therapy Efficacious Against Influenza Maxingshigan-yinqiaosan (MY), was used during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in rural areas where drugs like oseltamivir were scarce.
• 07-22-2011: Can Systems Biology Improve Influenza Immunization Practice? With a systems biology approach, the changes that occur after vaccination can be studied to identify specific alterations that predict response to vaccination.
• 06-24-2011: Does Antiviral Therapy Prevent Lower Respiratory Tract Complications in Influenza Patients? Oseltamivir’s efficacy in shortening the duration of influenza symptoms when administered promptly is widely accepted.
• 06-03-2011: Influenza-Associated Heart Attacks New evidence of relationship between MI and influenza suggests that patients at high risk for MI should be included in priority groups for influenza vaccination
• 05-20-2011: Redefining Influenza "Pandemic" Applying Potter’s and Jennings’ refined definition of pandemic should serve to capture essential characteristics of pandemics and inform planning.
• 02-04-2011: Healthcare Worker Mortality During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Researchers from the Australian Army recently published results of its study of mortality among nurses and physicians during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
• 01-07-2011: Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Pandemic Influenza Australian researchers published their study of the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) during the 2009 pandemic.
• 11-19-2010: Efficacy and Safety of Peramivir Peramivir has been fully approved for use in Japan, and results of a trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous peramivir have just been published.
• 10-29-2010: Influenza Update: Highlights from the 48th Annual Meeting of IDSA Summary of 2 sessions on influenza from 48th annual IDSA meeting--new insights gleaned from the experience with the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
• 10-22-2010: Universal Flu Vaccination of Healthcare Personnel: A Patient Safety Issue HHS developed an action plan to prevent healthcare-associated infections through influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel.
• 06-11-2010: The Evidence for ECMO Use in Severe Influenza Clinical evidence does not support use of EMCO in adult patients with acute respiratory failure secondary to infection with H1N1 influenza.
• 05-28-2010: Universal Vaccines: Hope for the Future The authors assert the importance of universal vaccines for control of infectious diseases and call for further development.
• 03-03-2010: ACIP Endorses Universal Flu Vaccination ACIP voted unanimously to recommend that the entire US population receive annual influenza vaccination, with the exception of children under 6 months of age.
• 10-14-2009: Clinical Aspects of H1N1 Influenza A Infection Several research reports detailing aspects of infection with the pandemic strain of influenza have recently been released
• 09-15-2009: Single-Dose Vaccination for the 2009 H1N1 Influenza A Virus Vaccination strategy for the 2009 H1N1 influenza A pandemic has been premised on the assumption that 2 doses of vaccine will be needed
• 08-14-2009: Zanamivir Resistance in Influenza As medical management of influenza relies increasingly on antiviral therapy, drug resistance will become more commonplace.
• 07-31-2009: A Novel H3N2 Influenza A Variant Emerges While the pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus continues to spread globally, it may not be the only significant influenza challenge we face this year.
• 07-17-2009: 2009 H1N1 Influenza A: Clinical Details, Antiviral Resistance, and Other Mutations Clinical policy will become more firmly rooted in scientific data, and optimal management strategies will emerge
• 07-02-2009: High-dose Influenza Vaccination of the Elderly Despite high vaccination rates, the elderly disproportionately bear the burden of seasonal influenza morbidity and mortality.
• 06-05-2009: H7-subtype Influenza Infections: Pandemic Potential? Among the myriad subtypes of influenza A that circulate in waterfowl, only a few strains have made the species jump to humans.
• 04-03-2009: Oseltamivir Protective Against Influenza-induced Cardiac Events Antiviral therapy is known to lessen symptoms, shorten hospitalizations, and reduce respiratory complications of influenza infections in humans
• 03-06-2009: Broad-spectrum Flu Antibodies Characterized Two teams of researchers simultaneously reported the discovery and development of antibodies generated against invariate regions of the influenza virus.
• 01-22-2099: Is Airborne Spread of Influenza Possible? A new study from researchers demonstrates that the influenza virus is able to remain suspended in the air, thus enabling airborne transmission.
• 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
• 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.
• 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™.
• 12-19-2007: Evidence for a Heritable Predisposition to Fatal Influenza A recent study supports the hypothesis that there exists an inherited predisposition to developing and dying from severe influenza.
• 11-15-2007: Oseltamivir Reduces Mortality in Patients Hospitalized with Influenza In a prospective, cohort study conducted, oseltamivir therapy administered to adult patients hospitalized with influenza decreased mortality by almost 80%.
• 11-01-2007: Drug-Resistant H5N1 Influenza Viruses May Retain Fitness Should widespread resistance to antiviral drugs occur in a pandemic influenza strain, the chance of limiting the disease outbreak would be greatly diminished.
• 07-30-2007: Cytokines and H5N1: Still No Clear Answers It has been speculated that the severity of illness and the high fatality rate associated with H5N1 may be attributed to a dysregulation of the immune system.
• 07-17-2007: Duration of Influenza A Virus Shedding Longer than Expected Adults infected with influenza A are generally considered infectious from the day before the onset of symptoms until about 5 days after onset.
• 06-21-2007: Highly Lethal MRSA Pneumonia Associated with Influenza In a recent issue of MMWR the CDC reported an outbreak of severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
• 05-30-2007: Passive Immunization with Human Monoclonal Antibodies in H5N1 Simmons et al. show that passive immunotherapy with neutralizing H5N1 human mAbs is effective in preventing and treating H5N1 infection in a murine model.
• 05-24-2007: OSHA Releases Pandemic Guidance for Healthcare Personnel This 104-page document provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the occupational health issues related to hospital pandemic preparedness.
• 04-13-2007: Prevalence of Drug Resistant Influenza B Viruses: New Findings and Implications Hatakeyama and colleagues report on the emergence of influenza B viruses that are partially resistant to neuraminidase inhibitors.
• 02-21-2007: Seasonal Flu Vaccination May Offer Partial Immunity to H5N1 Matthew Sandbulte and colleagues report results of their study of cross protection between the N1 antigen in seasonal influenza vaccines and H5N1.
• 11-16-2006: Influenza Update: Diagnostic Test, Drug Resistance, and Possible Drug Interaction Diagnostic Test for Avian Influenza - A test is being developed that could revolutionize the way influenza is diagnosed.
• 10-13-2006: New Research on Antiviral Treatment of Influenza Dr. Frederick Hayden presented the John F. Enders Lecture at the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) 44th annual meeting in Toronto this morning.
• 09-28-2006: Contrary to Prevailing Beliefs, Aerosol may be Significant Mode of Flu Transmission Raymond Tellier examines the assumption that influenza is transmitted from person to person by large respiratory droplets rather than small aerosols.
• 07-05-2006: Updated 2006 Influenza Vaccination Recommendations Released June 26, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued updated recommendations for use of seasonal influenza vaccine and antiviral pharmaceuticals.
• 04-03-2006: Relenza Now Approved for Prevention of Influenza A and B On March 29, 2006 the FDA approved the neuraminidase inhibitor Relenza for the prevention of influenza A and B in adults and children over the age of 5 years.
• 12-22-2005: Oseltamivir resistance, Vietnam De Jong and colleagues from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam report on 8 patients treated with oseltamivir for H5N1 influenza.
• 12-16-2005: Influenza Associated Pediatric Deaths during 2003-2004 Flu Season In an article published yesterday in the NEJM, researchers from the CDC report on pediatric deaths from the 2003-2004 influenza season.
• 11-22-2005: Pediatric Safety for Tamilflu Last week, press reports suggested that Tamiflu® may be linked to 12 deaths and 32 “neuropsychiatric events” in Japanese children, dating back to 2000.
• 11-14-2005: Flu vaccine restrictions lifted Last year, following a widely reported shortage of flu vaccine, millions of doses were left unused as a result of confusion about priorities and eligibility.
• 10-31-2005: Disease Control Measures for Flu Do Public Health and Infection Control Measures Work to Prevent the Spread of Flu? Not much is known about influenza transmission or ways to prevent it.
• 10-18-2005: Isolation of H5N1 Influenza Virus Resistant to Oseltamivir In an article to be published, Mai Le and colleagues report on the isolation of H5N1 influenza virus resistant to oseltamivir from a 14 year old Vietnamese girl
• 10-12-2005: Peramivir: Single Dose Prophylaxis for Flu? Unpublished data suggesting that peramivir may have the potential for use as single dose parenteral treatment or prophylaxis for influenza.
• 09-29-2005: Statins for Influenza Dr. David Fedson recently suggested that statin therapy might have a role in ameliorating the natural course of severe influenza infection.
• 05-17-2005: Avian Influenza; Polio Several recent news items raise questions about the adequacy of the current epidemiological intelligence originating in South Asia.