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Our publications keep professionals working across the public, private, and academic sectors informed on the most important developments and issues in health security and biosecurity.

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Title:

Influenza Vaccine Scarcity 2004-05: Implications for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness

Authors:

Monica Schoch-Spana, Joseph Fitzgerald, Bradley R. Kramer; the UPMC Influenza Task Force

Date posted:

September 15, 2005

Publication type:

Article

Publication:

Biosecur Bioterror 2005;3(3):224-234

Publisher:

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Availability:

Available on publisher's website

See also:

Full article as PDF

Introduction:

In the event of a bioterrorist event or a pandemic flu outbreak, it might be necessary to ration vaccine or other treatments. In this article, researchers examine how medical and public health decision makers negotiated the unanticipated 2004–05 influenza vaccine shortage, using the regional hospital system headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the focal study site. This account of that case study describes the circumstances that contributed to the national and local vaccine shortage; the improvisation by health policymakers, hospital administrators, physicians, and nurses to prevent influenza cases despite the shortfall; and some of the legal, fiscal, logistical, social, and political pressures that local health professionals faced in deciding who should receive the limited supply of influenza vaccine. This instance of an acute vaccine shortage provided an opportunity to examine the practical and ethical dilemmas of managing medical resources during a public health emergency.

Full article as PDF