Fall 2006
Vol. 16, Number 3

Two new IDSA-sponsored resources present some of the most current and definitive information on pandemic and seasonal influenza, from antivirals and vaccines to public health resources and animal health.

In a supplement in the Nov. 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, leading experts summarize current research in their fields, including articles from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, MD, FIDSA, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH. Kristin Nichol, MD, MPH, MBA, and John Treanor, MD, discuss developing, manufacturing, and delivering pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines. Frederick G. Hayden, MD, FIDSA, and Andrew T. Pavia, MD, cover the use of antivirals to treat and prevent influenza. The genetic factors that made the 1918 pandemic virus so virulent are discussed by Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, and Richard J.Whitley, MD, FIDSA.

Ten other articles complete the collection, concluding with a set of recommendations of the conference for better preparing the nation for an influenza pandemic. These recommendations include the need for a sense of urgency in developing preparations and adequate funds to complete them,with a single national figure directing the effort. Other recommendations concern establishing infrastructure to develop new vaccines, developing new influenza-related pneumonia treatments, and defining a coordinated public health response, among others.

The supplement is based on presentations from the conference, “Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza 2006: At the Crossroads, A Global Opportunity,” held Feb. 1-2, 2006, in Washington, DC. The conference featured speakers from academia, government, industry, and clinical medicine.

A summary of the conference is also available as a new CME-certified monograph and accompanying slide set. IDSA, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), NIAID, and CDC sponsored the conference. Unrestricted educational grant support was provided by Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche Laboratories, MedImmune, Sanofi Pasteur, Biota Holdings, and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals.

The monograph and slide set are available on the IDSA website.

The supplement is available online at the JID website.

Annual Meeting Symposium To Focus On Pandemic Flu

IDSA's Pandemic Influenza Task Force is co-sponsoring a symposium on pandemic flu at the Society’s 44th Annual Meeting in Toronto on Sunday, Oct. 15. Moderators will be Pandemic Flu Task Force Chair Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH of PATH and the University of Washington, Seattle, and Frederick G. Hayden, MD, FIDSA, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Va. The following talks will be given:

• Pathogenesis of H5N1 Influenza Viruses
  Menno D. De Jong, MD, PhD
  Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Hospital for Tropical Diseases
  Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  
• H5N1 Influenza Virus: Clinical and Epidemiological Features
  Tim Uyeki, MD, MPH
  National Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  Atlanta, GA
  
• Pandemic Vaccines
  John Treanor, MD
  Department of Medicine University of Rochester
  Rochester, NY