There is a strategy which could significantly boost the production of the avian influenza vaccine, allowing many more people to be vaccinated, according to an article in The Lancet. Professor Geert Leroux-Roels, Centre for Vaccinology, Ghent University and Hospital, Belgium and team said that if they combine the vaccine with an oil-in-water emulsion (adjudant) the body is able to produce six times as many avian flu neutralizing antibodies, compared to what the body can produce with a non-adjuvanted vaccine with an identical dose.
Several scientists and health care experts agree that when the next global flu pandemic happens it will most likely be caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus strain. H5N1 contains an H5 hemagglutini antigen subtype, which often produces a weak immunogenic response in human beings. Most of the world is immunologically naГЇve to H5 hamagglutinin antigen subtypes (have very little or no immunity). Therefore, a one dose schedule, which is usually enough for a normal human flu vaccine, most likely will not be enough to give adequate immunity. "Clearly, new formulations that require less antigen per dose are needed. The use of adjuvant to improve immunogenicity is a crucial antigen-sparing strategy," the authors write.
The scientists studied 400 volunteers, they had been divided into eight groups and were aged 18-60. Four antigen doses were studied - 3.8 Ојg, 7.5 Ојg, 15 Ојg and 30 Ојg haemagglutinin. Some were given doses with and some without the oil-water adjuvant. Their immune responses were analyzed through blood tests. The researchers found that the adjuvanted formulations were much more immunogenic than the non-adjuvanted ones, across all doses. Good safety profiles were also found among all eight vaccine formulations. There were more injection-site symptoms and general symptoms from the adjuvant vaccines, which were mainly mild to moderate and transient.
The fact that the 3.8 Ојg adjuvanted vaccine dose induced cross-immunity against the clade two* H5N1 Indonesia strain in over 75% of the patients with neutralizing titres which are six times higher than the non-adjuvanted formulation represent a "significant antigen sparing that could increase the number of recipients of the pandemic influenza vaccine."
"The cross-clade neutralising antibody responses recorded imply that such a vaccine could be deployed before pandemic outbreak, which is an important mitigation strategy proposed for pandemic influenza," the authors conclude.
"Leroux-Roels and colleagues' study is the first to show significant antigen dose-sparing, high levels of immunogenicity in association with a novel adjuvant, and the induction of cross-clade immunity against A/H5N1 viruses. Their study lends support for considering a strategy of immunising some groups with prepandemic vaccines for preparedness in the event of a pandemic from an H5N1 virus. This vaccine appears to be an important step forward in our ability to protect against the pandemic threat posed by highly pathogenic influenza A/H5N1 viruses,", Dr Suryaprakash Sambhara, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, and Dr Gregory Poland, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Minnesota, wrote in an accompanying Comment.
*The H5N1 virus has diverged into three distinct categories or clades (1, 2, and 3), of which clade 2 has multiple sub-clades.
lancet
Written by:
суббота, 7 мая 2011 г.
пятница, 6 мая 2011 г.
Scientists Working To Protect Northern Ireland From Bird Flu
Queen's University Belfast scientists are involved in two international projects aimed to protect Northern Ireland's agri-food industry from Bird Flu and African Swine Fever, a disease which kills pigs.
Working with colleagues from other EU-member states and the Far East in the FLUTEST project they are providing improved diagnosis and early warning systems for bird flu.
Meanwhile, local researchers in the AFRISK project are working with 16 partner institutes around the world including Africa and the Far East to provide new ways of detecting African Swine Fever (ASF) and reduce the risk of the disease being imported into EU member states.
Gordon Allan, an Honorary Professor at Queen's who is also a Principal Scientific Officer in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), is leading researchers from both institutions in the European Commission-funded projects, which have each been awarded ВЈ130,000.
Professor Allan said: "Both of these viruses pose a significant threat to the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland and rapid detection of the viruses in any suspect infected animals is an important step in controlling and eliminating potential outbreaks of the disease."
Bird Flu, (Avian Influenza) which has killed millions of birds across the world, is a constant threat to the poultry industry in Northern Ireland while African Swine Fever, a disease which kills pigs, has recently spread across Europe.
Although it has killed hundreds of people, Bird flu is not considered a large-scale threat to humans as it cannot pass easily from one person to another.
ASF is no longer confined to sub-Sahara African states, and recent outbreaks have been recorded in Sardinia, Georgia, Armenia and southern Russia.
Global warming and climate change are thought to be increasing the spread of the disease in Europe.
Professor Allan explained: "It is important to the agri-food industry on the island of Ireland that researchers, both North and South of the border, continue to participate in these large EC-funded projects.
"These multinational collaborations enable locally-based scientists to input expertise but they also gain considerable information from partners around the world on how to successfully fight the increasing threat to our local industry.
"Infectious diseases do not recognise borders and multinational collaboration is the only effective way to combat their spread."
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST
Communications Office, Lanyon North
Queen's University
Northern Ireland
Belfast
qub.ac.uk
Working with colleagues from other EU-member states and the Far East in the FLUTEST project they are providing improved diagnosis and early warning systems for bird flu.
Meanwhile, local researchers in the AFRISK project are working with 16 partner institutes around the world including Africa and the Far East to provide new ways of detecting African Swine Fever (ASF) and reduce the risk of the disease being imported into EU member states.
Gordon Allan, an Honorary Professor at Queen's who is also a Principal Scientific Officer in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), is leading researchers from both institutions in the European Commission-funded projects, which have each been awarded ВЈ130,000.
Professor Allan said: "Both of these viruses pose a significant threat to the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland and rapid detection of the viruses in any suspect infected animals is an important step in controlling and eliminating potential outbreaks of the disease."
Bird Flu, (Avian Influenza) which has killed millions of birds across the world, is a constant threat to the poultry industry in Northern Ireland while African Swine Fever, a disease which kills pigs, has recently spread across Europe.
Although it has killed hundreds of people, Bird flu is not considered a large-scale threat to humans as it cannot pass easily from one person to another.
ASF is no longer confined to sub-Sahara African states, and recent outbreaks have been recorded in Sardinia, Georgia, Armenia and southern Russia.
Global warming and climate change are thought to be increasing the spread of the disease in Europe.
Professor Allan explained: "It is important to the agri-food industry on the island of Ireland that researchers, both North and South of the border, continue to participate in these large EC-funded projects.
"These multinational collaborations enable locally-based scientists to input expertise but they also gain considerable information from partners around the world on how to successfully fight the increasing threat to our local industry.
"Infectious diseases do not recognise borders and multinational collaboration is the only effective way to combat their spread."
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST
Communications Office, Lanyon North
Queen's University
Northern Ireland
Belfast
qub.ac.uk
четверг, 5 мая 2011 г.
Pandemic Flu, Access To Health Care, Emergency Preparedness, Disparities Among Top Public Health Concerns, USA
Thousands of public health experts, researchers and administrators will gather in Boston, Nov. 4-8, to discuss the latest in public health research and practice and debate policy concerns affecting the profession and the health of the nation at the American Public Health Association's 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Themed Public Health and Human Rights, the meeting will explore the right to health and the impact of social inequalities, disparities in access to and delivery of health care and other social determinants in affecting health outcomes. The conference will also include hundreds of sessions on other pressing issues in public health such as pandemic influenza, emergency contraception, HIV/AIDS, disaster preparedness, chronic disease prevention and control and health disparities.
The meeting kicks off with keynote addresses by Paul E. Farmer, M.D, Ph.D., founding director of Partners in Health, and Helene D. Gayle, M.D., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of CARE USA, at the Opening General Session at noon on Sunday, Nov. 5, in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
The weeklong conference features more than 900 scientific sessions where attendees can access the most up-to-date public health research reflecting the broad impact this field has in our lives. The full Annual Meeting program and abstracts are searchable at apha/meetings. During the meeting, the Association will also consider adopting a wide range of proposed policies, including encouraging wide-scale pandemic flu planning, ensuring that patients can have contraceptive prescriptions filled at pharmacies, supporting a global framework convention on alcohol control and urging action to reverse the nation's obesity epidemic.
Press information is available at apha/news/annual. Final programs with session locations, along with daily news media updates will be available on site at the APHA Press Office, Room 102A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Journalists must display a registration badge to gain entry to sessions.
Meeting highlights include:
3097.0 Foundations of Human Rights and Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Dual loyalty: Human rights and ethical challenges for the health professions; Leslie London, Professor, Leonard Rubenstein, JD, Lauren Baldwin Ragaven
3398.0 Global Climate Change, Clean Energy and Human Rights
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Science, politics and air quality policy; Samuel Dorevitch, MD, MPH
-- Implications of environmental decline for public health ethics: Toward sustainable public health principles; Andrew Jameton, PhD
-- Climate change, human rights and public health in an era of globalization; Dhananjaya Arekere, PhD, Brian Rivers, PhD, Lee Green, PhD
3115.0 Ensuring Food Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.- 12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Food Defense: Awareness and Preparedness; Brenda Halbrook
3123.0 Policy Perspectives on Human Rights and Attention to HIV/AIDS Issues
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with HIV/AIDS; Paul Perchal, MA, Lynn Collins, MD, Rasha Dabash, MA
-- Criminal penalties for conduct that may threaten the public's health: Trends in laws requiring mandatory HIV disclosure to prospective sex partners; C. Galletly, JD, PhD
-- Program and policy tools to address HIV/AIDS, poverty and inequality; Marissa Billowtiz, MA, Marilyn Aguirre-Molina
3142.0 Immigrants' Rights to Health in the U.S.A.
Monday, Nov. 6:10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Legal and Health Policy Issues Regarding Immigrants' Health in the United States: Whose Rights and Whose Responsibilities?; Mara K. Youdelman, JD, LLM
3210.0 Outbreak Investigations
Monday, Nov. 6: 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Managing Iowa's Mumps Epidemic: Epidemiologists' Experiences; Meghan Harris, BS, MPH, Sarah Brend, MPH, Pamila Deichmann, RN, MPH
3234.0 War and Public Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Physician-Soldier: The all-volunteer military and how it changed who serves in our name: Stephen K. Trynosky, JD, MPH
3301.0 Providing Insurance and Removing Barriers to Health Care for the Uninsured
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health care reform in Massachusetts: Politics, progress and impact on vulnerable populations; Michael Doonan, PhD
-- Exploring the relationship between state-level minimum wage policies and health-related outcomes: An analysis of 2004 BRFSS data; Kelly P. McCarrier, MPH
3303.0 Experiences and Exercises in Responding to Epidemics and Bioterror Events
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Pandemic influenza functional exercise - New Hampshire, 2005; Rachel Plotinsky, MD, Elizabeth A. Talbot, MD, Mary Ann Cooney, RN, Jose Montero, MD
-- Avian overture: How pandemic training builds public health and safety partnerships; Mary Clark, JD, MPH, Kerry Dunnell, MSW, Garrett W. Simonsen, MSPS
3310.0 Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Local, State, Tribal and Federal Perspectives
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Federal Perspective; Pascale Wortley, MD, MPH
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: State Perspective; Paul Lewis
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Local Perspective; Paul Etkind, DrPH, MPH
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: A Tribal Perspective; Jim Roberts
3394.0 Increasing Access to Medicaid and Providing Prescription Assistance to the Uninsured and the Underinsured
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Prescription assistance program: Helping to alleviate the burden of the high cost of prescription drugs for uninsured and underinsured; Deborah Delay, LCSW, Bruce Cooper, MD, MSPH, Carol Plock, MSW, John F. Newman, MSBA, Ann E. Martin, BA
-- Impact of Medicaid cuts on patients seeking emergency room care; Heidi L. Allen, MSW, Briar Ertz-Berger, MD, Robert A. Lowe, MD, MPH, Katherine J. Riley, EdD
3418.0 Terrorism and Public Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health effects among New York City residents as a result of 9/11; Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc
-- Torture and medical complicity: Where we stand; Leonard Rubenstein, JD
-- Civil liberties; H. Jack Geiger, MD, MsciHyg
4030.0 Public Health Consequences of Food Insecurity
Tuesday, Nov. 7:8:30 a.m.-10 a.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Linking food insecurity and child development: The development effects of food insecurity in young, low-income Black and Latino children; Madina Agenor, AB, Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, MPH, Ruth Rose-Jacobs, ScD, Deborah A. Frank, MD, Suzette Levenson, MPH, Med
4072.0 Human Rights Strategies to End Violence
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Chronic conflict and the right to health; Alicia Ely Yamin, JD, MPH
-- Human rights strategies to stop genocide and crimes against humanity; Leonard Rubenstein, JD
4074.0 Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Human rights as a tool to promote a social determinants approach to reproductive health; Catherine Albisa, JD
-- Intersection between HIV/AIDS and sexual and human rights; Alejandro Saavedra, MD, MPH
4199.0 Human Rights Issues in Response to Emergencies
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Assessing the nutritional status of children in Darfur: Challenges and successes; Leisel Talley, MPH
-- Human rights in disasters: An overview, Samir N. Banoob, MD, PhD
4227.0 Public Health Emergencies and Human Rights
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Domestic Spying, Public Health Surveillance, and Human Rights; Wendy K. Mariner, JD, LLM, MPH
-- HIV/AIDS in Africa: Taking Health and Human Rights Seriously; Evelyne Shuster, PhD
4290.0 What's Happening in Our Communities? Tobacco-Related Health Disparities
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Disproportionate cost of smoking for communities of color; Wendy Max, PhD, Hai-Yen Sung, PhD, Lue-Yen Tucker
-- Smoking initiation among adolescent females: Does price sensitivity vary by weight and body image?; Julie H. Carmalt, MS
4324.0 25-Year History of AIDS: The U.S., Israel and South Africa on the Anniversary of the Epidemic
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health policy and (non)citizenship: Migrant workers and HIV/AIDS in Israel; Nadav Davidovitch, MD, MPH, PhD, Dani Filc, MD, PhD
-- Shattered dreams? Doctors and nurses confronting the AIDS epidemic in South Africa; Gerald Oppenheimer, PhD, MPH
5088.0 Katrina: Through the Lens of Public Health and Human Rights
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Rising from the ashes: Starting over after Hurricane Katrina; Cheryl Bowers-Stephens, MD, MBA
-- Public health system: Overcoming the ravages of Katrina; Lovetta Ann Brown, MD, MPH, CP
-- Environmental policies: From moldy words to meaningful change; Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH
5091.0 Pandemic Influenza: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- From SARS and bioterrorism to pandemic flu, new tools and old medicine: Non-pharmaceutical interventions as a way to protect ourselves against contagious disease; David Heyman
-- Ethical issues with pandemic flu; Robert J. Levine, MD
-- Community engagement; Donna L. Richter, EdD, FAAHB
5178.0 Women's Choices in Childbirth - Access to Care
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 2:30 p.m.- 4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Myth of the Maternal Request Cesarean: Exploring Mothers Attitudes Toward Cesarean Birth; Eugene Declercq, PhD
-- White Ribbon Alliance: Women and Infants Service Package (WISP): Planning for Emergencies; Lisa Summers, CNM, DrPH
-- Case Against Elective Primary Cesarean Surgery; Henci Goer, BA
Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States. APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions.
More information is available at apha.
Themed Public Health and Human Rights, the meeting will explore the right to health and the impact of social inequalities, disparities in access to and delivery of health care and other social determinants in affecting health outcomes. The conference will also include hundreds of sessions on other pressing issues in public health such as pandemic influenza, emergency contraception, HIV/AIDS, disaster preparedness, chronic disease prevention and control and health disparities.
The meeting kicks off with keynote addresses by Paul E. Farmer, M.D, Ph.D., founding director of Partners in Health, and Helene D. Gayle, M.D., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of CARE USA, at the Opening General Session at noon on Sunday, Nov. 5, in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
The weeklong conference features more than 900 scientific sessions where attendees can access the most up-to-date public health research reflecting the broad impact this field has in our lives. The full Annual Meeting program and abstracts are searchable at apha/meetings. During the meeting, the Association will also consider adopting a wide range of proposed policies, including encouraging wide-scale pandemic flu planning, ensuring that patients can have contraceptive prescriptions filled at pharmacies, supporting a global framework convention on alcohol control and urging action to reverse the nation's obesity epidemic.
Press information is available at apha/news/annual. Final programs with session locations, along with daily news media updates will be available on site at the APHA Press Office, Room 102A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Journalists must display a registration badge to gain entry to sessions.
Meeting highlights include:
3097.0 Foundations of Human Rights and Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Dual loyalty: Human rights and ethical challenges for the health professions; Leslie London, Professor, Leonard Rubenstein, JD, Lauren Baldwin Ragaven
3398.0 Global Climate Change, Clean Energy and Human Rights
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Science, politics and air quality policy; Samuel Dorevitch, MD, MPH
-- Implications of environmental decline for public health ethics: Toward sustainable public health principles; Andrew Jameton, PhD
-- Climate change, human rights and public health in an era of globalization; Dhananjaya Arekere, PhD, Brian Rivers, PhD, Lee Green, PhD
3115.0 Ensuring Food Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.- 12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Food Defense: Awareness and Preparedness; Brenda Halbrook
3123.0 Policy Perspectives on Human Rights and Attention to HIV/AIDS Issues
Monday, Nov. 6: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women Living with HIV/AIDS; Paul Perchal, MA, Lynn Collins, MD, Rasha Dabash, MA
-- Criminal penalties for conduct that may threaten the public's health: Trends in laws requiring mandatory HIV disclosure to prospective sex partners; C. Galletly, JD, PhD
-- Program and policy tools to address HIV/AIDS, poverty and inequality; Marissa Billowtiz, MA, Marilyn Aguirre-Molina
3142.0 Immigrants' Rights to Health in the U.S.A.
Monday, Nov. 6:10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Legal and Health Policy Issues Regarding Immigrants' Health in the United States: Whose Rights and Whose Responsibilities?; Mara K. Youdelman, JD, LLM
3210.0 Outbreak Investigations
Monday, Nov. 6: 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Managing Iowa's Mumps Epidemic: Epidemiologists' Experiences; Meghan Harris, BS, MPH, Sarah Brend, MPH, Pamila Deichmann, RN, MPH
3234.0 War and Public Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Physician-Soldier: The all-volunteer military and how it changed who serves in our name: Stephen K. Trynosky, JD, MPH
3301.0 Providing Insurance and Removing Barriers to Health Care for the Uninsured
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health care reform in Massachusetts: Politics, progress and impact on vulnerable populations; Michael Doonan, PhD
-- Exploring the relationship between state-level minimum wage policies and health-related outcomes: An analysis of 2004 BRFSS data; Kelly P. McCarrier, MPH
3303.0 Experiences and Exercises in Responding to Epidemics and Bioterror Events
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Pandemic influenza functional exercise - New Hampshire, 2005; Rachel Plotinsky, MD, Elizabeth A. Talbot, MD, Mary Ann Cooney, RN, Jose Montero, MD
-- Avian overture: How pandemic training builds public health and safety partnerships; Mary Clark, JD, MPH, Kerry Dunnell, MSW, Garrett W. Simonsen, MSPS
3310.0 Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Local, State, Tribal and Federal Perspectives
Monday, Nov. 6: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Federal Perspective; Pascale Wortley, MD, MPH
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: State Perspective; Paul Lewis
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Local Perspective; Paul Etkind, DrPH, MPH
-- Planning for Pandemic Influenza: A Tribal Perspective; Jim Roberts
3394.0 Increasing Access to Medicaid and Providing Prescription Assistance to the Uninsured and the Underinsured
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Prescription assistance program: Helping to alleviate the burden of the high cost of prescription drugs for uninsured and underinsured; Deborah Delay, LCSW, Bruce Cooper, MD, MSPH, Carol Plock, MSW, John F. Newman, MSBA, Ann E. Martin, BA
-- Impact of Medicaid cuts on patients seeking emergency room care; Heidi L. Allen, MSW, Briar Ertz-Berger, MD, Robert A. Lowe, MD, MPH, Katherine J. Riley, EdD
3418.0 Terrorism and Public Health
Monday, Nov. 6: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health effects among New York City residents as a result of 9/11; Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc
-- Torture and medical complicity: Where we stand; Leonard Rubenstein, JD
-- Civil liberties; H. Jack Geiger, MD, MsciHyg
4030.0 Public Health Consequences of Food Insecurity
Tuesday, Nov. 7:8:30 a.m.-10 a.m.
Featured presentation:
-- Linking food insecurity and child development: The development effects of food insecurity in young, low-income Black and Latino children; Madina Agenor, AB, Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, MPH, Ruth Rose-Jacobs, ScD, Deborah A. Frank, MD, Suzette Levenson, MPH, Med
4072.0 Human Rights Strategies to End Violence
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Chronic conflict and the right to health; Alicia Ely Yamin, JD, MPH
-- Human rights strategies to stop genocide and crimes against humanity; Leonard Rubenstein, JD
4074.0 Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Human rights as a tool to promote a social determinants approach to reproductive health; Catherine Albisa, JD
-- Intersection between HIV/AIDS and sexual and human rights; Alejandro Saavedra, MD, MPH
4199.0 Human Rights Issues in Response to Emergencies
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Assessing the nutritional status of children in Darfur: Challenges and successes; Leisel Talley, MPH
-- Human rights in disasters: An overview, Samir N. Banoob, MD, PhD
4227.0 Public Health Emergencies and Human Rights
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Domestic Spying, Public Health Surveillance, and Human Rights; Wendy K. Mariner, JD, LLM, MPH
-- HIV/AIDS in Africa: Taking Health and Human Rights Seriously; Evelyne Shuster, PhD
4290.0 What's Happening in Our Communities? Tobacco-Related Health Disparities
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Disproportionate cost of smoking for communities of color; Wendy Max, PhD, Hai-Yen Sung, PhD, Lue-Yen Tucker
-- Smoking initiation among adolescent females: Does price sensitivity vary by weight and body image?; Julie H. Carmalt, MS
4324.0 25-Year History of AIDS: The U.S., Israel and South Africa on the Anniversary of the Epidemic
Tuesday, Nov. 7: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Health policy and (non)citizenship: Migrant workers and HIV/AIDS in Israel; Nadav Davidovitch, MD, MPH, PhD, Dani Filc, MD, PhD
-- Shattered dreams? Doctors and nurses confronting the AIDS epidemic in South Africa; Gerald Oppenheimer, PhD, MPH
5088.0 Katrina: Through the Lens of Public Health and Human Rights
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Rising from the ashes: Starting over after Hurricane Katrina; Cheryl Bowers-Stephens, MD, MBA
-- Public health system: Overcoming the ravages of Katrina; Lovetta Ann Brown, MD, MPH, CP
-- Environmental policies: From moldy words to meaningful change; Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH
5091.0 Pandemic Influenza: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- From SARS and bioterrorism to pandemic flu, new tools and old medicine: Non-pharmaceutical interventions as a way to protect ourselves against contagious disease; David Heyman
-- Ethical issues with pandemic flu; Robert J. Levine, MD
-- Community engagement; Donna L. Richter, EdD, FAAHB
5178.0 Women's Choices in Childbirth - Access to Care
Wednesday, Nov. 8: 2:30 p.m.- 4 p.m.
Featured presentations:
-- Myth of the Maternal Request Cesarean: Exploring Mothers Attitudes Toward Cesarean Birth; Eugene Declercq, PhD
-- White Ribbon Alliance: Women and Infants Service Package (WISP): Planning for Emergencies; Lisa Summers, CNM, DrPH
-- Case Against Elective Primary Cesarean Surgery; Henci Goer, BA
Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States. APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions.
More information is available at apha.
среда, 4 мая 2011 г.
Computer Modelling Determines That 1 In 7 Cases Of Bird Flu Could Be Prevented By Closing Schools In Event Of Pandemic
Closing schools in the event of a flu pandemic could slow the spread of the virus and prevent up to one in seven cases, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature.
School closure is the non-pharmaceutical policy option that health organisations and governments most often consider to control the spread of a future flu pandemic, but there had previously been little evidence about its potential effectiveness.
Researchers from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, working with colleagues in France, used computer modelling to explore how school closure would affect the spread of a theoretical pandemic H5N1 avian flu virus which had mutated to pass between humans. They extrapolated from data collected by French GPs, showing how school holidays alter the patterns of influenza transmission in France.
The new study shows that shutting down schools for a prolonged period in the event of a pandemic could prevent up to one in seven cases.
School closures would also slow and flatten the pandemic, reducing the numbers becoming ill in the worst week of the outbreak by up to 40%. The researchers suggest that this could be important in reducing pressures on healthcare services during this time so that hospitals and GP surgeries would be better able to cope.
However, the researchers caution that closing schools for a prolonged period would be a very costly measure, particularly because of its impact on working parents. Taking away the childcare that schools provide could also affect the spread of the virus, in ways that are difficult to model using existing information.
For example, parents might share childcare with each other or place their children with child minders, so that children would still mix and spread the virus between them, much as they would in a school setting. In addition, the number of healthcare professionals available to care for those with the virus might fall if some needed to stay home to look after their children.
Dr Simon Cauchemez, one of the authors of the study from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, said: "Our research shows that school closures could be a useful measure in terms of slowing the spread of a flu pandemic. However, its effectiveness would very much depend on what other measures, like vaccination or antiviral drugs, were put in place as well."
Professor Neil Ferguson, another author of the study from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, added: "Closing schools for a long time is not an option you can take lightly, because it has a big economic and social impact, and the extent to which there would be a knock-on effect on transmission is hard to predict.
"Even though the children would not be in school, they would still mix with other children and adults in the community and spread the virus through this contact. We also think it's likely that parents would need to devise new childcare arrangements so that they could continue working, meaning that they would be setting up the equivalent of small schools where the virus could easily be transmitted," added Professor Ferguson.
The researchers reached their conclusions after analysing surveillance data collected since 1984 by 1,200 GPs in France, to see how the rate of influenza transmission is reduced during the country's school holidays. This data showed that holidays lead to a 20-29% reduction in the rate at which influenza is transmitted to children, but that they have no detectable effect on the contact patterns of adults. The French data also revealed that children were responsible for around 46% of all infections.
The researchers then extrapolated from this to explore how prolonged school closure might affect transmission in the event of a pandemic of mutated H5N1 in a country like France.
At present, the H5N1 strain of influenza is transmitted to people by birds and person-to-person transmission is very rare. However, the virus is so lethal that if it were to mutate and become more transmissible, as in the researchers' new model, the consequences of a global pandemic could be disastrous.
This research was funded by the Medical Research Council, the European Union, and the US National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Source: Laura Gallagher
Imperial College London
School closure is the non-pharmaceutical policy option that health organisations and governments most often consider to control the spread of a future flu pandemic, but there had previously been little evidence about its potential effectiveness.
Researchers from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, working with colleagues in France, used computer modelling to explore how school closure would affect the spread of a theoretical pandemic H5N1 avian flu virus which had mutated to pass between humans. They extrapolated from data collected by French GPs, showing how school holidays alter the patterns of influenza transmission in France.
The new study shows that shutting down schools for a prolonged period in the event of a pandemic could prevent up to one in seven cases.
School closures would also slow and flatten the pandemic, reducing the numbers becoming ill in the worst week of the outbreak by up to 40%. The researchers suggest that this could be important in reducing pressures on healthcare services during this time so that hospitals and GP surgeries would be better able to cope.
However, the researchers caution that closing schools for a prolonged period would be a very costly measure, particularly because of its impact on working parents. Taking away the childcare that schools provide could also affect the spread of the virus, in ways that are difficult to model using existing information.
For example, parents might share childcare with each other or place their children with child minders, so that children would still mix and spread the virus between them, much as they would in a school setting. In addition, the number of healthcare professionals available to care for those with the virus might fall if some needed to stay home to look after their children.
Dr Simon Cauchemez, one of the authors of the study from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, said: "Our research shows that school closures could be a useful measure in terms of slowing the spread of a flu pandemic. However, its effectiveness would very much depend on what other measures, like vaccination or antiviral drugs, were put in place as well."
Professor Neil Ferguson, another author of the study from the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling at Imperial College London, added: "Closing schools for a long time is not an option you can take lightly, because it has a big economic and social impact, and the extent to which there would be a knock-on effect on transmission is hard to predict.
"Even though the children would not be in school, they would still mix with other children and adults in the community and spread the virus through this contact. We also think it's likely that parents would need to devise new childcare arrangements so that they could continue working, meaning that they would be setting up the equivalent of small schools where the virus could easily be transmitted," added Professor Ferguson.
The researchers reached their conclusions after analysing surveillance data collected since 1984 by 1,200 GPs in France, to see how the rate of influenza transmission is reduced during the country's school holidays. This data showed that holidays lead to a 20-29% reduction in the rate at which influenza is transmitted to children, but that they have no detectable effect on the contact patterns of adults. The French data also revealed that children were responsible for around 46% of all infections.
The researchers then extrapolated from this to explore how prolonged school closure might affect transmission in the event of a pandemic of mutated H5N1 in a country like France.
At present, the H5N1 strain of influenza is transmitted to people by birds and person-to-person transmission is very rare. However, the virus is so lethal that if it were to mutate and become more transmissible, as in the researchers' new model, the consequences of a global pandemic could be disastrous.
This research was funded by the Medical Research Council, the European Union, and the US National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Source: Laura Gallagher
Imperial College London
вторник, 3 мая 2011 г.
Sixth Swan Tests Positive For H5N1 Bird Flu Virus Strain, England
A sixth mute swan, which was collected on January 21st as part of wild bird surveillance in Dorset, England, has tested positive for H5N1, the virulent bird flu virus strain, reports Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs). Defra added that this sixth confirmation is not a surprise.
Defra informs that the area is currently undergoing an "enhanced surveillance" of wild birds.
Authorities say that current evidence does not point in any way to a spreading of the current outbreak. Nevertheless, poultry keepers in the area have been asked to remain watchful and report any signs of disease at once.
The current outbreak only involves wild birds. No domestic birds have been infected, informs Defra. Samples taken from live swans in the area have all tested negative for H5N1 and other avian influenza virus strains.
As of 3pm on 25 January, the limits imposed on the movement of poultry or other captive birds in the Wild Bird Monitoring Area were lifted, and such movements no longer require a license. Movement restrictions in the Wild Bird Control Area continue.
What is Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)>
Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a disease cause by viruses. It is a contagious disease which infects only birds, and sometimes pigs. The avian influenza viruses attack specific species - they have, on occasions jumped the species barrier and infected people. However, this has been quite rare, and continues to be rare (January 2008).
As far as farmed birds are concerned (poultry), there are two main types of avian influenza - one is fairly mild while the other is deadly (for birds).
Mild
Low pathogenic forms of bird flu may cause a bird to have more ruffled feathers and lay fewer eggs. This form is often undetected among farmed poultry (in many cases the bird is infected, and then gets better and nobody noticed).
Deadly
The highly pathogenic form of bird flu is much more dangerous. It has a mortality rate of virtually 100% and spreads very rapidly among flocks of birds. A bird infected with the more virulent type of bird flu (the highly pathogenic form) experiences deterioration of many internal organs.
The most dangerous strain of the bird flu virus is called H5N1.
Avian influenza (bird flu): Latest situation (Defra)
Written by -
Defra informs that the area is currently undergoing an "enhanced surveillance" of wild birds.
Authorities say that current evidence does not point in any way to a spreading of the current outbreak. Nevertheless, poultry keepers in the area have been asked to remain watchful and report any signs of disease at once.
The current outbreak only involves wild birds. No domestic birds have been infected, informs Defra. Samples taken from live swans in the area have all tested negative for H5N1 and other avian influenza virus strains.
As of 3pm on 25 January, the limits imposed on the movement of poultry or other captive birds in the Wild Bird Monitoring Area were lifted, and such movements no longer require a license. Movement restrictions in the Wild Bird Control Area continue.
What is Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)>
Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a disease cause by viruses. It is a contagious disease which infects only birds, and sometimes pigs. The avian influenza viruses attack specific species - they have, on occasions jumped the species barrier and infected people. However, this has been quite rare, and continues to be rare (January 2008).
As far as farmed birds are concerned (poultry), there are two main types of avian influenza - one is fairly mild while the other is deadly (for birds).
Mild
Low pathogenic forms of bird flu may cause a bird to have more ruffled feathers and lay fewer eggs. This form is often undetected among farmed poultry (in many cases the bird is infected, and then gets better and nobody noticed).
Deadly
The highly pathogenic form of bird flu is much more dangerous. It has a mortality rate of virtually 100% and spreads very rapidly among flocks of birds. A bird infected with the more virulent type of bird flu (the highly pathogenic form) experiences deterioration of many internal organs.
The most dangerous strain of the bird flu virus is called H5N1.
Avian influenza (bird flu): Latest situation (Defra)
Written by -
понедельник, 2 мая 2011 г.
Bird flu outbreak started a year ago
From The News Scientist
newscientist/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994614
In the past week, country after country has admitted that millions of birds and a few people have succumbed to bird flu, and it has become clear that we are facing the worst ever outbreak of the disease.
So how have things got so out of control? After strenuous denials, Indonesia has admitted the H5N1 virus has been spreading there since August. Thailand admits it had it in November. China says the disease was first detected this week.
In fact, the outbreak began as early as the first half of 2003, probably in China, health experts have told New Scientist. A combination of official cover-up and questionable farming practices allowed it to turn into the epidemic now under way.
Asia's growing prosperity has been accompanied by a boom in intensive poultry production. After 1997, when all the chickens in Hong Kong were destroyed after H5N1 bird flu killed six people, Chinese producers decided to take no chances, and started vaccinating birds with inactivated H5N1 virus.
This may have been a mistake. If the vaccine is not a good match for the virus - as is the case with the H5N1 strain now sweeping Asia - it can still replicate but most animals do not show signs of disease.
In this way, the intensive vaccination schemes in south China may have allowed the virus to spread widely without being spotted.
'We don't like vaccination,' says Hans Wagner of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok.
This is also why the World Health Organization has reacted with dismay to Indonesia's announcement that it will tackle its outbreak with vaccination instead of culling.
Vaccination may even have contributed to the origin of the latest variant of H5N1, as it would put strains that could evade the vaccine at an advantage.
To continue reading go to:
newscientist/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994614
newscientist/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994614
In the past week, country after country has admitted that millions of birds and a few people have succumbed to bird flu, and it has become clear that we are facing the worst ever outbreak of the disease.
So how have things got so out of control? After strenuous denials, Indonesia has admitted the H5N1 virus has been spreading there since August. Thailand admits it had it in November. China says the disease was first detected this week.
In fact, the outbreak began as early as the first half of 2003, probably in China, health experts have told New Scientist. A combination of official cover-up and questionable farming practices allowed it to turn into the epidemic now under way.
Asia's growing prosperity has been accompanied by a boom in intensive poultry production. After 1997, when all the chickens in Hong Kong were destroyed after H5N1 bird flu killed six people, Chinese producers decided to take no chances, and started vaccinating birds with inactivated H5N1 virus.
This may have been a mistake. If the vaccine is not a good match for the virus - as is the case with the H5N1 strain now sweeping Asia - it can still replicate but most animals do not show signs of disease.
In this way, the intensive vaccination schemes in south China may have allowed the virus to spread widely without being spotted.
'We don't like vaccination,' says Hans Wagner of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok.
This is also why the World Health Organization has reacted with dismay to Indonesia's announcement that it will tackle its outbreak with vaccination instead of culling.
Vaccination may even have contributed to the origin of the latest variant of H5N1, as it would put strains that could evade the vaccine at an advantage.
To continue reading go to:
newscientist/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994614
воскресенье, 1 мая 2011 г.
Sanofi Pasteur's Investigational H5N1 Influenza Vaccine Achieves High Immune Response At Low Dosage
Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group,
announced data showing that its new investigational H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine
containing a proprietary adjuvant achieved a high immune response at the lowest dose of H5N1
antigen reported to date.
The vaccine containing only 1.9 Вµg of antigen generated a high level of seroprotective immune
response in over 70 percent of the participants in a clinical trial and, in the same clinical trial,
vaccine containing 3.75 Вµg of antigen generated a high level of seroprotective immune response in
over 80 percent of the participants.
Once fully developed, this vaccine should give sanofi pasteur the potential to provide billions of
doses in a pandemic situation and greatly increases its ability to produce vaccines for stockpiling in
advance of a pandemic. This would be a significant achievement for public health and a
breakthrough in research and development of pre-pandemic and pandemic vaccines that is fully in
line with sanofi pasteur's early commitment to bring answers to the global threat posed by
pandemic influenza.
Results are based on analysis of a clinical trial conducted in Belgium. The trial involved 266
healthy adults, 18 to 40 years of age. The vaccine tested was produced from inactivated H5N1
virus and contains a new, proprietary adjuvant aimed at stimulating the immune system to increase
the response to the vaccine. Trial participants received two doses of each formulation. Four levels
of antigen dose were tested, with 1.9 Вµg being the lowest dose.
Preliminary data also show good cross-reactivity to a more recently circulating H5N1 strain. Further
assessment of the ability of this vaccine to provide cross-protection to variants of the H5N1 strains
is ongoing.
Sanofi pasteur has committed, in the event of a pandemic being declared by the World Health
Organization (WHO), to producing the largest possible number of doses of its most advanced
pandemic influenza vaccine in the shortest possible time. In order to increase its capacity, sanofi
pasteur initiated clinical trials with a novel adjuvant aimed at dramatically reducing the amount of
antigen needed to elicit a protective immune response to the H5N1 strain currently identified by
global health authorities and experts as a potential source for the next pandemic.
According to the WHO, the next influenza pandemic could result in 1 million to 2.3 million
hospitalizations and 280,000 to 650,000 deaths in industrialized nations alone. Its impact is
expected to be even more devastating in developing countries.
With production of 170 million doses of influenza vaccine in 2006, sanofi pasteur confirmed its
leadership as the world's largest manufacturer of seasonal influenza vaccine, supplying a large
portion of the estimated global production of about 350 million doses1. Sanofi pasteur's Vaxigrip®
and Fluzone® influenza virus vaccines are licensed in over 100 countries.
Reference 1: who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/ari/en/print.html
Pandemic Influenza Overview
Influenza is a disease caused by a highly infectious virus that spreads easily from person to
person, primarily when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. An influenza pandemic is a global
epidemic of an especially virulent virus, newly infectious for humans, and for which there is no
preexisting immunity. This is why pandemic strains have such potential to cause severe morbidity
and mortality. In an attempt to minimize the impact of a pandemic, many countries are developing
national and transnational plans against a possible influenza pandemic situation.
Sanofi Pasteur and Pandemic Preparedness
Sanofi pasteur is committed to global pandemic preparedness. As the world leader in research,
development and manufacturing of influenza vaccines, sanofi pasteur is actively involved in several
pandemic preparedness projects in the U.S. and Europe, with the goal of developing a vaccine to
protect against a pandemic influenza virus. Sanofi pasteur is also investing in major expansions of
its seasonal influenza vaccine production facilities in the U.S. and France, which could be used to
produce pandemic influenza vaccine if the need arises.
pandemic.influenza
About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis is one of the world leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, ranking number one in
Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organisation, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions
in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases,
central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris
(EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, provided more than a billion
doses of vaccine in 2006, making it possible to immunize more than 500 million people across the
globe. A world leader in the vaccine industry, sanofi pasteur offers the broadest range of vaccines
protecting against 20 infectious diseases. The Company's heritage, to create vaccines that protect
life, dates back more than a century. Sanofi pasteur is the largest company entirely dedicated to
vaccines. Every day, the company invests more than EUR1 million in research and development.
For more information, please visit: sanofipasteur or sanofipasteur
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are
not historical facts. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their
underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with
respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future
performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects,"
"anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions. Although sanofiaventis'
management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are
subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally
beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings
with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under "Risk Factors" and
"Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in sanofi-aventis' annual report on
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other than as required by applicable law,
sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
information or statements.
sanofipasteur
View drug information on Fluzone Preservative-free.
announced data showing that its new investigational H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine
containing a proprietary adjuvant achieved a high immune response at the lowest dose of H5N1
antigen reported to date.
The vaccine containing only 1.9 Вµg of antigen generated a high level of seroprotective immune
response in over 70 percent of the participants in a clinical trial and, in the same clinical trial,
vaccine containing 3.75 Вµg of antigen generated a high level of seroprotective immune response in
over 80 percent of the participants.
Once fully developed, this vaccine should give sanofi pasteur the potential to provide billions of
doses in a pandemic situation and greatly increases its ability to produce vaccines for stockpiling in
advance of a pandemic. This would be a significant achievement for public health and a
breakthrough in research and development of pre-pandemic and pandemic vaccines that is fully in
line with sanofi pasteur's early commitment to bring answers to the global threat posed by
pandemic influenza.
Results are based on analysis of a clinical trial conducted in Belgium. The trial involved 266
healthy adults, 18 to 40 years of age. The vaccine tested was produced from inactivated H5N1
virus and contains a new, proprietary adjuvant aimed at stimulating the immune system to increase
the response to the vaccine. Trial participants received two doses of each formulation. Four levels
of antigen dose were tested, with 1.9 Вµg being the lowest dose.
Preliminary data also show good cross-reactivity to a more recently circulating H5N1 strain. Further
assessment of the ability of this vaccine to provide cross-protection to variants of the H5N1 strains
is ongoing.
Sanofi pasteur has committed, in the event of a pandemic being declared by the World Health
Organization (WHO), to producing the largest possible number of doses of its most advanced
pandemic influenza vaccine in the shortest possible time. In order to increase its capacity, sanofi
pasteur initiated clinical trials with a novel adjuvant aimed at dramatically reducing the amount of
antigen needed to elicit a protective immune response to the H5N1 strain currently identified by
global health authorities and experts as a potential source for the next pandemic.
According to the WHO, the next influenza pandemic could result in 1 million to 2.3 million
hospitalizations and 280,000 to 650,000 deaths in industrialized nations alone. Its impact is
expected to be even more devastating in developing countries.
With production of 170 million doses of influenza vaccine in 2006, sanofi pasteur confirmed its
leadership as the world's largest manufacturer of seasonal influenza vaccine, supplying a large
portion of the estimated global production of about 350 million doses1. Sanofi pasteur's Vaxigrip®
and Fluzone® influenza virus vaccines are licensed in over 100 countries.
Reference 1: who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/ari/en/print.html
Pandemic Influenza Overview
Influenza is a disease caused by a highly infectious virus that spreads easily from person to
person, primarily when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. An influenza pandemic is a global
epidemic of an especially virulent virus, newly infectious for humans, and for which there is no
preexisting immunity. This is why pandemic strains have such potential to cause severe morbidity
and mortality. In an attempt to minimize the impact of a pandemic, many countries are developing
national and transnational plans against a possible influenza pandemic situation.
Sanofi Pasteur and Pandemic Preparedness
Sanofi pasteur is committed to global pandemic preparedness. As the world leader in research,
development and manufacturing of influenza vaccines, sanofi pasteur is actively involved in several
pandemic preparedness projects in the U.S. and Europe, with the goal of developing a vaccine to
protect against a pandemic influenza virus. Sanofi pasteur is also investing in major expansions of
its seasonal influenza vaccine production facilities in the U.S. and France, which could be used to
produce pandemic influenza vaccine if the need arises.
pandemic.influenza
About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis is one of the world leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, ranking number one in
Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organisation, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions
in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases,
central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris
(EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, provided more than a billion
doses of vaccine in 2006, making it possible to immunize more than 500 million people across the
globe. A world leader in the vaccine industry, sanofi pasteur offers the broadest range of vaccines
protecting against 20 infectious diseases. The Company's heritage, to create vaccines that protect
life, dates back more than a century. Sanofi pasteur is the largest company entirely dedicated to
vaccines. Every day, the company invests more than EUR1 million in research and development.
For more information, please visit: sanofipasteur or sanofipasteur
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are
not historical facts. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their
underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with
respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future
performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects,"
"anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions. Although sanofiaventis'
management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are
subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally
beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings
with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under "Risk Factors" and
"Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in sanofi-aventis' annual report on
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other than as required by applicable law,
sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
information or statements.
sanofipasteur
View drug information on Fluzone Preservative-free.
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