Articles: pandemics.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2011
ReviewHospital-based pandemic influenza preparedness and response: strategies to increase surge capacity.
In the spring of 2009, the first patients infected with 2009 H1N1 virus were arriving for care in hospitals in the United States. Anticipating a second wave of infection, our hospital leaders initiated multidisciplinary planning activities to prepare to increase capacity by expansion of emergency department (ED) and inpatient functional space and redeployment of medical personnel. ⋯ Our health center successfully met the challenges posed by the 2009 H1N1 outbreak. The intent in sharing the details of our planning and experience is to allow others to determine which elements of this planning might be adapted for managing a surge of patients in their setting.
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Following the explosion of the influenza A pandemic (H1N1) during the first semester of 2009, oseltamivir and zanamivir were used as the treatment of choice in the absence of rigorous clinical studies demonstrating their efficacy in the treatment and prophylaxis of this disease. Knowledge of seasonal influenza, flu pandemics and particularly the H1N1, which produces more severe infection and a higher mortality rate during pregnancy, led to the use of antiviral treatment despite the scarcity of clinical studies on their efficacy and effectiveness, mainly due to the influence of the media. This study reviewed the experimental and clinical studies performed on the safety of oseltamivir and zanamivir in pregnancy. Likewise, the recommendations made by the different health care and governmental authorities as well as other institutions and scientific and health care organizations on the therapeutic management and prophylaxis of influenza A 2009 in pregnant women were reviewed.
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In this study, we assess how effective pandemic and trivalent 2009-2010 seasonal vaccines were in preventing influenza-like illness (ILI) during the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic in France. We also compare vaccine effectiveness against ILI versus laboratory-confirmed pandemic A(H1N1) influenza, and assess the possible bias caused by using non-specific endpoints and observational data. ⋯ The effectiveness of pandemic vaccines in preventing confirmed pandemic A(H1N1) influenza on the field was high, consistently with published findings. It was significantly lower against ILI. This is unsurprising since not all ILI cases are caused by influenza. Trivalent 2009-2010 seasonal vaccines had a statistically significant effectiveness in preventing ILI and confirmed pandemic influenza, but were not better in preventing confirmed pandemic influenza than in preventing ILI. This lack of difference might be indicative of selection bias.
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Comparative Study
Fever screening during the influenza (H1N1-2009) pandemic at Narita International Airport, Japan.
Entry screening tends to start with a search for febrile international passengers, and infrared thermoscanners have been employed for fever screening in Japan. We aimed to retrospectively assess the feasibility of detecting influenza cases based on fever screening as a sole measure. ⋯ The sensitivity of entry screening is a product of the sensitivity of fever for detecting influenza cases and the sensitivity of the infrared thermoscanners in detecting fever. Given the additional presence of confounding factors and unrestricted medications among passengers, reliance on fever alone is unlikely to be feasible as an entry screening measure.
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During the first pandemic wave of the influenza A H1N1 2009 virus, morbidity was particularly high in Brazil. Hospitalizations resulting from severe respiratory disease due to suspected influenza-like illness created an opportunity to identify other respiratory viruses causing lower respiratory infections. ⋯ These data highlight the need to diagnose other viral infections that can co-circulate with influenza and may have been neglected by physicians as causes of severe respiratory diseases.