tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2010;50:869?870
? 2010 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
1058-4838/2010/5006-0011$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/650751
The first line of defense, in the absence of vaccine, is the use of specific antiviral drugs. Several scenarios for use of antiviral drugs have been proposed, and when the pathogenic avian H5N1 virus was seen as the most likely etiology of the next pandemic, containment strategies were considered [1]. It was suggested that stockpiles of antiviral drugs be maintained in the Far East, where most of the H5N1 activity has occurred. If a facile human‐to‐human spread of the H5N1 virus should be detected, persons in the geographic area of the human spread should receive specific prophylaxis to create a barrier against a continued spread. Containment strategies were not developed in the United States when the novel H1N1 influenza virus began to spread. Although a national stockpile of antiviral drugs had been established, only ~35% has been distributed to the states. The use of the stockpiled antiviral drugs in the clinical setting has been limited. Few clinicians are aware that these drugs can be prescribed from stockpiles free of charge to patients from low‐income groups.
The article by Torres et al [2] in this issue of the journal describes a modified containment strategy utilizing antiviral drugs during the first wave of the novel H1N1 influenza pandemic in Chile during the southern hemisphere winter of 2009. Virtually all patients presenting to the emergency department of the Cl?nica Las Condes were treated with neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir or zanamivir), and almost all received treatment within the first 48 h after onset of symptoms. There were no deaths, and only 199 patients were hospitalized among >10,000 patients treated. Of 11 patients admitted to intensive care, 8 patients were referred from other hospitals. Even though Cl?nica Las Condes serves an upper income (and apparently compliant) population in Santiago, Chile, the benign outcomes are remarkable. The strategy of early treatment for all who present to urgent care facilities deserves consideration as a means of reducing serious complications of influenza.
.....
full article
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/650751?prevSearch=h1n1&searchHistoryKey=
? 2010 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
1058-4838/2010/5006-0011$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/650751
The first line of defense, in the absence of vaccine, is the use of specific antiviral drugs. Several scenarios for use of antiviral drugs have been proposed, and when the pathogenic avian H5N1 virus was seen as the most likely etiology of the next pandemic, containment strategies were considered [1]. It was suggested that stockpiles of antiviral drugs be maintained in the Far East, where most of the H5N1 activity has occurred. If a facile human‐to‐human spread of the H5N1 virus should be detected, persons in the geographic area of the human spread should receive specific prophylaxis to create a barrier against a continued spread. Containment strategies were not developed in the United States when the novel H1N1 influenza virus began to spread. Although a national stockpile of antiviral drugs had been established, only ~35% has been distributed to the states. The use of the stockpiled antiviral drugs in the clinical setting has been limited. Few clinicians are aware that these drugs can be prescribed from stockpiles free of charge to patients from low‐income groups.
The article by Torres et al [2] in this issue of the journal describes a modified containment strategy utilizing antiviral drugs during the first wave of the novel H1N1 influenza pandemic in Chile during the southern hemisphere winter of 2009. Virtually all patients presenting to the emergency department of the Cl?nica Las Condes were treated with neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir or zanamivir), and almost all received treatment within the first 48 h after onset of symptoms. There were no deaths, and only 199 patients were hospitalized among >10,000 patients treated. Of 11 patients admitted to intensive care, 8 patients were referred from other hospitals. Even though Cl?nica Las Condes serves an upper income (and apparently compliant) population in Santiago, Chile, the benign outcomes are remarkable. The strategy of early treatment for all who present to urgent care facilities deserves consideration as a means of reducing serious complications of influenza.
.....
full article
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/650751?prevSearch=h1n1&searchHistoryKey=