Giuseppe
Emeritus
Abstract. Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries (EID, edited)
DOI: 10.3201/eid1503.080857
Suggested citation for this article: Fedson DS. Meeting the challenge of influenza pandemic preparedness in developing countries. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Mar; [Epub ahead of print]
Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries
[Free Full Document: LINK. EDITED.]
David S. Fedson
Author affiliation: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA (retired)
Developing countries face unique difficulties in preparing for an influenza pandemic. Our current top-down approach will not provide these countries with adequate supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents. Consequently, they will have to use a bottom-up approach based on inexpensive generic agents that either modify the host response to influenza virus or act as antiviral agents. Several of these agents have shown promise and many are currently produced in developing countries. Investigators must primarily identify agents for managing infection in populations, and not simply seek explanations for how they work. They must determine in which countries these agents are produced and define patterns of distribution and costs. Because prepandemic research cannot establish whether these agents will be effective in a pandemic, randomized controlled trials must begin immediately after a new pandemic virus has emerged. Without this research, industrialized and developing countries could face an unprecedented health crisis.
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DOI: 10.3201/eid1503.080857
Suggested citation for this article: Fedson DS. Meeting the challenge of influenza pandemic preparedness in developing countries. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Mar; [Epub ahead of print]
Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries
[Free Full Document: LINK. EDITED.]
David S. Fedson
Author affiliation: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA (retired)
Developing countries face unique difficulties in preparing for an influenza pandemic. Our current top-down approach will not provide these countries with adequate supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents. Consequently, they will have to use a bottom-up approach based on inexpensive generic agents that either modify the host response to influenza virus or act as antiviral agents. Several of these agents have shown promise and many are currently produced in developing countries. Investigators must primarily identify agents for managing infection in populations, and not simply seek explanations for how they work. They must determine in which countries these agents are produced and define patterns of distribution and costs. Because prepandemic research cannot establish whether these agents will be effective in a pandemic, randomized controlled trials must begin immediately after a new pandemic virus has emerged. Without this research, industrialized and developing countries could face an unprecedented health crisis.
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