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World's Leading Experts Hold State-of-the-Art Meeting on Bird Flu Preparedness
- February 1-2 Conference of 350 Public Health Leaders Near Washington,
D.C. Also Focuses on the U.S. Response to Seasonal Influenza -
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately 350 of the world's
leading influenza experts are gathered here for a two-day state-of-the-art
meeting to assess the current level of U.S. preparedness for a possible
bird flu pandemic that could result from widespread human-to-human
transmission of the H5N1 ("bird flu") virus.
The meeting, "Seasonal & Pandemic Influenza 2007," a follow-up to a
similar conference held one year ago, is focusing on the progress made to
date in implementing pandemic flu preparedness plans at the national,
state, and local levels, as well as in the business sector -- and how far
we have yet to go to be ready for bird flu. This year's gathering will
examine H5N1 epidemiology and surveillance, pathogenesis and treatment,
vaccine development, impact on the health care delivery system, and lessons
learned from the 2003 SARS outbreak in Canada. The meeting will also review
the national response to seasonal flu in the U.S. -- less-feared than bird
flu but currently a cause of greater morbidity and mortality.
"The pace of human H5N1 infections is accelerating but our plans to
prepare for bird flu on a massive scale are moving at business-as-usual
speed," said Richard Whitley, MD, co-director of the Center for Emerging
Infections and Emergency Preparedness at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham and meeting co-chair. "We don't want to cause bird flu panic,
but we do need to have a sense of urgency as we move forward to respond to
this public health challenge of potentially catastrophic proportions."
At a Senate hearing last week, the director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, echoed this concern and
urged states to ramp up preparations for bird flu by conducting state-wide
simulations of pandemic scenarios.
H5N1 is a potentially lethal influenza A virus sub-type that mainly
infects birds. Since 2003, however, an increasing number of humans have
been infected. Initially, human H5N1 cases were restricted to countries in
South East Asia, but infections spread dramatically in 2006, with many
countries reporting cases for the first time. As of January 30, 2007, H5N1
has been reported in 270 people -- resulting in 164 deaths. Increasing
numbers of infections could permit the virus to mutate into a form that is
easily transmitted among humans. A recent study in the medical journal
Lancet concluded that an influenza pandemic similar in virulence to the
1918 "Spanish" flu would today kill an estimated 62 million people
worldwide.
"Seasonal & Pandemic Influenza 2007" will also focus on the U.S.
response to the seasonal flu, which strikes up to 20 percent of the U.S.
population each year, leading to an estimated 36,000 deaths and 200,000
hospitalizations. Seasonal flu issues to be highlighted include medical
management in vulnerable populations, especially the elderly and newborns;
updated guidelines for treatment; and innovations in flu diagnostics.
"We can do a much better job of preparing for seasonal and pandemic
influenza," said Arnold Monto, MD, epidemiology professor at the University
of Michigan's School of Public Health and event co-chair. "We already have
the tools to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by all types of flu. Now
is the time to make a concerted effort to put them to work."
State-of-the-art meeting speakers include some of the world's leading
public health authorities on flu and infectious disease, including: Anthony
Fauci, MD, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National
Institutes of Health; Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention; Bruce Gellin, MD, MPH, National Vaccine Program
Office, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Michael Perdue, PhD,
World Health Organization Global Influenza Programme; Frederick Hayden, MD,
World Health Organization and University of Virginia; Don Low, MD, FRPC,
Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto; and Robert Webster, PhD, St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.
"Seasonal & Pandemic Influenza 2007" is endorsed by the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious
Diseases Society of America, and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of
America. Unrestricted educational grant support for the event has been
provided by Gilead Sciences, Roche Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, and
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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