CIDRAP News examines a recently-released WHO report on how donor countries and organizations have responded to the needs of developing countries during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. In September, the WHO estimated the “64 ‘least-resourced countries’ needed a total of $1.48 billion of aid for vaccine, medicines and supplies, laboratory and surveillance services, communications capacity, and other activities to respond to the pandemic,” according to the news service. According to CIDRAP, the report (…

The independent team of health experts responsible for reviewing the WHO’s response to H1N1 (swine flu) wrapped up a second round of public hearings on Friday, “during which members heard testimony from widely divergent groups, from health officials to some of its most public critics,” CIDRAP News reports. The review committee, “which is also tasked with assessing how the International Health Regulations (IHRs) functioned,” heard testimony from national health officials, pharmaceutical industry representatives, and members of the media, the news service writes…

The Alabama Department of Public Health is assisting in the federal H1N1 Vaccine Recovery Program. Information on the program has been sent to all medical providers who ordered H1N1 vaccine through the department in 2009 and 2010. There are two phases of returning vaccine planned. Phase one involves vaccine which has now expired. This vaccine was supplied from three different pharmaceutical companies

Approximately 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine, worth around US$260 million are to be burned. Jerry Weir, Vaccines Research and Review, FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) commented that by historical standards “It’s a lot”. One quarter of USA’s stocks of swine flu vaccine expired yesterday and will be burned, authorities inform. This is about four times as much as the leftover from seasonal flu vaccines, and is probably a record. There is a good chance that over 43% of USA swine flu vaccine stocks will have gone to waste as future expiry dates loom…

Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) announces the first report of a vaccine protecting ferrets against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus has been published in the journal Vaccine May 12, 2010 online issue. Scientists from Novavax and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Atlanta, GA, under a collaborative agreement, co-authored the scientific report. Novavax produced a 2009 H1N1 influenza VLP vaccine and delivered it to the CDC in less than four (4) weeks following the April 24, 2009 announcement of the strain of the H1N1 influenza for vaccines…

As H1N1 began to emerge in April 2009, HealthMap - an automated online disease tracking and mapping tool created by researchers in the Informatics Program at Children’s Hospital Boston - was already collecting information about the virus and plotting that information on a map of the globe, creating a freely available, real-time, digestible display of the outbreak…

New evidence shows immunization against “swine flu” in 1976 might provide individuals with some protection against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, according to new research from St. Jude investigators. Researchers found that individuals who reported receiving the 1976 vaccine mounted an enhanced immune response against both the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus and a different H1N1 flu strain that circulated during the 2008-09 flu season. The work appears in the April 23 online issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases…

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is investigating reports of an increase in adverse events to the seasonal flu vaccine in Western Australia (WA), where all children 6 months to 5 years have been offered a free seasonal flu vaccination. The pattern and rate of adverse reactions reported by WA have not been seen in other states, and the TGA will test batches of the vaccine used in WA for any abnormalities. Other states and territories seasonal flu vaccination programs have focused on individuals in high risk categories…

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s top influenza expert, on Monday said the organization did not effectively communicate the uncertainties of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, which led to confusion worldwide, Reuters reports. “The reality is there is a huge amount of uncertainty (in a pandemic),” Fukuda said during an address to 29 external experts tapped to review the WHO’s response to H1N1. “I think we did not convey the uncertainty. That was interpreted by many as a non-transparent process,” Fukuda said (Nebehay, 4/12)…

An analysis of blood samples taken before, during and after an epidemic wave of influenza A(H1N1) in Singapore in 2009 finds variation in infection risks and antibody levels, with younger age groups and military personnel having higher infection rates than other groups, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA. On April 24, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the emergence of a novel influenza A virus (2009 influenza A[H1N1]). Singapore detected its first imported cases of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) in late May 2009…