WHO warns of rising bird flu pandemic risk

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

The headlines may have died down in recent months, but bird flu experts say that the threat of a global pandemic has actually been growing. The World Health Organization outlined the spread of the bird flu virus around the world to 150 experts drawn together to discuss protective measures.

"We can't delude ourselves. The threat of a pandemic influenza has not diminished," said WHO's Keiji Fukuda, coordinator for the Global Influenza Program.

According to the group, the bird flu virus is now endemic in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe as the disease continues to spread in bird populations. There's great concern that at some point the virus will mutate into a new version that is easily spread among humans. Even in its current strains bird flu has infected 382 people and killed 241 of them--an astonishingly high rate of death for a virus. Indonesia has been the hardest hit, counting 108 deaths from the virus.

In response, WHO has been tracking the progress of 16 companies that have been developing new bird flu vaccines and plans to create a stockpile of 150 million doses.

- check out the report from News-Medical
- read the report from the Associated Press

ALSO: Vietnam is reporting a new outbreak of bird flu in one of its southern cities. Report

Experts call for long-term immunity tracking studies

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Vaccine experts are pondering just how long vaccines will be able to provide immunity in a world where some diseases are all but eliminated and natural exposure to many common viruses has ended.

"I don't think we know much at all," says Dr. Samuel Katz, co-inventor of the measles vaccine and a pediatric infectious disease expert at Duke University. And noted vaccine expert Dr. Michael Osterholm says that long-term studies need to be mounted to determine the point at which protection drops in a population and booster shots will be needed.

"It's certainly a reasonable hypothesis that immunity might wane more quickly in the absence of external boosting," says CDC vaccine expert Dr. Jane Seward. "Whether that's the case or not, we don't know. But it's a reasonable thing to postulate."

- read the report from Canadian Press