General
Workshop on "The role of modelling in influenza pandemic planning and response: lessons from 2009"
Venice (Italy), 26-27 May, 2011
This is the final workshop of our project "FluModCont" which has focussed on developing European pandemic influenza modelling capability over the last 3 years. The workshop aims to encourage productive dialogue between modellers (from universities and public health agencies) and senior public health decision makers - reviewing the 2009 experience of how modelling and analysis informed (or not) decision-making, and what lessons should be learned for the future (both technical and in terms of structuring the relationship and expectations). A key aim will be to compare experiences across the European Union, but not exclusively so - the experience in the US we think is informative, and clearly WHO's role in pandemic response is key. Some of the technical issues we intend to focus on include: what 2009 taught us about influenza transmission; data needs in a pandemic; methods for generating rapid parameter estimates; potential effectiveness and public compliance with control measures. But as important will be sessions on the information requirements of public health decision makers during a pandemic, the interface between policy and modelling, and research/surveillance priorities for the future.
See the poster
Cultural Centre Don Orione Artigianelli
Address: Zattere Dorsoduro, Venice
Website: http://www.donorione-venezia.it/ing/home.htm
Overview on Influenza A(H1N1) surveillance data in Europe. Week 40/2009 to week 7/2010
WHO/Europe publishes a weekly electronic bulletin on influenza activity in the Region and performs periodic analysis of surveillance data provided by the 53 WHO European Member States. A preliminary review of data submitted to EuroFlu between week 40/2009 and week 07/2010, compared with historical data where available, shows the following main developments:
- In most countries that reported data, levels of influenza activity are well below recent pandemic peak levels and across most of the European Region, the first wave of pandemic influenza activity is considered to be at an end.
- Countries in the European Region experienced an early start to the influenza season, and winter-time clinical activity also peaked earlier than it has in several years.
- The length of the winter pandemic pandemic (H1N1) 2009 wave was generally of similar length, compared with previous seasons.
- In 19 of 22 countries reporting five or more years of data, the peak clinical consultation rates that were observed during the 2009/2010 pandemic season did not exceed peak clinical consultation rates observed during the previous years. However in several countries, clinical consultation rates did exceed recent historical peaks within some younger age groups.
- Within the western part of the Region, the geographic progression of the pandemic occurred in a west to east direction.
- 49 out of 53 Member States reported laboratory-confirmed cases, the large majority of which occurred without complications.
- 4 572 laboratory-confirmed deaths associated with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 had been reported to WHO/Europe. Although these are underestimates of the actual number of deaths associated with pandemic H1N1 (2009) virus infections, these crude estimates of mortality suggest similar rates to those observed in countries during the winter season in the southern hemisphere.
- The vast majority of influenza virus detections were pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (99.74% of influenza A subtyped viruses from sentinel sources; N = 19 838). All pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses analysed antigenically (N = 1777) or genetically (N = 995) were similar to the vaccine strain and the majority were sensitive to both oseltamivir and zanamivir.
read the full pdf text here
source: www.euro.who.int
Workshop: Lesson learned from swine flu for behavioural and social scientists: how should we study the next pandemic?
Monday 12th April 2010, Wellcome Trust Euston Road, London.
A one-day workshop organized by the infectious Disease Network with support from the Health Protection Agency, University College London, and Kings College London. The unprecedented national emergency respionse to the Swine Flu (A/H1N1) pandemic during 2009 was accompanied by a substantial research effort to understand how the outbreak affected the British population and to test ways of reducing this impact. The challenges of conducting this research were considerable, but the results brought immediate public health benefits as well as advances in our understanding of human behaviour.
This workshop will bring together researchers from different disciplines within the social sciences in order to identify ways that we could do better in the next pandemic.
What key issues should behavioural and social scientists explore the next time around? How could researchers from different disciplines work together more effectively? How should funding be made available? How do you obtain ethics approval in a hurry?
This one-day workshop wil explore all of these topics and allow participants the chance to share their experiences and suggest ways for improvement. The workshop will be of relevance to a multi-disciplinary audience, but especially researchers from any behavioural or social science discipline with an interest in this area.
For more information and to register to attend the workshop, please contact:
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or visit www.idrn.org/events
A (H1N1) pandemic: an exaggeration?
Heated debate at a public hearing of the Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on Tuesday 26 January 2010, intitulated "The handling of the H1N1 pandemic: more transparency needed?".
See an abstract of the debate here: link