Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries
Open Access
- 1 March 2009
- journal article
- Published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 15 (3), 365-371
- https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1503.080857
Abstract
Developing countries face unique difficulties 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.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- NEW technologies for meeting the global demand for pandemic influenza vaccinesBiologicals, 2008
- Major Issues and Challenges of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing CountriesEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2008
- Contemporary North American influenza H7 viruses possess human receptor specificity: Implications for virus transmissibilityProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008
- Genetic Compatibility and Virulence of Reassortants Derived from Contemporary Avian H5N1 and Human H3N2 Influenza A VirusesPLoS Pathogens, 2008
- The Southeast Asian Influenza Clinical Research Network: Development and challenges for a new multilateral research endeavorAntiviral Research, 2008
- Influenza Virus Samples, International Law, and Global Health DiplomacyEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2008
- Commentary: From Scarcity to Abundance: Pandemic Vaccines and Other Agents for “Have Not” CountriesJournal of Public Health Policy, 2007
- Estimation of potential global pandemic influenza mortality on the basis of vital registry data from the 1918–20 pandemic: a quantitative analysisThe Lancet, 2006
- Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins in Treatment and ProphylaxisClinical Infectious Diseases, 2006
- Studies on the origin of pandemic influenzaVirology, 1974