Pandemic lessons
The World Health Organisation should introduce more subtlety to its flu pandemic assessment, adding a measure of severity to its simple definition of a new and fast-spreading virus
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Evidence that a new strain of swine flu virus has spread widely between people in two different parts of the world has led the World Health Organisation to declare a global pandemic
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H1N1 flu declared no longer pandemic
The World Health Organisation formally declares the H1N1 flu virus no longer pandemic while advising continued vaccination for those at most risk
Swine flu probe hits at flawed advice
The government spent hundreds of millions of pounds on vaccines based on limited and outdated advice drawn up for a more serious pandemic, an official inquiry concluded
WHO denies bird flu overreaction
Agency reacts to accusations of wasting money by pledging to publish advisers’ names and potential conflicts of interest
South Africa acts on World Cup flu threat
Extra precautions to prevent an outbreak are being taken in case a surge in infections during the football tournament spreads the disease globally
Academic criticises response to swine flu
Governments could have saved billions of dollars in their response to the virus by studying warnings a year before it hit the headlines, says professor
Move to recover cost of flu vaccine
The UK government is attempting to claw back tens of millions of pounds from flu vaccine manufacturers as it seeks to scale down an immunisation plan to protect the country from a severe pandemic
Sarkozy under fire on flu vaccine ‘fiasco’
Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, was at the centre of a political storm after health authorities admitted they had a huge oversupply of doses for the H1N1 swine flu virus
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Comment & Analysis
Swine flu: when America sneezes
Swine flu: As the Mexican outbreak spreads rapidly at a time that could hardly be worse for the world economy, the US and now Europe and Asia are battling to limit the impact
The hidden cost of giving away vaccines
One-off gifts of childhood vaccines can cause more harm than good. Developing countries obtain far greater benefits from being offered guaranteed low prices for a vaccine over several years, enabling them to plan vaccination properly. What matters most is not one-off initiatives but the long-run cost of a vaccine, says John Gapper
Opinion: Egypt errs again over swine flu
The government’s decision to kill every pig in the country borders on the ridiculous and the country even lacks the resources to implement the policy
Delay in raising flu alarm blunted response
Senior health officials were alerted to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico at least two weeks before they publicly raised the alarm, sparking questions of whether more could have been done
WHO knows?
Ideally, vaccines for the H1N1 virus should be sold at a flat rate to everyone. Richer countries should then pay the bills for poorer nations directly.
What’s a flu like you doing in a host like this?
To understand a disease, it is important to look at things from the point of view of the organism that causes it, writes Marlene Zuk
Woman in the News: Margaret Chan
Even critics of the WHO chief accept she is well-prepared for health crises, writes Andrew Jack
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