I am often asked whether our seasonal flu vaccines could be used to prevent avian influenza (bird flu) infections, and if not, how long would it take to produce and distribute bird flu vaccines. I’ll try to answer both questions in this blog post. The U.S. government has stored some H5N1 vaccines made in theContinue reading “Responding to a Potential Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Pandemic – Vaccines”
Tag Archives: influenza
Understanding Influenza – Part II
There are four types of influenza viruses – A, B, C and D. Types A and B are responsible for the annual influenza epidemics that occur in humans, and type A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause pandemics. The general requirement for an influenza virus to cause a pandemic is for theContinue reading “Understanding Influenza – Part II”
Understanding Influenza – Part I
How Does the CDC conduct influenza surveillance? Are we seeing an increase in influenza activity yet? Is it time to get my flu shot? How Does the CDC conduct influenza surveillance? First, there is virologic surveillance, i.e., testing by a network of laboratories for the influenza virus and reporting to the CDC of those results.Continue reading “Understanding Influenza – Part I”
Dr. Pate's blog 