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The Global Influenza Surveillance Network
Every year more than 250 million doses of influenza vaccine are produced that help to protect the world's population against influenza infections. For over 50 years the process by which an effective vaccine is developed and manufactured has relied on the international cooperation of a wide range of public health partners brought together under the coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Global Influenza Surveillance Network. This fact sheet provides more details. 
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Infection Control Strategies for Specific Procedures in Health-Care Facilities: Epidemic-prone and pandemic-prone acute respiratory diseases, A Quick Reference Guide
This document is addressed to infection control professionals, occupational health specialists and other professionals involved in patient care in health-care facilities. It is designed to provide quick reference guidance on infection prevention and control to help prevent the transmission of acute infectious respiratory diseases during health care. 
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Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Resistance to Oseltamivir--2008 Influenza Season, Southern Hemisphere
During weeks 26–27 (15-28 June), the level of overall influenza activity in the world increased reflecting the situation in southern hemisphere. However, influenza A (H1N1)virus circulation remains generally low in all countries reporting influenza activity at this time. WHO has received several reports from National Influenza Centres in the southern hemisphere regarding influenza A (H1N1)virus resistance to oseltamivir. This documents provides a summary plus summary data tables. WHO

Health Surveillance and Disease Prevention and Control at PAHO
This page describes the PAHO Technical Area for Health Surveillance and Disease Prevention and Control(HSD), its mission and objectives, what it does in terms of projects and activities. It contains links to the four technical groups and the Pan American Center under its umbrella. Note: Prior to June 2006, the Area was named Disease Prevention and Control. 
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Epidemic-prone & pandemic-prone acute respiratory diseases: Infection prevention & control in health-care facilities, Summary guidance
This 44-page handbook provides advice for health-care workers on infection control of acute respiratory diseases (ARDs): reporting and isolating suspected cases; applying standard precautions, standard and droplet precautions, contact and droplet precautions, airborne precautions, and ventilating with regard to influenza-like illness (ILI) and viral, bacterial, and novel ARDs (e.g. SARS). 
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Infection Prevention and Control of Epidemic- and Pandemic-Prone Acute Respiratory Diseases in Health Care: WHO Interim Guidelines
The purpose of this document is to provide infection control guidance to help prevent the transmission of acute infectious respiratory diseases during health care, with emphasis on acute respiratory diseases that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern as defined in the International Health Regulations (2005; Annex 1). Managers of health-care facilities may also consider using this guidance to assist them in preparation for epidemics and pandemics. It is intended for use by government planners, healthcare facility administrators, infection control professionals, occupational health specialists, other professionals involved in patient care, and direct care providers. WHO

The Role of National Influenza Centres (NICs) during Interpandemic, Pandemic Alert and Pandemic Periods
National Influenza Centres (NICs) are the backbone of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN), working to protect global public health by updating seasonal influenza vaccine compositions and functioning as a global alert mechanism for the emergence of influenza viruses with pandemic potential. As a result, it has contributed greatly to the understanding of influenza epidemiology and supporting WHO recommendations for surveillance and vaccine preparation. The Role of National Influenza Centres (NICs)-WHO

National Influenza Centers in PAHO Member States
This page provides information on the national influenza centers in the PAHO Member Countries, arranged by country and city, with links to the institutional websites, contact persons (with e-mail links when possible), and mailing addresses with phone and/or fax numbers. 
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Communicable Disease Prevention and Control at PAHO: Aims, Strategies and Lines of Action
This page summarizes the mission, objectives, strategies and lines of action of the PAHO Communicable Disease Unit and describes what it hopes to accomplish through technical cooperation. 
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CAREC Surveillance Report
PAHO's Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) compiles epidemiological data on influenza activity in the English-speaking Caribbean, which it publishes on a regular basis in the CAREC Surveillance Report (CSR). CSR also publishes similar information on other diseases. CAREC/CSR

Influenza (WHO Fact Sheet No. 211)
This official WHO fact sheet offers basic information on influenza (flu, grippe), a respiratory disease caused by a virus that attacks mainly the upper respiratory tract--the nose, throat, and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. Sections are provided entitled Overview, the Virus, Pandemic Influenza, Transmission, Diagnosis, Prevention: Influenza Vaccines, Treatment and Prophylaxis: Antiviral Agents, and Related Links. WHO

Travelers' Health
This information published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC, a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center), helps orient travelers on anything they should know and precautions they should take when travelling to a given country.  CDC

International Travel and Health
This page links to WHO information related to international travel, helping to orient travellers as to the situation regarding disease prevalence or outbreaks in a given country and what precautions they should take. It provides an index by country, related links, and information on relevant publications. WHO

Advice on Use of Oseltamivir
The antiviral drug Oseltamivir(Tamiflu®) is recommended for use for both treatment and prophylaxis (prevention) of influenza. This document offers WHO's recommendations on its use. WHO

Influenza: Technical Module (Peru)
This technical document in Spanish, put together by the General Office of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health of Peru and the National Institute of Health of Peru offers up-to-date information in the form of a manual on influenza for doctors and laboratory technicians working in the country. Handbook in Spanish

Summary of Influenza Activity, September 2004 - August 2005 (Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER): Vol. 80, No. 41, pp. 353–360)
This article summarizes influenza activity worldwide over the period in question and also contains a data table on the extent and type of influenza activity worldwide confirmed by virus isolation, September 2004–August 2005. WHO/WER

Quality of Vaccines to Be Purchased by the PAHO/Revolving Fund
This 9-slide PowerPoint PDF presentation gives details on the vaccine assessment process to verify that the vaccines (a) meet the specifications of the relevant UN Agencies; and (b) are produced and overseen in accordance with the principles recommended by WHO, including those for good manufacturing practices (GMP). This is intended to ensure that vaccines used in national immunization services in different countries are safe and effective and that they meet particular operational specifications for packaging and presentation. 
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Introduction of New and Underutilized Vaccines: Assuring Vaccine Supplies for the Americas
The purpose of this 15-slide PowerPoint PDF presentation is to (1) review Regional Program strategies; (b) discuss PAHO’s approach to technical assistance to countries; and highlight importance of sustaining vaccine supplies for new products. 
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Revolving Fund Assessment: A Collaborative Initiative by Countries, Suppliers and PAHO
This 13-slide PowerPoint PDF presentation focuses on evaluating Revolving Fund activies in providing vaccines and supplies to the countries. This initiative involves partnership with the Latin American Logistics Center and Georgetown University. 
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Seasonal Influenza Resource Sites
This comprehensive list of information resources on influenza is arranged by host site. It includes keywords with each entry to enable a simple find search, using the following categories: adolescents, adults, children, disease management, drugs, educational, elderly, fact sheet, frequently asked questions, guidelines, immunization, microbiology, multilingual, multimedia, news, parents, press release, research, resource page, surveillance, toolkit, travel, vaccines, weekly report.  
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Influenza Summary Report 2005
This 23-page PDF of an Excel spreadsheet table provides tabulated data on influenza activity in the Region of the Americas in 2005, arranged by country and epidemiological week and showing city, number of specimens processed, A(H1), A(H3), B, other, activity, and results, with total numbers appearing at the end of the chart. 
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Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER): Vol. 80, No. 33, pp. 277-288
This issue contains two articles on influenza: Outbreak news on H5N1 avian influenza: first steps towards development of a human vaccine; and Influenza Vaccines: WHO Position Paper. The theme of the latter is seasonal influenza and the effects of antiviral vaccines on public health, in the framework of large-scale vaccine programs. WHO/WER

PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers and WHO Reference Laboratory for Influenza in the Americas
This resource page links to the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza (located at the CDC in Atlanta), to the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals (located at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis), and to the WHO Reference Library for Influenza at the Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (part of the US Food and Drug Administration /FDA). It also links to the National Influenza Centers in the countries and to other influenza resources at CDC, PAHO and WHO. 
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Workshop on the Epidemiology and Surveillance of Influenza and Other Respiratory Diseases (Decatur, Georgia, USA, 9–13 May 2005)
The objectives of this meeting were (1) to discuss activities on the epidemiological and virological surveillance of influenza and analyze the subject of pandemic influenza, as well as present basic and advanced methods of influenza prevention and control; and (2) to find out the degree of progress made in the countries and coordinate development of National Preparedness Plans for a possible influenza pandemic, and to provide tools to assist in the planning process and discuss vaccines and antivirals as prevention and control methods, with a view to a possible pandemic. This page offers the executive summary and access to other conference documentation in Spanish.  
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PAHO-CDC Generic Proposal for Influenza Surveillance
Given the need to expand influenza surveillance, PAHO--in collaboration with CDC-- developed a new Generic Protocol for Influenza Surveillance (GPIS). The GPIS seeks to harmonize influenza surveillance throughout the Region and ensure that any single case of influenza caused by a new viral subtype be detected, as required by the IHR 2005. 
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