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March 2011, Volume 33, No. 1
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Internet
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What’s in the web for family physiciansAlfred KY Tang 鄧權恩
Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza 2011 Conference Free registration with website of Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) would allow viewing of IDSA’s Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza 2011 conference online. The conference took place on January 27-28, one can still view the sessions online as a on-demand CME activity. The conference highlighted different areas of concern about Influenza, including Influenza basics, surveillance during epidemic, and emerging drug resistance related to treatment of Influenza.
WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS): Influenza vaccines GACVS, an expert clinical and scientific advisory body, was established by WHO to deal with vaccine safety. The section on influenza addresses issues of public concern related to influenza vaccine. A comprehensive set of the lessons and action points can be accessed on the website, including allergic reactions following influenza vaccination; Bell’s palsy following intranasal vaccination; fatal adverse events following influenza vaccination in elderly population; influenza vaccination of women during pregnancy; safety issues associated with pandemic influenza vaccines; and safety of pandemic A (H1N1) influenza vaccines. At the same time, the WHO publication “Pandemic (H1N1) vaccines and vaccination Frequently Asked Questions and Answers” is also available at http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/74DF72C5-2933-48F6-A2E1-80ACE7FD7BCE/0/Pandemic_H1N1_vaccinesandvaccinationQA.pdf
Influenza Virus Resource Hosted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the website provides useful and timely information of influenza virus. The website presents gene sequence data from the 2009 A (H1N1) influenza virus outbreak and tools for analysis and annotation. The NCBI site also links to other resources hosting flu sequences, relevant publications and general information about flu viruses, including flu epidemics and flu virus biology. A hyperlink to the PubMed literature database allowing search of recent publications on influenza viruses is also available at this webpage.
Guillain-Barré syndrome Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare disorder in which a person’s own immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. There had been a lot of public concern on whether the 2009 H1N1 vaccine is associated with a higher chance of contracting GBS. This webpage of the ICU web of Chinese University of Hong Kong offers a concise summary of the Gullain Barré syndrome. The content covers the clinical features, different clinical types, precipitating factors, course of illness, differential diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of GBS.
Flu Express by Centre of Health Protection, Department of Health Flu Express is a weekly report produced by the Respiratory Disease Office of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP). It conveys useful and important information on influenza epidemic and the latest influenza activities of both local and global situations are summarized. It is a useful reference allowing family physicians to stay tuned with the most current situation during epidemics.
H1N1 Warning by WHO The statement made by WHO on 18th Feb 2011 on the 2010–2011 influenza season in the northern hemisphere. It was demonstrated that pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus is still circulating and causing severe disease in younger people. The statement recommended continued vigilance, and with appropriate surveillance, control and treatment practices for the control of both seasonal influenza and influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus, should be maintained and imperative during the post-pandemic period.
Alfred K Y Tang, MBBS (HK)
Family Physician in Private Practice. Correspondence to : Dr Alfred K Y Tang, Shop 3A, 2/F, Hsin Kuang Shopping Centre, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR. E-mail : alfredtang@hkma.org |
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