Influenza

commentary

Is Coronavirus Another SARS?

In 2002, the SARS pandemic infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774. How is the coronavirus outbreak similar? And how is it different?

Jennifer Bouey @BoueyHuang

commentary

How to Handle the Infectious Diseases Threat

The reactive approach to emerging infectious disease should be augmented with an anticipatory model that accounts for the dramatic changes occurring through globalization, greater interactions between human and zoonotic populations, and changes to the environment and climate patterns.

Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein

q&a

Your Questions on Ebola, Answered

Melinda Moore, a RAND public health physician and senior researcher, hosted an 'Ask Me Anything' session on Reddit to answer questions about Ebola, including whether a U.S. travel ban would help prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

commentary

Germs Go Back to School, Too: Five Ways to Protect Your Kids

With kids working and playing in close contact and sharing supplies and equipment, schools can be hotbeds for infection. Each year, K-12 students miss about 60 million school days due to colds and the flu combined. But these five approaches can help reduce their chance of spreading infections and getting sick.

Jeanne S. Ringel @JeanneRingel

commentary

Are County Masking Requirements the Future of Influenza Prevention?

If it doesn't seem that state laws as currently written can help increase the number of health care workers vaccinated against influenza, then what can? There is evidence that imposing consequences for vaccination refusal, including the requirement to wear a surgical mask, can help.

Dmitry Khodyakov, Lori Uscher-Pines, et al.

commentary

The Most Dangerous Mistake You Can Make During Flu Season

Despite public awareness campaigns in the United States and Europe, many people persist in the mistaken belief that antibacterial drugs — like amoxicillin and azithromycin — are the best treatment for flu. And many doctors simply surrender when patients demand them, ignoring the scientific and medical truth: when treating the flu, antibacterial drugs just don't work.

Jonathan Grant, Jirka Taylor

commentary

H7N9 Bird Flu — Health Authorities Are Prepared, but Must Stay on High Alert

Having dealt with outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu and other communicable diseases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and H1N1 swine flu in 2009, health officials are now far better prepared to detect new diseases early and react quickly to monitor and contain their spread.

Melinda Moore

blog

In Current Flu Epidemic, Health Care Personnel Could Be a Key Element in Prevention—Not Just Treatment

Blog post addressing the role of health care providers in vaccination rates and public health preparedness

blog

Health Care Providers May Be the Key to Improving Flu Vaccination Rates

For vaccination to become a public health priority in the U.S., stakeholders must strengthen guidance for providers, which would make it easier for physicians to both assess vaccination needs and aid communication with patients about the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

commentary

Heed Film Lessons on Outbreak

To assure the health security of the United States, we must be capable of stopping anything a terrorist or Mother Nature might throw at us. Wholesale cuts to public health are taking us farther from that goal, write Art Kellermann and Melinda Moore.

Arthur L. Kellermann, Melinda Moore

commentary

Vaccine Myths Could Cost Lives: They Don't Give You Autism, and They'll Hardly Ever Make You Sick

This year's seasonal flu shot incorporates vaccine for H1N1. It's safe, and it's vitally important to get it, write Art Kellermann and Katherine Harris.

Arthur L. Kellermann, Katherine M. Harris

commentary

Flu and Far Between

In a world where viruses travel as fast as jets, it becomesimportant for governments to share timely informationand accelerate the production and delivery of vaccines, writes Melinda Moore.

Melinda Moore

commentary

Swine Flu: A Real Security Threat

In the rush of constant news updates on swine flu, we must recognize that controlling the spread of this disease is not simply a health concern but also one of national security. And in today's globalized world, the spread of swine flu has become not just a U.S. national security threat but every country's national security threat, writes Melinda Moore.

Melinda Moore

commentary

Saving Money and Saving Lives in Nursing Homes

Published commentary by RAND staff: Saving Money and Saving Lives in Nursing Homes, in Washingtonpost.com.

Lisa R. Shugarman

commentary

Shortages Beyond Flu Shots

The flu vaccine is not the only vaccine that Americans could find in short supply due to a lack of enough manufacturing facilities licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the past six years there have been U.S. shortages of more than half of the 12 recommended childhood vaccines, and there could be more.

Jennifer Brower

commentary

U.S. Foreign Policy Must Include the Eradication of Dangerous Diseases

commentaries by RAND Staff: insightful commentaries on current events, published in newspapers, magazines and journals worldwide.

Kenneth Shine, C. Ross Anthony