Introduction to Pandemic Influenza

Pandemic influenza is an example of an emerging pathogen that could have, and has had, serious public health consequences. Following three global pandemics in the last 100 years and the recent avian and swine influenza outbreaks, preparedness on national and international scales is of vital importance.

With a strong emphasis on practical preparedness issues, and covering areas not dealt with by traditional texts, this book covers influenza epidemiology, vaccinology, virology and immunology, pharmaceutical and public health countermeasures, policy issues, biomathematical modelling, ethics and communication between health professionals and the public and promoting the better understanding of influenza that will be needed to battle future pandemics.

Each chapter raises five key questions at the beginning and proceeds to answer them in clear and concise sections, also providing selected papers for further reading and detailing relevant modelling studies.

Jonathan Van-Tam is Professor of Health Protection at the University of Nottingham. He graduated in medicine in 1987 and has a special interest in influenza that spans almost 20 years. He was Head of the UK Health Protection Agency, Pandemic Influenza Office from 2004-07 and has worked as a Consultant to the World Health Organization on pandemic preparedness on many occasions. He is a serving member of the UK national scientific advisory committee on pandemic influenza (SPI).

Dr. Chloe Sellwood is the Pandemic Influenza Lead for the National Health Service in London. Her experience in pandemic preparedness includes both scientific and operational aspects. She spent over seven years at the Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections, and was Senior Scientist and Coordinator of its Pandemic Influenza Office from 2005-08. She has also worked on pandemic preparedness projects with the World Health Organization, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Department of Health, England.