# 2558
Tomorrow, the HHS will hold their PlanFirst webcast on antiviral stockpiling and use, timed to coincide with today's release of the HHS's new guidance on those issues.
The broadcast is set for 2pm ET, Dec. 17th.
The two new guidelines are:
Tonight news editor Robert Roos of CIDRAP has put together an excellent overview of these two guidance documents.
As usual, I've only posted the opening paragraphs . . . follow the link to read the entire article.
Treatment comes first in HHS antiviral guidance
Robert Roos
News Editor
Dec 16, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – A revised federal guidance document on the use of antiviral drugs in an influenza pandemic reaffirms that public supplies of the drugs should be reserved mainly for treating the sick and that preventive treatment for high-risk workers should rely on private supplies.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its draft guidance on the topic in June. A revision released yesterday includes no major changes but does have some new material added in response to comments, particularly on implementation problems and risks and uncertainties.
HHS also released a separate document summarizing the 28 comments it received on the draft version and presenting responses to them. At the same time, HHS released a revision of its guidance on employer stockpiling of antivirals, with no major changes.
The thrust of the general guidance is that, in a pandemic, antivirals should primarily be used to treat the sick, but they should also be used to prevent illness in high-risk healthcare and emergency workers and to both prevent and treat illness in the context of initial outbreaks both in the Untied States and overseas. The guidance pertains mainly to the two licensed neuraminidase inhibitors, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza).
The five main recommendations are unchanged in the revised guidance. It calls for using antivirals for the following purposes:
- Containing or suppressing initial antiviral outbreaks overseas and in the United States with treatment and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) among individuals identified as exposed to pandemic flu and for geographically targeted prophylaxis in areas where exposure may occur
- Reducing introduction of infection into the United States early in an influenza pandemic as part of a risk-based policy at US borders
- Treating people with pandemic flu who present for care early during their illness and would benefit from such treatment
- Prophylaxis of healthcare and emergency services workers who are not at high exposure risk, people with compromised immune systems who are less likely to be protected by pandemic vaccination, and people living in group settings such as nursing homes and prisons if outbreaks occur in their facilities
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