The WHO (World Health Organization) used the recommendations of 15 experts when deciding to class the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak as a pandemic - 6 of them had declared potential conflicts of interest; they had close ties with drug and vaccine manufacturers. WHO released the names of the experts.

Children hospitalized with pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009 were older and more likely to have underlying medical conditions than children hospitalized with seasonal influenza during prior flu seasons, according to a study presented Tuesday, May 4 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Better Preparation Required For Next Flu Outbreak, Despite Mildness Of Swine Flu

Now that concerns about swine flu have eased, "[o]ur fear is that the public and officials will get blase about the next flu outbreak," according to a New York Times editorial. "Efforts to rush vaccine into production did not go well.

The continued spread of H1N1 influenza virus this spring is cause to pay heed to upper-respiratory maladies such as congestion, runny nose and cough, says David Kimberlin, M.D., a preeminent influenza specialist who co-directs the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and other institutions has solved the structure of a key protein from the virus that caused last year's "swine flu" influenza epidemic. The structure reveals that the virus shares many features with influenza viruses common in the early 20th century, helping to explain why, in general, older individuals have been less severely affected by the recent outbreak than younger ones.

Providing preventive Tamiflu and educating and emphasizing the need for repeated hand sanitizer use and disinfectant spray helped stop the spread of H1N1 influenza at a boys' summer camp in northern Alabama, according the co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can effectively reduce the transmission of influenza-like illness during flu season. The finding comes from a new study, now available online, published in the Feb. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases. In an influenza pandemic, vaccination may not be initially available, and antiviral prescribing may be limited, which is why scientists need to understand how effective other measures are in preventing influenza.

Lessons learned from the first 13 children at Johns Hopkins Children's Center to become critically ill from the H1N1 virus show that although all patients survived, serious complications developed quickly, unpredictably, with great variations from patient to patient and with serious need for vigilant monitoring and quick treatment adjustments.

These and other findings were published online on Dec. 31 in the journal Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, in what is believed to be the first published analysis of critical H1N1 illness in children.