Meeting Reports: Acute Respiratory Infections
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I(st) Meeting on the Practical Approach to Lung Health (PAL) Strategy (San José, Costa Rica, 46 December 2006)
The Practical Approach to Lung Health (PAL; in Spanish, Atención integrada de tuberculosis y enfermedades respiratorias, or AITER/PAL) is a syndromic approach to the management of patients who attend primary health care services for respiratory symptoms. The PAL strategy targets multi-purpose health workers, nurses, doctors, and managers in primary health care settings with successful TB control programs in low and middle-income countries. The objective of this meeting was to train the participating countries in how to adapt the methodology, elaborate plans, and implement and/or strengthen the PAL strategy within their health systems. This page offers a summary and the 60-pp report.
http://www1.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/CD/tb-pal-2006.htm
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Brasilia Declaration
The ministers and the representatives of ministers of agriculture and health, the presidents and the representatives of producer associations, industry, and other entities representing the poultry production chain, and the representatives of international organizations in attendance at the Hemispheric Conference on Avian Influenza, expressed their commitment in this multilateral agreement at the Hemispheric Conference on the Surveillance and Prevention of Avian Influenza in Brasilia, Brazil, on 2 December 2005. Full conference proceedings
PANAFTOSA
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Workshop on the Epidemiology and Surveillance of Influenza and Other Respiratory Diseases (Decatur, Georgia, USA, 913 May 2005)
The objectives of this meeting were (1) to discuss activities on the epidemiological and virological surveillance of influenza and analyze the subject of pandemic influenza, as well as present basic and advanced methods of influenza prevention and control; and (2) to find out the degree of progress made in the countries and coordinate development of National Preparedness Plans for a possible influenza pandemic, and to provide tools to assist in the planning process and discuss vaccines and antivirals as prevention and control methods, with a view to a possible pandemic. This page offers the executive summary and access to other conference documentation in Spanish.
http://www1.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/CD/vir-flu-decatur2005.htm
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Third Joint Meeting of the Networks for Surveillance of Emerging Infectious Diseases (Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 26-28 February 2004)
The objectives of this yearly meeting were (a) to present and discuss subregional activities carried out by the EID surveillance networks; and (2)
to identify commitments and activities for the period 2004/2005, taking into account the guidelines of the plans of action of each one of them. This page provides the executive summary and access to the 124-page report in PDF, with links to the individual chapters.
http://www1.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/CD/eer-atl-2004.htm
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SARS: Developing a Research Response (30 May 2003, NIH/NIAID, Bethesda, MD, USA)
In order to address research needs on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), PAHO/WHO participated together with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, USA, in an all-day scientific workshop at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The workshop featured international experts in the fields of coronavirus biology, vaccine development, antiviral drug development, laboratory diagnosis, SARS epidemiology, etiology and clinical management. This page provides a link to the NIH site with the presentations made at the workshop.
NIH
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Acute Respiratory Infections 
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new healthcare guidance for the H1N1 influenza pandemic that encourages early treatment with antiviral drugs of ill people in high-risk categories and of anyone who has rapidly progressing symptoms.
Prompt treatment with antiviral drugs for persons infected with the pandemic A(H1N1) virus reduces the severity of illness and improves the chances of survival. But emergency rooms and intensive care units will experience the heaviest burden of patient care during the pandemic, experts said at a three-day meeting in Washington, D.C.
High-level Meeting on Influenza A (H1N1). Mexico. 3 July 2009.- Director's closing remarks - 'I believe that we are reaping the fruits of years of planning and preparation, which have been very important and, since 2007, have put most of the countries on a rather similar and equitable plane in terms of their ability to participate and implement the International Health Regulations' ... 'this is the real political challenge, always bearing in mind the fundamental principles of protecting the population, solidarity, and equity, and above all trust among peoples and among authorities'.
Science Magazine. 8 May 2009.- "I'm amazed at the capacity we have with the information and communication technologies," says epidemiologist Mirta Roses Periago, head of the Pan American Health Organization. "We used to do things with our hands and smelling and looking at the patients." During the past few weeks, she notes, scientists have rapidly shared sequences of the viruses, digital images of patient x-rays, and electron micrographs of the new H1N1.
"At this point in history, this is the best surveillance we've ever had," said Keiji Fukuda, one of WHO's assistant director generals.
