Stockpiling Ventilators for Influenza Pandemics

Stockpiling Ventilators for Influenza Pandemics

Stockpiling Ventilators for Influenza Pandemics

In preparing for influenza pandemics, public health agencies stockpile critical medical resources. Determining appropriate quantities and locations for such resources can be challenging, given the considerable uncertainty in the timing and severity of future pandemics. We introduce a method for optimizing stockpiles of mechanical ventilators, which are critical for treating hospitalized influen...

Strategies for antiviral stockpiling for future influenza pandemics: a global epidemic-economic perspective.

Influenza pandemics present a global threat owing to their potential mortality and substantial economic impacts. Stockpiling antiviral drugs to manage a pandemic is an effective strategy to offset their negative impacts; however, little is known about the long-term optimal size of the stockpile under uncertainty and the characteristics of different countries. Using an epidemic-economic model we...

Stockpiling Supplies for the Next Influenza Pandemic

Faced with increasing concerns about the likelihood of an influenza pandemic, healthcare systems have been challenged to determine what specific medical supplies that should be procured and stockpiled as a component of preparedness. Despite publication of numerous pandemic planning recommendations, little or no specific guidance about the types of items and quantities of supplies needed has bee...

Avian influenza and influenza pandemics.

1 Coordinator, Risk Containment, Mapping and Drug Resistance, Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (email: [email protected]). Correspondence should be sent to this author. 2 Project Leader, Global Influenza Programme, Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Ref. No. 04-012...