Pandemic influenza: overview of vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Pandemic influenza has become a high priority item for all public health authorities. An influenza pandemic is believed to be imminent, and scientists agree that it will be a matter of when, where, and what will be the causative agent. Recently, most attention has been directed to human cases of avian influenza caused by a H5N1 avian influenza virus. An effective vaccine will be needed to substantially reduce the impact of an influenza pandemic. Current influenza vaccine manufacturing technology is not adequate to support vaccine production in the event of an avian influenza outbreak, and it has now become clear that new innovative production technology is required. Antiviral drugs, on the other hand, can play a very important role in slowing the disease spread but are in short supply and resistance has been a major issue. Here, we provide an update on the status of pandemic vaccine development and antiviral drugs. Finally, we conclude with some proposed areas of focus in pandemic vaccine preparedness.