How to improve preparation for a pandemic

In this Policy Forum, Rino Rappuoli and Philip Dormitzer propose three short-term strategies and one longer-term one that would help the world prepare for an influenza pandemic. The first is vaccinating as many people as possible with existing H5N1 vaccines to prime their immune systems and reduce the overall severity if a pandemic were to occur. The others deal with helping manufacturers to make large quantities of a vaccine tailored to a pandemic strain, and helping them to make it quickly. Finally, they discuss the longer-term possibility of developing a universal vaccine that could work against multiple influenza viruses.

Article #14: "Influenza: Options to Improve Pandemic Preparation," by R. Rappuoli at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics in Siena, Italy; P.R. Dormitzer at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics in Cambridge, MA.