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September 23, 2002
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Doctors Fear Deadly Flu Virus Will Lead to New Pandemic" London Daily Telegraph (www.dailytelegraph.com) (09/22/02) P. 10; Fraser, Lorraine
The World Health Organization's global influenza program leader Klaus Stohr asserts that since research into the 1997 influenza outbreak determined that the virus was able to bypass its victims' firm immune response to the infection, the world must begin preparation for a flu pandemic similar to the one that occurred in 1918 where 50 million people died. Robert Webster, leader of the study that focused on the 1997 flu outbreak, which was published in the journal Nature, asserts that countries that stockpile anti-influenza drugs will be protected from the imminent flu pandemic, because it takes at least six months to produce a new flu vaccine when it only takes days for the virus to spread; the United States has failed to stockpile the flu drugs due to cost.
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