E-DRUG: Effectiveness of antivirals during a flu pandemic: research protocols
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[You may respond directly to Marie Lambert]
Dear E-druggers,
Many countries are stockpiling antiviral drugs to prepare for the next flu pandemic (mainly oseltamivir/zanamivir), but nobody knows how useful these will be when the time comes. There is thus a need for research on their clinical effectiveness, and evaluation of treatment strategies, in a pandemic context.
The WHO global influenza preparedness plan, and many national pandemic plans, recommend or foresee developing research protocols in that respect (this is different from monitoring the resistance of the pandemic strain to the drugs)
Are you aware of any initiative in that respect?
(One particular question - among others: which design? of a randomized placebo-controlled trial would be ethical in those circumstances?)
Thanks for your help
Marie-Laurence Lambert, MD, PhD
Centre d'expertise des soins de santé (KCE)
Kenniscentrum voor de gezondheidszorg
Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre
62 Rue de la Loi
1040 Bruxelles
Belgium
Tel 02 287 33 45
fax 02 287 33 85
Marie.Lambert@CentreDexpertise.fgov.be
Visit our website: http://kce.fgov.be/