CDC proposes pandemic antiviral guidelines
Prophylaxis will cost $320 per employee
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is requesting comments on its proposed guidance on antiviral prophylaxis during an influenza pandemic. As reported in HEH in January, the CDC is advising hospitals to provide antiviral regimens to employees during the duration of a community outbreak or an estimated eight 10-dose regimens over a 12-week period.
Hospitals should amass a stockpile of antiviral medications that would be used to treat patients with pandemic illness and provide post-exposure prophylaxis for employees who are not involved in direct patient care, the draft guidelines state.
At press time, publication in the Federal Register was pending. The draft guidance can be accessed at www.pandemicflu.gov.
"We continue to recommend antiviral drug use for containment of an initial pandemic outbreak and to slow down the spread of disease in the United States initially," says Ben Schwartz, MD, senior science adviser with the National Vaccine Program Office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The average hospital should plan for prophylaxis of two-thirds of its employees with eight regimens that cost $40 to $50 each, he says. For a hospital with 1,000 employees, that would amount to a cost of more than $200,000.
"This would be an investment in protecting the work force, just like hospitals protect their workers again seasonal influenza, hepatitis B, and pertussis," says Schwartz.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is requesting comments on its proposed guidance on antiviral prophylaxis during an influenza pandemic.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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