Meeting

The looming prospect of a severe influenza pandemic caused by the novel nH1N1 virus has the potential to overwhelm the health care system and strain the available medical resources. Consequently, there is an immediate need for a simple, clinically valid decision-support process that the public, and practitioners, can use to assess the severity of influenza-like illness (ILI) and the risk for progression to severe or life-threatening disease. An effective decision-support process would reduce overcrowding and long waits in primary care clinics and hospital-based emergency departments, allow health professionals to focus their attention on the most critical individuals, and protect those individuals who have minor illnesses from the risks associated with exposure to the H1N1 virus in medical settings.

Objectives:

• To provide an update on critical issues regarding the likelihood and potential consequences of a second wave of H1N1 influenza;
• To survey available approaches, and identify key elements within those approaches, that could be used by individuals and health care professionals for ILI assessment and decision making; and
• To discuss the implications of the implementation and use of such an approach by the general public and health care professionals, including associated challenges and opportunities.