Meeting

According to the World Health Organization, as of 16 May 2009, 36 countries around the world have officially reported 8451 confirmed cases and 72 deaths from influenza A (H1N1) infection. The new influenza A H1N1 virus is posing a challenge for the clinical management of cases. On June 16, 2009 the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats held a one-day meeting to discuss a variety of technical and policy issues surrounding the domestic and global implications of the H1N1 influenza A virus to human and animal health. Among the questions arose during the discussion of this new influenza A (H1N1) virus were: what we think we know; the basis for current conclusions; weaknesses in the data; and, what we think we need to know (with regard to additional data, studies, resources, etc).