HHS Releases Guidance for the Use and Stockpiling of Antiviral Drugs for Pandemic Influenza

December 15, 2008 - Health-care workers and emergency-services personnel who could have direct contact with ill people during an influenza pandemic should receive antiviral drugs throughout the pandemic, even before these workers are exposed or become ill themselves, according to guidance released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today.  Stockpiling these antiviral drugs and planning for their use is the responsibility of employers in these sectors as part of comprehensive pandemic preparedness.  The new antiviral drug guidance, by placing responsibility on employers, highlights the importance of preparedness within both the public and private sectors.

The guidance also newly recommends the preventive use of antiviral drugs following exposure to someone who has pandemic illness for people with weakened immune systems, for health-care and emergency-services workers, such as law enforcement personnel, fire fighters, and emergency medical technicians who do not routinely come in contact with ill people, and for residents in nursing homes, prisons, and other group residential settings if an outbreak of pandemic illness occurs in the facility.

HHS continues to recommend the treatment of people with pandemic-influenza illness, and the use of antiviral drugs to contain or slow the spread of pandemic.  National and State antiviral drug stockpiles in the United States, intended primarily for these uses, contain enough antiviral drugs for more than 72 million people.

In a second, related document, HHS provided recommendations on how to make antiviral drugs part of a comprehensive pandemic-preparedness plan.

The use of antiviral drugs could provide an additional layer of protection during a pandemic, along with advising sick employees to stay home and promoting changes in behaviors and work practices to reduce close contact between people and improved hygiene, such as hand-washing.

The HHS guidance recommends that employers have a clear understanding of the legal, regulatory, ethical, logistical and economic issues involved in ordering, storing, securing and dispensing prescription medications.  The guidance also urges employers to work with their health providers, and U.S. State and local health departments to plan any stockpiling of antiviral drugs.

Federal officials developed the new guidance with major input from U.S. State, local, territorial and tribal public-health experts.  HHS shared the proposed guidance broadly with health-care and emergency-services organization, and other businesses, and received further input during a public comment period, although the manufacturers of antiviral drugs were not involved in the development of the new guidance.

The guidance is not intended as a mandate, but provides recommendations for a prudent approach to planning for and responding to an influenza pandemic.  Today’s guidance and accompanying considerations for employers replaces the previous recommendations included in the 2005 HHS Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.

For a copy of the guidance, visit 

http://www.flu.gov/

Last revised: February 12, 2010