Antiviral agents in an influenza pandemic

The massive incidence of avian influenza in South-East Asia, which could in the near future lead to an influenza pandemic in humans, has prompted a Health Council decision to publish an interim advisory report on antiviral agents. In this report, the investigating Committee indicates the measures that it believes would need to be taken if such a pandemic were to reach the Netherlands in the not too distant future. The Committee identifies two objectives: distributing the pandemic over time by reducing the number of clinical cases and containing the impact of infection by administering antiviral therapy.