Thematic Grants Program:
Pandemic Preparedness - Influenza Transmission and Prevention (2007-2010)

The first project to receive funding of $1 million under HRF 2006 is an issue of great concern to Canadians and the health-care community: influenza pandemic preparedness and control.

Commenting on the launch of the new Foundation and the initial programs to receive grants under HRF 2006, Dr. Yves Morin, HRF President, stated: “Rx&D member companies are excited to launch this new Foundation. In partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity, our major research grant to study influenza pandemic preparedness and control will empower Canada’s medical researchers to focus their efforts as they shed light on one of Canada’s most urgent health concerns.”

GOAL OF THE JOINT RESEARCH PROGRAM WITH CIHR

• to strengthen Canadian health research by supporting teams of talented and experienced researchers conducting high-quality research and providing superior research training and mentorship.
• production of new knowledge, and the translation of research findings into improvements in the health of Canadians and the Canadian health care system.

Specific objectives include:

• To address scientific questions/problems related to pandemic preparedness research aimed at innovative ways to study transmission and prevention of influenza, including the study of modes of transmission of the influenza virus and alternate strategies for prevention, including zoonotic transmission, particularly how ecosystem approaches can be applied to understanding the avian-human transmission dynamics in the prevention of human disease.
• To create excellent environments for training and development for the next generation of pandemic preparedness and influenza researchers.
• To enhance the research capacity in Canada for pandemic preparedness research by integrating trainees into well designed and funded research teams.
• To foster collaborations between Canadian researchers and researchers based in middle and low income countries in SE Asia and China
• To address knowledge translation questions/problems related to methods and technology in order to better respond to an influenza pandemic.
• To increase awareness of this research by the general public, health care professionals, voluntary health organizations and policy makers.
• To develop recommendations for pandemic preparedness planning and control and to disseminate this information to national and international agencies involved in these areas.

BACKGROUND ON INFLUENZA

Influenza is an infectious viral disease that generally causes fever, sore throat, muscle pain, headache and malaise, but infections can be severe and result in several thousand deaths worldwide each year. Occasionally, a new strain of influenza virus emerges to cause an influenza pandemic that results in several million deaths.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has estimated that, in the event of an influenza pandemic, 4.5 to 10.6 million Canadians will become clinically ill, 2 to 5 million will require outpatient care, 34,000 to 138,000 will require hospitalization and that 11,000 to 58,000 will die. The World Health Organization has suggested that worldwide between 2 million and 7.4 million people could die from a global influenza pandemic.

There were three pandemics in the last century. The worst was the Spanish flu in 1918-1919 that killed 20 to 40 million people worldwide. The last pandemic occurred in 1968-69.

It is difficult to predict the timing of the next influenza pandemic, but most experts agree that one could emerge at anytime. There are concerns that such a pandemic could arise from a new highly pathogenic strain of influenza A virus (H5N1) that emerged in south-east Asia in recent years, which has spread widely in birds, the natural reservoir for the virus and has caused human infections and deaths. Since December 2003, avian influenza A-H5N1 outbreaks in domestic fowl and wild birds have been reported in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Europe, and the Near East. By October 31, 2006, 256 humans cases of H5N1 (including 154 deaths) from 10 countries had been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Most of the human cases have occurred in SE Asia and China, a few in western Asia and in northern Africa. People acquired the infection after contact with sick or dead infected birds, or contact with heavily contaminated fomites. Human to human transmission has not been proven, but may have occurred in one or two family clusters. Despite these developments, it is not known whether H5N1, or some other strain, will be the cause of the next influenza pandemic.

ROLES of CIHR and the Rx&D HRF

They will provide funding for applications that are determined to be relevant to the following research areas.

1. Examination of the spread of infection, including influenza shedding patterns, in hospital, community and environmental settings.
2. Determination of risk factors for infection.
3. Identification of specific populations most at risk of acquiring an infection. Examples of specific populations are immigrants, people living in low income housing and Aboriginal peoples. Populations that receive service through specific settings such as long-term care facilities and health care in Aboriginal communities might also have unique risk factors.
4. Evaluation of risk and development of recommendations using scenario analysis in conjunction with mathematical and epidemiological modelling. Research that will advance the foundational basis for risk assessments and scenario modelling are considered relevant.
5. The utility of vaccination or treatment strategies of specific groups such as children and health care workers for indirect benefit of high risk individuals (although this research should not be aimed at learning more about specific products).
6. The value of increasing social distancing. An understanding of why social distancing may fail when a loved one falls gravely ill and requires nursing is also needed.
7. Modeling and prediction of methods for rapid containment that are specifically applicable to Canada and our healthcare system with specific consideration of sectors at risk (including Aboriginal populations where appropriate) and geographic factors.

Related Links

Q&A’s

Request for Applications: Team Grant: Pandemic Preparedness - Influenza Transmission and Prevention

Funding Decision: Team Grant: Pandemic Preparedness - Influenza Transmission and Prevention

Main Partner: Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Institute of Infection and Immunity (III)

Secondary Partner: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

Secondary Partner: International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

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