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Following reports of the first European death as a result of
the A(H1N1) influenza, as reported in last week’s edition1,
and recent comment by Hein et al in the Lancet2 about the
lack of clinical research in this disease, it should be
noted that the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
is currently commissioning a number of research studies as
part of the national response to the emerging influenza
pandemic. The NIHR also has an urgent open call for
proposals on pandemic influenza, which is not restricted to
particular study designs, provided they produce evidence
that will be useful to patients and the NHS during the
current pandemic.
The commissioning of influenza-related research is being
carried out by NIHR in coordination with the MRC and
Wellcome.
Further details of these research activities can be found on
the NIHR web site at www.nihr.ac.uk
Professor Tom Walley,
Director,
NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies
1 O’Dowd A. Swine flu claims first European death, as cases
worldwide rise to 36 000. BMJ 2009;3338:b2470
2 Hein T T et al. Patient-oriented pandemic influenza
research Lancet 2009 Jun 20;373(9681):2085-6
Call for flu research underway
Following reports of the first European death as a result of
the A(H1N1) influenza, as reported in last week’s edition1,
and recent comment by Hein et al in the Lancet2 about the
lack of clinical research in this disease, it should be
noted that the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
is currently commissioning a number of research studies as
part of the national response to the emerging influenza
pandemic. The NIHR also has an urgent open call for
proposals on pandemic influenza, which is not restricted to
particular study designs, provided they produce evidence
that will be useful to patients and the NHS during the
current pandemic.
The commissioning of influenza-related research is being
carried out by NIHR in coordination with the MRC and
Wellcome.
Further details of these research activities can be found on
the NIHR web site at www.nihr.ac.uk
Professor Tom Walley,
Director,
NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies
1 O’Dowd A. Swine flu claims first European death, as cases
worldwide rise to 36 000. BMJ 2009;3338:b2470
2 Hein T T et al. Patient-oriented pandemic influenza
research Lancet 2009 Jun 20;373(9681):2085-6
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests