Biotechnology Healthcare - July/August 2008 - (Page CB3)

TABLE 1 Range of RSV season onset by region 2004 -2007 Seasons 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 Northeast 22 Oct 2004 to 25 Feb 2005 7 Oct 2005 to 3 Jan 2006 12 Oct 2006 to 19 Jan 2007 Midwest 3 Dec 2004 to 4 Mar 2005 4 Nov 2005 to 20 Jan 2006 29 Sept 2006 to 9 Mar 2007 South 3 Sept 2004 to 21 Jan 2005 16 Sept 2005 to 13 Jan 2006 4 Aug 2006 to 16 Feb 2007 West 3 Sept 2004 to 17 Dec 2005 16 Sept 2005 to 13 Jan 2006 16 Oct 2006 to 16 Feb 2007 SOURCE: DATA DERIVED FROM CDC MMWR 2005, 2006, 2007 TABLE 2 Range of RSV season offset by region 2004 -2007 Seasons 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 Northeast 4 Mar 2005 to 6 May 2005 10 Mar 2006 to 5 May 2006 2 Feb 2006 to 4 May 2007 Midwest 18 Mar 2005 to 6 May 2005 17 Mar 2006 to 5 May 2006 26 Jan 2007 to 4 May 2007 South 31 Dec 2005 to 6 May 2005 3 Feb 2006 to 5 May 2006 16 Feb 2007 to 4 May 2007 West 18 Feb 2005 to 6 May 2005 31 Mar 2006 to 5 May 2006 9 Mar 2007 to 4 May 2007 SOURCE: DATA DERIVED FROM CDC MMWR 2005, 2006, 2007 Onset and duration of the RSV season, therefore, are the most important variables to consider in planning an effective RSV therapy program (Mullins 2003). Who conducts RSV surveillance? RSV surveillance data are collected from a broad range of sources — from local hospitals and laboratories to the federal government. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting RSV surveillance data in 1983. In 1989, CDC established the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) to coordinate the collection of virology data about RSV and other major viruses. NREVSS reports trends in RSV activity at the level of individual states, nine geographic divisions, four geographic regions, and the nation as a whole on CDC’s NREVSS Web site (CDC 2008). CDC also publishes annual summaries of national and regional RSV activity in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (CDC 2007). Since 2006, CDC has broken out RSV trends in Florida separately because of Florida’s substantial deviation from trends in the South region (CDC 2006). Currently, 705 laboratories across the United States are contributing RSV data to NREVSS as the result of a Data Sharing Agreement between CDC and Surveillance Data, Inc. (SDI). Under this agreement, SDI shares RSV surveillance data obtained from its Sentinel Laboratory Net- work, which consists of private or teaching hospitals (75 percent) and children’s hospitals, public health laboratories, public hospitals, and reference laboratories (25 percent) throughout the country. SDI also supports and administers, under the sponsorship of MedImmune, LLC, RSVAlert, a comprehensive surveillance program that tracks the increase, peak, and decline of RSV levels throughout the U. S. and provides accurate RSV data (updated weekly) that characterize RSV activity at the local as well as regional and national levels. These data include the number of tests and the percentage that were positive during the previous 7 days at the national level and within most metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) throughout the country. MSAs are defined by the U. S. Office of Management and Budget and are based on census data. There are 363 MSAs in the United States, and 8 MSAs are assigned to Puerto Rico. RSVAlert encompasses 95 percent of the 200 largest MSAs (in terms of population) and 52 percent (189/363) of all U. S. MSAs and collects hospital data from participating hospital laboratories within each MSA. By providing data at the MSA level, RSVAlert complements and expands CDC’s data reporting. Two changes are important to highlight as a result of the collaboration between SDI and CDC NREVSS: 1) CDC previously lacked data below the regional level, but now reports at the state, division, and regional levels (CDC 3 Please see important safety and full prescribing information on pages 7 and 8.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Biotechnology Healthcare - July/August 2008

Biotechnology Healthcare - July/August 2008 Openers Contents Editorial/David B. Nash, MD, MBA Drug Track Health Plan Confidential Rheumatoid Arthritis A Decade of Trial, Error, False Starts, and Hope What Path Will Comparative Effectiveness Research Take? RA Therapies in Development: A New Generation of Relief Assessing the Full Impact of RA on Employers and Payers Stem Cells: Health Insurance You Can Bank On Specialty Pharmacy Employer to Employer Personalized Medicine Trends Clinical Briefs

Biotechnology Healthcare - July/August 2008

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