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| Pres. Obama receives his H1N1 flu shot during the height of the crisis. |
The public spotlight on H1N1 may have faded, but the matter is still a spotlight issue for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC hired PSC member Abt Associates last year to help the agency study the effectiveness of the H1N1 flu vaccine. Since December, Abt experts have worked closely with CDC officials to develop research protocols and operations procedures for these studies, which will track the effectiveness of this upcoming flu season’s combination H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine in preventing flu in pregnant women, children, and health care providers.
The CDC hired PSC member Abt Associates last year to help the agency study the effectiveness of the H1N1 flu vaccine. Since December, Abt experts have worked closely with CDC officials to develop research protocols and operations procedures for these studies, which will track the effectiveness of this upcoming flu season’s combination H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine in preventing flu in pregnant women, children, and health care providers.
Starting in late fall, Abt, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, and Harvard University Medical School and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) network will collect data from flu patients in these high-risk groups.
For both two year contracts Abt will oversee all data collection, study operations and assist CDC in the data analysis, which will allow CDC to achieve two things. First, CDC will learn not just if the vaccine is effective in preventing flu in real life, but how effective it is, which will help inform CDC recommendations for vaccination in high risk populations, said Dr. Scott Royal, Abt’s division vice president for domestic health programs. Second, the studies will allow vaccine producers to better understand the effectiveness of vaccine product in real life populations, he said.
By conducting these studies through a contract rather than a grant, CDC ensures it gets exactly what it needs to achieve their research goals because the government remains in complete control of the research agenda and study design, Royal said.
In addition, the contracts provide CDC with the flexibility to quickly ramp up and down as public health threats emerge, subside and change, he said.
“That’s important because when there is a public health challenge, CDC has to move quickly,” he said. “The government contracting arena is a really great way to quickly access experienced and highly technical staff who know how to develop and manage the operations of a multi-site study like this,” Royal continued. “[Abt is] experienced and well regarded in working with the government on developing the study design, identifying partners to access the patient community, and managing the operations and data collection.”
