# 2816
UPDATED 3/9/09: A new, in depth Interview with Dr Fedson appeared today on Flutrackers (see FluTrackers Interview With Dr. David Fedson)
Dr. David Fedson's views have appeared in this space on more than one occasion over the past 3 years. The first time I wrote about him was during the summer of 2006.
At the time, Dr. Fedson was proposing that research be conducted on the potential usefulness of statins - cholesterol reducing drugs - in the treatment of pandemic influenza. He'd just released a paper entitled Pandemic influenza: a potential role for statins in treatment and prophylaxis.
He pointed out that the world's capacity to produce vaccines and antivirals was insufficient to adequately combat a severe influenza pandemic, and that developing countries in particular are unlikely to see these interventions.
What the world would need is a cheap, easy to produce, and abundant pharmacological intervention if it was to stave off the worst effects of a pandemic.
Dr. Fedson proposed statins might do the trick. They, after all, are known to have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. This was all just theory, of course.
He was simply calling for more research.
In April of 2007 we saw a new study that indicated that statins, indeed, lowered the mortality rate of people with pneumonia.
Statin drugs lower respiratory death risk: study
Tue Apr 10, 2007 12:40pm EDT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who use statin drugs are less likely to die of influenza and chronic bronchitis, according to a study that shows yet another unexpected benefit of the cholesterol-lowering medications.
Their study of more than 76,000 people showed that those who had taken statins for at least 90 days had a much lower risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, the technical name for emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Patients on statins also had a lower risk of dying from influenza or pneumonia, the researchers reported on Monday.
Dr Fedson and Peter Dunnill, DSc,FREng then collaborated on a commentary, published in the Permanente Journal, Summer 2007 edition, on how we might confront an imminent pandemic.
The commentary was called New Approaches to Confronting an Imminent Influenza Pandemic, and in it the authors presented options including two possible routes to producing vaccine in quantity, and the use of statins to mitigate the effects of a cytokine storm.
In January of 2008, Australian researchers announced encouraging results from studies conducted on mice given gemfibrozil, a fibrate, which is another class of cholesterol lowering drug.
Tests home in on new hope against bird flu
Julia Hinde | January 19, 2008
Now a group of Australian researchers has published data that might point the way to an alternative - and potentially cheaper - way to fight the next major outbreak.
Led by Ian Clark of the Australian National University (ANU), the researchers used gemfibrozil, a drug already approved for human use as a cholesterol-lowering medication, to treat mice infected with a potent influenza virus.
The team reports a doubling in survival rates for infected mice when they were given a course of gemfibrozil, starting four days after they became infected.
And only last October, we learned of another study showing that pneumonia patients benefited greatly from being on statins.
Statins may cut pneumonia death, blood clot risks
27 Oct 2008 20:00:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Cholesterol-fighting drugs known as statins reduced the risk of dying from pneumonia or developing dangerous blood clots in the legs, adding to a growing list of benefits from the popular drugs, two research groups said on Monday.
Statins, the world's top-selling drugs, cut heart attack and stroke risk, and research has suggested other benefits including possibly protecting against Alzheimer's disease.
Some studies have linked statin use with decreased risk of severe sepsis -- infection of the bloodstream -- or death associated with infections, but there had been conflicting findings on pneumonia, according to Dr. Reimar Thomsen of Aarhus University and Aalborg Hospital in Denmark.
While certainly not definitive, the research studies undertaken since Dr. Fedson made his proposal three years ago are encouraging.
The latest (March 09) issue of the CDC's journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases has a perspective by Dr. Fedson, once again urging that researchers consider statins as a possible therapeutic agent during a pandemic.
I've reproduced the abstract here (reparagraphed for readability), but by all means follow the link and read it in its entirety.
Meeting the Challenge of Influenza Pandemic Preparedness in Developing Countries
David S. Fedson
Author affiliation: RetiredFedson DS. Meeting the challenge of influenza pandemic preparedness in developing countries. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2009 Mar [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/15/3/365.htm
DOI: 10.3201/eid1503.080857
Abstract
Developing countries face unique difficulties preparing for an influenza pandemic. Our current top-down approach will not provide these countries with adequate supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents.
Consequently, they will have to use a bottom-up approach based on inexpensive generic agents that either modify the host response to influenza virus or act as antiviral agents. Several of these agents have shown promise, and many are currently produced in developing countries.
Investigators must primarily identify agents for managing infection in populations and not simply seek explanations for how they work. They must determine in which countries these agents are produced and define patterns of distribution and costs.
Because prepandemic research cannot establish whether these agents will be effective in a pandemic, randomized controlled trials must begin immediately after a new pandemic virus has emerged. Without this research, industrialized and developing countries could face an unprecedented health crisis.
