Plans for updating this guideline

An update to this guideline will be needed, if any of the following events occur:

–

major new research is published (particularly randomized controlled trials of any of the antivirals or observational studies);

–

new antiviral drugs or dosage forms become available; and/or

–

there is a change in the severity of illness associated with the current pandemic (H1N1) 2009 or other circulating influenza viruses, or in their susceptibility to antiviral drugs, or the emergence of a novel influenza A virus of global public health importance.

WHO will review the validity of these guidelines every 6 months, with regard to the above criteria, unless these guidelines are superseded by new, consolidated or standard guidelines. The next such review will be September 2010.

Updating or adapting recommendations locally

The methods used to develop these guidelines are transparent. Therefore it will be possible to update the information contained in them by re-running the search described in Part II. The recommendations have been developed to be as specific and detailed as possible without losing sight of the user-friendliness of this document and the individual recommendations. The Panel encourages feedback on all aspects of these guidelines, including their applicability in individual countries. It may then be possible to decide whether the recommendations should be amended to accommodate the changes in information. The Guidelines have also been designed in such a way to facilitate this process, in case users need to update or adapt the recommendations before the WHO has itself updated them globally.