PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Nobuhiko Okabe
Director of Infectious Disease Surveillance Center,
National Institute of Infectious Disease

The speech will be in English and the Q & A in Japanese with English interpretation

H1N1 Influenza

After emerging in North America last spring, the H1N1 "swine flu" virus quickly spread around the world. This variant of the flu virus family is a combination of viruses that typically infect pigs, birds and humans. While highly contagious, so far it has not been causing illness more severe than seasonal flus. But viruses can evolve quickly. This H1N1 variant, which has never circulated in humans before, could turn nasty. These concerns led the World Health Organization to announce the start of an H1N1 pandemic last June. And the United States declared an H1N1 national emergency on October 25. So what is the situation in Japan?

To bring us up to date, Dr. Nobuhiko Okabe will discuss swine flu and infection control in Japan at this professional luncheon.

Okabe is well positioned to talk about infectious diseases and the threat they pose, especially to children. He trained as a medical doctor and pediatrician at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo. In addition to working in pediatrics at various hospitals in Japan, Okabe served as a research associate in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and in the early 1990s was an advisor to the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila. He has been the director of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases since 2000. (Regular updates on infectious diseases spreading in Japan are available in English on the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center's Website: http://idsc.nih.go.jp/index.html)

MENU
Sandwich: Smoked salmon, dill cream cheese, red onion, fried capers on bagel, salad & pickles.
Hot Plate : Herb marinated grilled chicken with braised shallots, haricot verts, mashed potato & parsley butter, seasonal salad.

Nobuhiko Okabe Director of Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, National Institute of Infectious Disease