Defending the Body Against Viruses
Dr. Janet Englund is one of the nation's leading authorities on influenza and children.
Most people fret about the flu for a few months and then forget about it.
Not Dr. Janet Englund, a physician-scientist specializing in infectious diseases. Englund thinks about the flu — and better ways for children to beat the bug — all year long.
Englund's goal is to defend children against the ultra-resilient virus, not destroy it.
Trying to wipe out the flu, which can propagate in animals as well as humans, would be mission next-to-impossible. "It's not like smallpox," said Englund. "It's always going to be around. It's smarter than we are."
She has earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading authorities on influenza and children.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) all call on Englund as a consultant on flu viruses — including avian flu.
Englund currently is involved in several clinical studies that assess how the type, timing and setting of pediatric flu vaccinations affect outcomes.
The number of doses of influenza vaccine given is more important than when the doses are given.
The studies already have produced one important finding — that the number of doses of influenza vaccine given is more important than when the doses are given.
Results of the flu vaccine studies, which involved children 6 to 23 months of age, were welcome news for parents: the timing of the vaccines can be given with other childhood immunizations during well-baby visits.
The flu vaccine also seemed to provide good antibody responses in these young children, indicating that the vaccines are likely to be protective. (Note: flu vaccines work best when the viruses in the vaccine match the strains of the circulating viruses.)
In the future, Englund and her collaborators will publish more findings based on that study. A different study, involving elementary-school children, will compare the effectiveness of offering flu vaccinations at school rather than at clinics.
Flu viruses, however, are not the only infectious diseases Englund studies. Her research includes ongoing work to improve the vaccine for whooping cough — a vaccine that debuted just in time for Englund's first child to be immunized.
The potential to directly improve the health of children is what makes research appealing to Englund.
"Infectious diseases are a very important and very common problem for children. But we can treat and prevent them so kids — my own as well as my patients — get better," she says.