Mysterious U.S. Swine Flu Probe Widens as Mexico Finds Swine Flu *updated*

Scientists call for more accurate measure of swine flu death rate

More accurate ways of measuring mortality from swine flu are needed to help health officials to make the right decisions about managing the pandemic, scientists said yesterday.

Standard methods of calculating death and hospital admission rates for the influenza A (H1N1) virus are unreliable and can both underestimate and overestimate the true figures, according to research at Imperial College, London.

One of the key measures of the virulence of any disease is its case fatality rate (CFR), which is generally calculated by dividing the total number of known cases by the total number of deaths. A good estimate of the CFR for swine flu, and of its hospital admission rate, is needed to help healthcare planners to decide on appropriate measures for containing infection, such as school closures, and on vaccination strategies.

Any changes in the mortality rate must also be monitored closely to determine whether the virus is mutating to become more virulent, which may require policy changes.
.

Health Department now attributes earlier Volusia death to swine flu

A 55-year-old man that Health Department officials first said had died of a chronic medical condition weeks ago at Florida Hospital DeLand has been added to the official list of Florida swine flu deaths.

The man's undisclosed chronic condition had hospitalized him for weeks before his diagnosis with the swine flu. The state looked at the case and "recently" decided to add him to the official count, according to Stefany Strong, spokeswoman for the Volusia County Health Department.

The death was not immediately classified as being the result of swine flu because the physician in attendance didn't believe it caused the man's death, according to Florida Department of Health spokeswoman.
.

10th Florida death recorded in swine flu outbreak



[edit on 15-7-2009 by JBA2848]

(Neb.)-Nebraskan in Critical Condition with Swine Flu

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - After announcing the state's first reported swine flu death today, health officials said another victim of the flu strain is hospitalized in critical condition.

The name of the person in critical condition was not released.

The death of a Custer County woman in her 50s occurred late last week at a time when Nebraska swine flu cases are rising.

Health officials said the virus is being spread within the state instead of being brought in by residents who've traveled outside of Nebraska and contracted it.

Dr. Joann Schaefer, the state's chief medical officer, said that is a cause for concern.

There have been 264 reported cases of swine flu in Nebraska. Schaefer urged residents who think they have the flu to not have contact with others.

Child B.C.’s first H1N1 victim

A young child in the Fraser Health Region has become the first person in B.C. confirmed to have died from the H1N1 influenza virus.

The unidentified child, who had underlying medical conditions increasing the risk from influenza, was admitted to hospital on Sunday and died within 24 hours.

A young woman in the Fraser Health Region who was living with a person infected with H1N1 has also died. She also had an underlying medical condition, and had not been confirmed as infected when she was admitted to hospital last Wednesday.

“These severe outcomes of the pandemic are a reminder that influenza is not to be trivialized,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, epidemiologist at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

.

Canberra residents should brace for the first swine flu death, with ACT Chief Health Officer Charles Guest warning it is only a matter of time before a fatality occurs.

Australia is on the ''protect'' alert level, which means efforts are focused on the early detection and treatment of those most vulnerable to severe complications if infected with swine flu.

It was inevitable that some healthy people without pre-existing conditions would die, Dr Guest said yesterday.

''The death that had a lot of publicity in the United Kingdom was a very sad event, but such things have happened in Australia before and we prepare in the ACT for the possibility of a death of that kind,'' Dr Guest said.

In Britain, swine flu was linked with the death of Chloe Buckley, who would have celebrated her seventh birthday tomorrow.

She was described as ''perfectly healthy'' in the days before she started feeling ill.

Chloe saw her doctor last Wednesday, complained of flu-like symptoms and died the next day.

Australia's health authorities have confirmed more than 10,000 cases of swine flu infections so far and 123 people are in hospital including 58 in intensive care.

More than 20 Australians with the flu strain called H1N1 have died since the virus started to spread around the countrywww.canberratimes.com.au...

The Public Health Ministry has ended daily updates on the type A (H1N1) influenza pandemic, saying it wants to avoid public confusion.

The virus claimed another life yesterday, as a health specialist attributed a recent increase in new infections to better reporting rather than increasing prevalence of H1N1.

Disease Control Department director-general ML Somchai Chakrabandhu said new cases of flu, normally reported daily on the Public Health Ministry's website, www.moph.go.th..., now will be updated every Wednesday.

"We will give weekly updates instead, to avoid confusion," he said.

The department has also decided to change the process of laboratory testing for A (H1N1).

Tests now will be done for severe cases and sampling cases only.www.bangkokpost.com...

Maybe swine flu is something to take more seriously when it appears doctors are becoming more concerned.

A new national study among 675 physicians revealed that nearly half of physicians (48%) reported that the H1N1 swine flu poses some level of risk for a worldwide catastrophic pandemic, the highest percentage since an April study.www.newjerseynewsroom.com...

A 48-year-old woman is in critical condition with human swine flu at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.



She came down with flu symptoms July 9 and saw a doctor. She went to the hospital today after she became more ill, suffering a fever, cough and shortness of breath. She required ventilatory support after admission.



Another 34-year-old man is in serious condition at Tuen Mun Hospital. He was admitted to an isolation ward July 11 after coming down with fever and flu symptoms two days earlier. He is being treated with Tamiflu and antibiotics.



The Centre for Health Protection is investigating an outbreak of upper respiratory tract infection in a residential workshop for the physically and mentally disabled in Eastern District. Five workshop attendees, four residents and seven staff members, comprising eight men and eight women aged 22 to 47, have developed a fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat since July 11. A 22-year-old man was confirmed to be infected with swine flu and admitted to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. He is stable. Nine others also sought medical attention.



There were 78 newly confirmed cases of human swine flu today, involving 38 men and 40 women aged five months to 58 years. This brings Hong Kong's total tally to 1,467.www.news.gov.hk...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

School children who have never had a flu shot may need to get vaccinated four times in the fall - twice for seasonal flu, twice for pandemic swine flu - officials at the CDC told health professionals on Wednesday.

Most everyone else should expect three shots.www.palmbeachpost.com...

(AP) — SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A young man is the second person to die from swine flu in Puerto Rico.

Health Secretary Concepcion Quinones says that the man arrived at a hospital in the U.S. Caribbean territory with severe respiratory problems after having visited other health facilities. She said Wednesday that he died June 24.

Epidemiologist Johnny Rullan says an additional eight deaths suspected of being caused by swine flu are being investigated.

[edit on 15-7-2009 by wizardwars]

Christchurch Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) is overflowing after an influx of people with swine flu.

ICU staff are working extra shifts to cover the overflow, and new patients requiring intensive care may have to be sent to other South Island hospitals.

Surgeons have been told that any elective-surgery patients needing to recover in the unit, including all elective cardiac surgery patients, could have their surgery postponed.

Influenza experts say the presence of previously healthy people in the unit with swine flu could indicate the virus is mutating and becoming deadlier.www.swineflunews.org... unit

This particular strain of flu is however quite powerful, and can gravely affect not only the elderly and infirm, but also the young and healthy. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians hospitalized due to swine flu, and half of those who have died, had no underlying health conditions, reports the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. Experts say that one-third of the planet could be affected by H1N1.www.healthycanada.com...

H1N1 worst-case scenario 'is 6,000 dead'

Australia is facing a swine flu death toll of 6,000 under a worst-case scenario, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.

Ms Roxon's admission comes a day after she dismissed as "ludicrous" a prediction the toll could reach 10,000.

The worst-case scenario is based on no medical intervention, including antiviral treatment for people contracting the virus, and vaccines.

"We could expect around 6,000 deaths across the country," Ms Roxon told ABC Radio.

"That's really the worst-case scenario."

Ms Roxon said higher death estimates, drawn from a 2005 interim influenza pandemic action plan, were not applicable for the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

The plan estimated there would be 12,500 deaths from a pandemic with a 30 per cent infection rate.

That estimate was based on a "more severe flu", Ms Roxon said, adding that swine flu could be a severe disease for some people.

Swine flu has emerged as the dominant flu in Australia this winter with 10,387 confirmed cases.

The death toll has reached 23 with another death in the Northern Territory, and a further 58 people with the virus are in intensive care units in hospital.

Ms Roxon said hospitals had plans in place to cope with the numbers.
.

Maryland Has 3rd Death From H1N1 Flu

BALTIMORE (WJZ) The Maryland Department of Health confirms another death in the state from the H1N1 virus.

They will only confirm it was an adult who lived on the Eastern Shore.

The person actually died in June but the state was only able to confirm it was from H1N1 this week.

It is the third H1N1 death in the state.

Died in June and there just now reporting it.

Woman is Queensland's first swine flu fatality

A YOUNG mother has died from swine flu in a Brisbane hospital, the first Queenslander to succumb to the virus which has infected 10,300 Australians.

The woman, 38, died in the Mater Public Hospital yesterday after being admitted a week ago.

She is believed to have been at increased risk of complications from the new H1N1 flu strain because of her obesity.

The woman, one of more than 2700 Queenslanders who have been diagnosed with swine flu, is the 22nd Australian to have died after contracting the highly contagious virus.

Last night, six Queenslanders with swine flu were in hospital intensive care units and health authorities were awaiting the results of tests on another 17 ICU patients suspected of having H1N1.

Queensland's Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young, said people particularly vulnerable to developing complications from swine flu included the obese, indigenous Australians, pregnant women, diabetics and those with respiratory conditions, heart problems, and renal and liver disease.
.

Me tro Vancouver child, 7, dies from swine flu; virus feared in 2nd death

METRO VANCOUVER — A seven-year-old child from the Fraser Health region has died of the H1N1 influenza virus, the B.C. government announced Tuesday. It was the first confirmed death in B.C. resulting from the swine flu pandemic.

Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said a 20-year-old woman likely also died from H1N1 in an unrelated case. The woman was admitted to hospital in the Fraser Health region last Wednesday, and died Thursday.

The seven-year-old was admitted to hospital on Sunday and died within 24 hours of being admitted.
.

www.promedmail.org...:1001:3730195350679323::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,78358

Wildlife officials are looking into the mysterious deaths of fish and
birds at Nashville's Centennial Park on Sunday [12 Jul 2009]. Park
police said they found at least 25 geese and ducks that were either
dead or dying at a park pond. Also, hundreds of fish were found dead.
It is unclear what caused the animals to suddenly die, but tests are
being done on the animals.

Metro [city] workers said they have seen natural deaths at the park in
the past but never to this degree.

Swine flu will be biggest pandemic ever, warns world health chief

How does she expect it to compare to other pandemics? "In terms of the number of countries affected and the number of people infected, this has got to be the biggest."

Bigger than 1918? "If you're talking about mortality then it's different. 1918 is the biggest in terms of mortality. I would not like to make any predictions . . . I hope we don't see the 1918 picture. But we should expect to see more people infected, and more severe cases coming up, including deaths."
."

Second swine flu death in SA

A second person with swine flu has died in South Australia.

The 32-year-old man was admitted to Modbury Hospital last week.

He had other chronic illnesses and was transferred to the Lyell McEwin Hospital where he died on Wednesday.

Paddy Phillips from the Health Department says believes he is the first South Australian to die with the virus.

"Although we've now had two people die with swine flu, swine flu remains a mild illness in the vast majority of people," he said.

There have been 1,162 swine flu cases in the state.

Twelve people are currently being treated in hospital, including one in intensive care.

.

VERNON, B.C. — An army cadet training centre in Interior British Columbia has cut back on activities after a cadet came down with swine flu and others reported respiratory problems.

The centre in Vernon, B.C., says in a news release that one of its cadets had a confirmed case of the H1N1 pandemic influenza virus.

Three cadets fell ill just days after summer training had started, and that number has grown to 27.

Eight samples were sent for laboratory testing - one came back positive for the H1N1 virus, another was inconclusive, and six others came back negative.

The centre says all of the cadets are doing well.

The centre is limiting its intake of cadets for the rest of the summer.www.google.com...