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

Saugerties man with swine flu died

KINGSTON — A Saugerties man who tested positive for swine flu died Wednesday night, according to the Ulster County Executive’s Office.

The man, who was not identified by officials, had been hospitalized with underlying medical conditions, in addition to a confirmed case of H1N1 virus or swine flu. Officials stressed that the man had several conditions, including swine flu, that likely interacted leading to his death.

“There were multiple underlying health conditions going on,” said Vincent C. Martello, assistant deputy county executive/communications, “...all of which contributed to the individual’s death.”

This is the ninth confirmed case of swine flu in Ulster County and the first death associated with the virus. Martello said all of the other cases have been mild and the individuals have since recovered.
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Nunavut reports 1st swine flu death

A young Nunavut woman died Wednesday from swine flu, marking the territory's first death from the H1N1 influenza virus.

Nunavut chief medical officer Isaac Sobol confirmed the death on Thursday.

Sobol said the young woman was medevaced from a community in the territory's Kivalliq region on June 29, after she was deemed to be a high-risk patient.

The woman had been in critical condition for several weeks before she died Wednesday, Sobol said.

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EL PASO --A seventh person from the area has died of swine flu.

Officials of the city's Department of Public Health on Wednesday said a 53-year-old woman who lived in Central El Paso died recently. She had been hospitalized with an influenza-like illness and other unspecified medical problems.

Health department officials withheld her identity and the day she died.www.elpasotimes.com...

A young Nunavut female patient died Wednesday from swine flu, marking the first death from the H1N1 influenza virus in the territory.

Nunavut chief medical officer Dr. Isaac Sobol confirmed the death on Thursday.

In a release, Sobol said the patient was medevaced from a community in the territory's Kivalliq region on June 24, after she was deemed to be a high-risk patient.

She had been in critical condition for several weeks before she died Wednesday, Sobol said.www.cbc.ca...

LONDON -- An ugly scramble is brewing over the swine flu vaccine -- and when it becomes available, Britain, the United States and other nations could find that the contracts they signed with pharmaceutical companies are easily broken.

Experts warn that during a global epidemic, which the world is in now, governments may be under tremendous pressure to protect their own citizens first before allowing companies to ship doses of vaccine out of the country.

That does not bode well for many nations, including the United States, which makes only 20 percent of the regular flu vaccines it uses, or Britain, where all of its flu vaccines are produced abroad.www.wdsu.com...

* 94 children under five in hospital
* NSW death toll doubles to 10
* Third of people in ICU have swine flu

A NINE-year-old Sydney boy has died from swine flu as it emerged 94 children aged under five were admitted to hospital in the past week.

The state's death toll from the deadly H1N1 virus doubled from five to 10 yesterday. www.news.com.au...

[edit on 16-7-2009 by wizardwars]

11 dead from flu in Brazil

BRASILIA - BRAZIL on Thursday nearly tripled its number of deaths from swine flu to 11, including the person shown to have caught the virus spontaneously within the country.

The increased tally given by Health Minister Jose Gomes added seven to the four fatalities previously given.

'Of the seven, at least four had pre-existing illnesses' that left them vulnerable to the A(H1N1) virus, he told a news conference.

The confirmed case of spontaneous transmission to one of the cases who had not travelled or been in contact with travellers to flu-hit countries gave 'first proof that the virus is circulating within the country'.

That meant that Brazil had become the eighth country to become classed as having sustainable transmission of the flu, along with the United States, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Australia and Britain. -- AFP

S.D. County Reports 2 more H1N1 Deaths, Bringing Total to 9

Two more deaths associated with the swine flu pandemic have occurred in the San Diego area, bringing the total number of local fatal cases to nine, according to the county Health and Human Services Agency.

The national swine flu phoneline, a central call centre that allows thousands of people to receive infection diagnoses simultaneously, is to be launched by the Government as early as today, The Times understands.

The flu line, the backbone of the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS), is to be activated following a further dramatic rise in infection cases, to be announced by the Department of Health today.

The NPFS will allow flu diagnoses to be processed at high speed, with unique reference numbers given to callers with suspected swine flu to allow their friends or relatives to collect medication for them. www.timesonline.co.uk...

WHO suspends reporting of H1N1 case counts

Jul 16, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Citing the questionable usefulness of reporting pandemic H1N1 case counts and the burden it puts on countries experiencing widespread transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today it will no longer issue regular reports of confirmed global case totals.

The WHO has issued 58 such reports since the start of the novel H1N1 outbreak, the last one on Jul 6.

In a statement today, the WHO said countries with sustained community transmission are having an extremely difficult time confirming cases through laboratory testing. In addition, counting individual cases isn't essential for monitoring the level or nature of risk posed by the virus or implementing response measures.

Detecting and confirming all possible cases is highly resource-intensive, the WHO said. "In some countries, this strategy is absorbing most national laboratory and resource capacity, leaving little capacity for the monitoring and investigation of severe cases and other exceptional events."

For these reasons, the WHO said it will no longer issue reports of confirmed cases. However, it said it will provide regular updates on the spread of pandemic flu in newly affected countries.

The focus of surveillance activities in countries where the virus is already established will shift to existing systems for monitoring seasonal flu, the WHO said. Countries are no longer required to submit regular reports of individual confirmed cases and deaths to the WHO.

Monitoring for unusual events such as clusters of severe or fatal cases or changes in clinical patterns is important and should continue, the agency said. It added that countries should maintain vigilance for changes in transmission patterns, such as rising rates of school or work absenteeism, and also surges in emergency department visits, which could foreshadow increasing numbers of severe cases.

Keeping close track of changes in the pandemic virus is also essential for case management and vaccine development, the WHO said. It recommends that even countries with limited lab capacity to follow up initial viological assessment by testing at least 10 samples a week.

A/H1N1 flu death toll rises to 155 in Argentina

Argentina's A/H1N1 flu death toll rose on Thursday to 155 after health authorities confirmed the death of a 31-year-old male patient in Cordoba province, some 700 km west of Buenos Aires, Xinhua reported.

Cordoba's Health Director Oscar Gonzalez said that the patient was hospitalized with flu symptoms on June 11 in the provincial capital. Then his situation went worse.

The patients received respiratory assistance, and tested positive for A/H1N1 flu on July 13, said Gonzalez, adding that the victim did not suffer from other major diseases.

The latest death was the third from the flu in Cordoba, while the disease has so far killed 51 people in Santa Fe province. Another 101 deaths were reported in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Misiones, San Juan and the national capital.

Since last Friday, Argentina has had the world's second most deaths from the new deadly flu, only after the United States where 211 deaths have been reported

Ten people dead from swine flu in NSW

TEN people are dead from swine flu in NSW - including a nine-year-old boy - after the toll doubled overnight. Yesterday Australia's peak obstetrics organisation told pregnant women to wear masks in public and stay at home if possible.

The five dead, including two men aged 29 and 78, and two women, aged 55 and 71, were all from Sydney, but only four had underlying medical conditions.

Their deaths come as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists urged pregnant women to wear masks in public and "wash themselves scrupulously" after coming into contact with others.

The college's president, Ted Weaver, said pregnant women did not have to "go into lockdown" but should work from home if possible. "Be alert, but not alarmed - if it's not essential to go out, stay home," Dr Weaver said.

Six pregnant women, in their second and third trimesters, are fighting for their lives in intensive care units across western Sydney, but so far none have gone into premature labour.

"Delivery as a treatment is not our preferred option," said Brian Trudinger, the head of obstetrics at Westmead Hospital.

He urged pregnant women to take antiviral drugs if prescribed. "The usual message in pregnancy is not to take anything, but for goodness sake, take the treatment. It is more benefit than harm."

Thirty-six people are in intensive care in NSW and five are being treated using cardiac bypass machines.

New machines had been ordered from overseas in anticipation of a worsening of the situation, said the vice-president of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, Michael O'Leary.
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Australia's peak obstetrics organisation has warned pregnant women to wear masks in public and stay at home if possible as the number of serious cases of swine flu surges.

Five more people died with swine flu in NSW overnight, doubling that state's death toll which also includes a nine-year-old boy.

Twelve people have died in Victoria with swine flu since the outbreak began about two months ago.

The deaths come as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists urged pregnant women to wear masks in public and "wash themselves scrupulously" after coming into contact with others.www.theage.com.au...

NY's Ulster County has 1st swine flu death

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) - The Ulster County Health Department says the county has recorded its first swine flu fatality.

County Executive Mike Hein said in a prepared statement that the patient was a man from Saugerties who had been hospitalized for multiple other medical conditions. He died Wednesday night.

The death was the ninth confirmed case of swine flu in Ulster County.

The state Health Department says the state had 2,253 confirmed cases of swine flu as of July 3, the most recent state figures available. More than half of those were in New York City.
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Chang Mai, Thailand (eTN) - According to the latest breaking news of the Bangkok Post newspaper, Thai Airways International faces a sharp fall in passenger numbers from eastern Asia because of the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak.

THAI executive board chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut said on Wednesday that the swine flu scare had directly affected the airline industry.

The number of passengers from eastern Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea had plummeted by approximately 15 to 20 per cent, causing the airline to turn more to the European market, he said.www.eturbonews.com...

Four inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center, a privately-run prison south of Boise, have contracted the H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu.

The prison is halting visits to the prison and is restricting entry only to staff to minimize the virus spreading. Prison managers and health staff are working with the Idaho Department of Health and Human Services and officials with the Idaho Department of Corrections, according to a release from the prison on Thursday.

Earlier this week, officials quarantined two housing units at the 1,805-bed medium security facility.

The Idaho Correctional Center, which opened in 2000, is operated by Corrections Corporation of America under contract with and oversight of the Idaho Department of Correction.t.love.com...

HOUSTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Florida health department on Thursday reported six new deaths and more than four hundred new cases of the A/H1N1 flu for the past week, while local health officials said the death toll of the new virus had nearly doubled in the state for the week.

The department said that, as of Thursday, there have been 2,188 confirmed and probable cases of the A/H1N1 flu, 407 more than the previous record of 1,781, or increasing 23 percent in the past week.

Meanwhile, state health officials on Thursday confirmed the 13th death of the new virus in the state after a 22-year-old died in Sarasota County.

Of the 13 victims, six had died in the past week. This sharp increase of fatalities of the new virus seems unpredicted by the health officials and local citizens in the southeast U.S. State.

The state health officials are urging people to be prepared for the pandemic declared by World Health Organization last month.

They said that the federal government has allocated more than 20 million dollars in grants to help Florida prepare for the 2009 fall flu season.

The state surgeon general Viamonte Ros said that Florida is preparing for massive A/H1N1 flu immunizations, starting with schoolchildren, as the federal administration urges states to prepare for the likelihood that the virus might worsen in the fall.

"We're already meeting with local schools and day-care centers on how we would do this," she said. news.xinhuanet.com...

A baby is fighting for its life in hospital today after its mother gave birth prematurely before dying from swine flu.

The 39-year-old woman gave birth in London before dying on Monday and her child - born very early - has been in intensive care ever since.

Its battle for survival emerged as the deaths of another baby under the age of six months and a six-year-old from Kent were revealed.

England's most senior doctor has warned 65,000 people in the UK could die from the deadly virus or 350 a day at its peakwww.dailymail.co.uk...

MEXICO CITY, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll caused by the A/H1N1 influenza rose to 125 in Mexico after one more death was reported, said the authorities Thursday.

The Mexican Health Ministry said some 52 percent of the dead were female, and the death toll accounted for 0.9 percent of all the confirmed infections in the country.

The confirmed infections, which saw a "considerable" rise, reached 13,646, said the ministry.

The number was 1,125 more than that of two days ago due to a re-outbreak of the epidemic in the southeastern region of the country, it said.

So far, all Mexico's 31 states and the capital have reported cases of the disease, most of which were found in Chiapas, Mexico City, Yucatan, Tabasco, Veracruz, Jalisco, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi and Michoacan. news.xinhuanet.com...

Along with frosh-week celebrations and keg parties, university students returning to school could be caught up in quarantines or locked out of classrooms.

With the swine flu virus disproportionately attacking young adults, universities have shifted into gear during these normally quiet summer months to revisit and revise emergency plans, with the aim of inoculating their schools against more severe outbreaks come fall.

The jury is out on how virulent H1N1 can be, but health authorities witnessed its rapid spread this month at three summer camps in Ontario's Muskoka region, where more than 200 children had symptoms of swine flu. The fear is that in university residences and classrooms, where students are in close quarters for long periods, it will move just as quickly.

“There is a big unknown on the implication that it will have. The big concern is that, according to epidemiological data that we have up until now, the target population of the virus is the population that we have on campuses,” said Pierre-Paul Tellier, the director of student health services at McGill University in Montreal. “Hence, we do have to prepare.

“Will we have answers before September? Probably not for everything. But certainly for a large number of things.”

McGill's health clinic, where Dr. Tellier works part time, has been configured to isolate the very ill, and the university is considering adding more help lines so that those with less-severe symptoms of H1N1 don't have to enter the clinic.

Elsewhere on campus, there are discussions on how to keep classes running – perhaps electronically – if professors or students are infected.

But at what point will campuses be closed if a full-blown pandemic hits? Universities say much of their planning requires flexibility, and interrupting the school year so drastically would be a last resort.www.theglobeandmail.com...