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

New Threat: Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Causes Deadly Pneumonia

NaturalNews) While the talking heads on TV have recently reported that thousands of people in the U.S. are now infected with the new "swine flu", or H1N1, there's another infectious disease problem brewing that has received little attention. The over-use and abuse of antibiotics has produced antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to the National Institutes of Health, over the past forty years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has changed from a usually controllable nuisance into a serious public health problem.

At first, it was primarily one of the most common hospital-acquired infections. But in recent years, new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often dubbed "super bugs", have popped up in communities and caused severe, even life-threatening infections in otherwise healthy people, involving the skin, heart, blood or bones.

Now a paper just published in the June edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases discusses an emerging and potentially deadly threat from community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) -- necrotizing, i.e. "flesh eating", pneumonia. And according to previous research published in Nature News, this type of pneumonia is fatal in 75 percent of cases..

Big Island Woman -- Hawaii's 3rd Swine Flu Death

The State Health Department confirmed today a third death in Hawaii involving the H1N1 flu.

It's the first death on a neighbor island -- a 51-year old Big Island resident.

Donna Altamirano died last week Tuesday.

Her daughter says it all happened so suddenly.

They thought she had the seasonal flu and would recover from it.

Altamirano spent seven days at Kona Community Hospital, hooked up to tubes and machines, before passing away on July 7th

State Epidemiologist Sarah Park said, "Although flu was the primary cause of death for this individual, she had serious underlying medical conditions that exacerbated her condition and contributed to her decline and death."

"She was a smoker I know that, and they said she had a heart problem, like a leaky valve but she already had it for three years and none of these conditions bothered her. And that's the problem. She's had the cold and flu before but this one is way different," said Glenn.

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[edit on 18-7-2009 by JBA2848]

The first doses of swine flu vaccine will be given to the public before full data on its safety and effectiveness become available, doctors confirmed yesterday.

The aim is to provide maximum protection against the pandemic in the shortest possible time. www.independent.co.uk...

Hospitals under strain from swine flu

Hospitals are showing signs of being under strain from the tide of flu sufferers.

Dunedin and Southland hospitals are preparing to take patients from Christchurch, which is inundated with swine flu cases. Christchurch Hospital has eight people in its intensive care unit.

With intensive care units around the country filling up, some operations may have to be deferred
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TORONTO - Clinical trial results for swine flu vaccine could be a couple of months away, U.S. officials said Friday.

The officials did not indicate how soon the U.S. might make a decision on whether or not to use pandemic vaccine. They also did not rule out beginning a vaccination program before the clinical trial data were availablechealth.canoe.ca...

www.timesonline.co.uk... first case of a pig farm worker contracting the swine flu virus was reported this week. The stockman from the South West worked on a commercial pig farm.

Other staff and pigs on the farm are free of the H1N1 virus but veterinary experts are working with the pig industry to agree a code of practice should pig herds become infected with the flu strain.

There is no threat to human health if people eat pork, bacon and ham from a pig that has recovered from swine flu provided that the meat is cooked properly.

Any pig contracting flu is to be quarantined and it cannot be slaughtered for the food chain unless the animal has been free of flu symptoms for seven days. Veterinary checks will also take place at the abattoir where any sick animals will be rejected.

Another H1N1 case in ICU

A 49-YEAR-OLD man, confirmed to have Influenza A (H1N1), was admitted to Changi General Hospital's intensive care unit yesterday.

The patient, who has diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, was in critical condition, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

He was warded in intensive care immediately after he sought treatment at CGH's emergency department in the morning.

The patient had flu-like symptoms over the past four days, including severe pneumonia.

Two other H1N1 patients - a pregnant woman and a kidney transplant patient - are in stable condition in ICU at KK Hospital and the Singapore General Hospital, respectively.

Another 51-year-old male patient at CGH was moved out of ICU yesterday.

"If he continues to recover, he can expect to be discharged soon," said the MOH.

There are now 36 - down from 50 on Wednesday - confirmed H1N1 patients hospitalised.
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Schuchat said she thinks the unusually high rate of transmission during the heat and humidity of summer, which normally sharply reduce transmission, may be because many Americans have no resistance to the virus from prior exposure. But there are "no data" to suggest why transmission is continuing, she said.www.latimes.com...

MoH: Only Reliable Source For H1N1 Info

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Ministry of Health (Mon) has once again urged the public to disregard unconfirmed reports regarding Influenza A (H1N1), stating that they should refer only to information provided by the ministry for the most recent updates and development of the pandemic.

The ministry informed The Brunei Times yesterday that the public should rely on press releases, statements, website or posters issued by the ministry for the latest information regarding the state of H1N1 in the country.

"Our standing with rumours is that the Ministry of Health is the right source," it said, adding that any information pertaining to an issue will come only from the ministry's press releases or statements. The healthline and website on the other hand will provide health information.

A science teacher who declined to be named agreed that any information regarding the pandemic which lacked confirmation from the ministry should be ignored. "They are the governing body and therefore they are the only ones who can really tell us what is going on. Other information are just hearsay," he said.

However, he added, the ministry should do its part by providing what the public wants -fast and truthful updates.

"If you look at local boards and forums on the Internet, the ministry is really under fire about not publishing or releasing the truth. I cannot comment on why people think this is so but there has to be a reason why they have garnered such negative reputation," he said, adding that all of these rumours could probably be dispelled by means of faster or real-time updates.

"We are now in the wired era where information can be disseminated to large audiences almost immediately. Maybe the ministry should update the statistics on its website once every two hours instead of once a day," he said.

"It is in our human nature to want to know the most recent news. If information is relayed at a later time, then people are going to believe something they heard first. It may not be as credible, but people will believe and spread the information anyway," he explained.
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No need to panic about swine flu

With more than 114 confirmed cases of swine flu in South Africa, medical experts insist there is no need to panic as the current strain of the virus is similar to that of seasonal flu.

And with millions of children heading back to school tomorrow, health and education officials have urged parents not to be alarmed following two reported cases at private schools in Gauteng this week.
The executive director at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Professor Barry Schoub, said the outbreak of swine flu in South Africa was similar to ordinary seasonal flu, although it was spreading faster and was more likely to affect younger people, who were less likely than adults to have built up “some sort of immunity” to flu viruses.
“It’s very similar to seasonal influenza both in terms of how it is spreading, as well as the severity of the disease. It appears to be fairly mild, like our ordinary seasonal influenza,” he said.
Schoub added that while respiratory infections, like swine and seasonal flu, spread in school-like environments, there was no need to panic.
“Internationally there haven’t been any recommendations for school closures and we’re following that. What we are recommending is that if a child does have flu-like symptoms, he or she should stay at home for at least seven days as a precaution,” he said.
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If a more deadly form of mutated swine flu virus strikes the northern hemisphere this coming winter, governments want to be as prepared as possible. Orders for an as-yet non-existent vaccine have been pouring in to major producers in the last few months. The methods still used to produce most of the world’s flu vaccine stocks however have remained largely unaltered for decades. The A(H1N1) seed viruses the WHO provided to manufacturers at the end of May were planted in huge numbers of 11-day-old fertilised eggs, and it will take an additional 5-6 weeks to adapt a fast-growing strain for production in ‘high-growth’ cycles. It takes between one and two eggs to produce a single dose of vaccine, yet most producers are betting on the slow but reliable method in the current pandemic. But swine flu could also prove to be the spark that lights the fire of next-step technology – scalable cell-based vaccines.www.eurobiotechnews.eu...

[edit on 18-7-2009 by wizardwars]

SWINE flu in Wales is now spreading at a rate of 300 new cases a day.

More than 1,300 people in Wales were last night estimated to be suffering from swine flu – a rise of nearly 300 people in a single day.

At the current rate of transmission, the number of Welsh sufferers will top 3,000 by the end of next week.

The virus is now spreading faster in Wales than in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The sharp rise in the number of cases in Wales came as A&E departments warned patients with suspected symptoms to stay away from hospitals to avoid the risk of the disease spreading even more rapidly.www.walesonline.co.uk...

BRITISH holidaymakers suspected of suffering from swine flu are being stopped from boarding flights.

Check-in staff at Heathrow and other main British airports are vetting passengers for possible symptoms and turning away those suspected of being infected. Some countries, including Thailand, Egypt and China have installed thermal body scanners to identify passengers with fever. www.timesonline.co.uk...

The Swine Flu hotline is 0800 1 513 513 and people ringing it are given a number of options to answer their questions.

The aim of the flu service set up by the Government is to alleviate pressure on hospitals and GP services in England so they could concentrate on the most seriously ill and the Government was the trusting the public not to abuse the service.

People will obtain a diagnosis over the telephone or by completing an internet questionnaire.

They will then be given a reference number for a ‘flu friend’ who can obtain the antiviral dug from a depot instead of the sufferer, which should help preventing the spread of the virus.

Any member of staff sick with a suspected or confirmed case of swine flu should be told to stay at home. But employees are not legally entitled to stay away from work simply out of fear of contracting the virus. www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk...

Paul Briggs, the chief executive of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group which includes Swindon, said he had been at a national meeting for all chambers when swine flu had been the main item on the agenda. He said: “We appreciate that businesses will be hit hard if the virus takes hold and according to projections as much as 12 per cent of workforces will be affected. All businesses should follow the advice which has been put out by the National Pandemic Flu Service.

“All businesses should have a back-up plan – like for bad weather, improve their hygiene and realise that no-one will be immune. We want to get through this with as little pain as possible. The swine flu and the credit crunch are not a mix we like.” www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk...

ANOTHER two primary schools are under a swine flu alert in Swindon, bringing the total in the town to 44.

Haydon Wick Primary School and Millbrook Primary School have confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu, Swindon Council announced yesterday.

Peter Wells, pictured, chairman of the Swindon Association of Secondary Headteachers (Sash), and head of St Joseph’s Catholic College, said pregnant teachers have been advised not to come to school.

He said: “Our experience is that swine flu is a worry and concern especially as the media continue the flow of information and there is an increasing number of people who are catching the illness.

“Parents are not keeping children off school unnecessarily, at the college we have only 10 notified cases which are thought to be possible swine flu.

“Staff who are pregnant have been advised by their doctors to stay at home to avoid the risk of infection.

“This has not affected our teaching capacity. All in all the college has not been adversely affected and things have continued as normal, we do have plans in place should this change.” www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk...

Fort Bend County braced for the possible re-emergence of the H1N1 flu on Saturday.

During a practice drill, Fort Bend's Health & Human Services tested its ability to set up a mass vaccination clinic and rapidly administer the H1N1 vaccine to emergency workers and their family members in the event of a public health emergency.

“We're rapidly approaching the flu season,” said Karl Floyd, a coordinator for Health & Human Services. “The concern is that when that time comes, the (H1N1) flu might mutate in such a way that it becomes part of the regular flu. The speed at which this virus is spreading worldwide is six-times faster just about than past pandemics that we've had.” The exercise was critically important in bringing health awareness to residents, Floyd said.www.chron.com...

Swine flu is spreading faster than ever — so much so that the World Health Organization has decided to stop tracking cases.

In the U.S., the H1N1 virus has sickened tens of thousands and closed summer camps at a time when there should be little or no flu activity.

Even as the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to raise awareness of this potentially deadly disease, which appears to be killing both sick and healthy individuals, the topic has virtually disappeared from the headlines.

“Complacency is a major concern,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director for National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

“This virus is a new one, and on top of that, we really still don’t know how it’s going to behave,” Schuchat said during a media conference call Friday. “There are special efforts that have been undertaken by health agencies, but individuals also need to be ready, to be thinking ahead and have steps in place should a family member get sick or a workplace close down or a situation arise that requires working from home.”ow.ly...

DOCTORS have cast serious doubts over the safety of the swine flu vaccine, which they claim is being “rushed in without proper testing”.

Last week the Government announced it had ordered enough doses to inoculate the entire population in a vaccine programme that would be the biggest for half a century. Health chiefs have already formulated a priority list of patients and the first jabs are expected to be administered in autumn.

However, leading vaccine experts say not enough time has been given to testing the safety of the jab. Dr richard Halvorsen, author of the truth About Vaccines, said: “this has been rushed through quicker than any other vaccine in history, without any idea about whether it really works or is safe.
“I am not going to have it or recom- mend it.” www.dailyexpress.co.uk...

Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug manufactured by the Swiss Roche Holdings, is the only neuraminidase inhibitor approved for the treatment of influenza in the United States. Tamiflu treats influenza by trapping the influenza virus in cells that are already infected. It is approved for use on children over one year and on adults who have had symptoms for less than two days.

The first concerns raised about Tamiflu related to skin reactions. By December 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had received reports of severe, and sometimes fatal, skin reactions and allergic reactions. These included 24 cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a potentially fatal skin condition caused by an allergic reaction to a drug, and 14 cases of erythema multiforme, a similar condition. There were also several cases of anaphylactic reactions, including 17 cases of potentially deadly anaphylactic shock. These reactions caused three deaths in adults. On December 21, 2005, the FDA required an update to the Tamiflu label warning about these reactions.

At that time, the FDA also had 12 reports of pediatric deaths in patients taking Tamiflu that had come from Japan. The FDA concluded that it was unable to determine if the deaths were caused by Tamiflu and decided to monitor Tamiflu side effects in the 2006 flu season. During the following year, the FDA continued to receive reports of neurophychiatric events in patients taking Tamiflu. Many of the additional reports came from Japan, but some came from the United States as well. On November 13, 2006, the FDA decided to require a Tamiflu warning similar to that already used in Japan. The warning states that patients taking Tamiflu should be carefully monitored for unusual behavior. The FDA did not find convincing evidence that the abnormal behavior was a Tamiflu risk. injury-law.freeadvice.com...