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Swine Flu news and updates thread

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posted on May, 29 2009 @ 02:39 PM
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Last week while I was researching the swine flu, I learned there may be a correlation between arsenic found in our drinking water and susceptibility to the H1N1 virus. If you missed that information, you can review it here and here.

I've continued to research this topic and I would like to follow up on what I've learned and share it with you. I've already posted the information on another thread started a few days ago by "liveandlearn" since this thread was temporarily closed.

Here's what I've recently learned since I shared with you last week about a possible correlation between arsenic in our water and H1N1. Instead of retyping everything, I'll just link directly to the other thread. I apologize if there's a problem in doing it this way and will re-do it if linking this way isn't appropriate.

Update #1 on the correlation between H1N1 and arsenic we ingest

Update #2 on the correlation between H1N1 and arsenic we ingest

I've also learned about other ways we are exposed to arsenic. If you click here and then scroll down to the heading in bold called, "Exposure Pathways," you can read about other ways people are exposed to higher levels of arsenic.

One other piece of information I want to share is also something I shared in liveandlearn's thread. When I was researching the correlation between H1N1 and ingested arsenic, I wondered how fluoride entered into the picture and if there was a connection between fluoride and H1N1. It turns out that fluoride is another way we are exposed to arsenic. For more information, check out this article: How Much Arsenic is Fluoridation Adding to the Public Water Supply?

If it turns out scientists confirm we are indeed more susceptible to H1N1 because of arsenic in our water, soil, and air, then I would hope that immediate changes would be made to lessen our exposure. Somehow though, I doubt change for the better is on the horizon. I hope I'm wrong though.



[edit on 29-5-2009 by cornblossom]



posted on May, 29 2009 @ 07:06 PM
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Okay, I've been gone a few days taking care of stuff and doing research on flu virii. The following is drawn from one of the best descriptions I've found of how they infect, reproduce, and mutate; from "The Great Influenza", by John M. Barry. If this has been covered elsewhere, forgive the redundancy.

The mechanics of infection and reproduction:

A virus is a membrane that contains eight genes inside and has a mixture of spiky and tree-like protuberances on the outside. The spiky ones are hemagglutinin. When a virus makes contact with a cell, the spikes try to find sialic acid receptors to bind to. The spkies fit into a socket on the sialic acid molecule like a hand fits into a glove. Once one spike has attached, more and more bind themselves to the target cell. Once bound fast (adsorption), it weakens the cell wall and slips inside through a pit it creates. If it can't get through the cell wall, it will release and find another to try; few other viruses can do this. Once inside the cell, it is safe from the immune system, but in an acidic environment that makes it split in two and reshape itselfThe newly exposed hemagglutinin reacts with the cell and the membrane dissolves, fusing with the cell, allowing the genes to reach the cell nucleus and displace the native genes. The cell is now hijacked and begin producing viral protiens that within a few hours will be loaded with copies of the viral genes.

Meanwhile, the tree-like protuberances, neuraminidase, is busilly dissolving the sialic acid receptors on the cell surface so that the new virus cells won't get stuck to them, guaranteeing their safe escape. altogether, this process takes about ten hours. The infected cell then explodes, releasing a swarm of between 100,000 and 1,000,000 new flu viruses.

Mutation mechanics:

Influenza is an RNA virus. As an RNA virus, it has no quality control proofreading mechanism as DNA viruses do. So when it makes copies of itself, those copies are not exact copies, but rather variations on the basic theme: mutations. What mutates are the shapes of the spiky and treelike protuberances. There are fifteen known basic shape of hemagglutinin (the spikes) and nine known shapes of neuraminidase (the trees), plus subtypes of each. RNA viruses mutate some 10,000 to 1,000,000 times faster than DNA viruses do. Influenza viruses mutate faster than almost all other RNA viruses. In fact, they mutate so fast that some virologists think of the swarms exploding out of infected cells not as a population of copies of the original virus, but rather as a mutant swarm containing trillions and trillions of closely related but different versions of the original. A single cell will have many different versions, while the swarm as a whole will contain virtually every possible permutation of the original genetic code. Most of the mutations are bad for the virus and either kill it outright or make it incapable of infecting cells. But the survivors are hardy, and different. This is what makes them so adaptable, so quickly drug resistant, and so difficult (if not to say impossible) to weaponize.

In addition, the flu virus will perform a reassortment whenever it meets a flu virus with a different genetic code: the two viruses break up into sixteen genes (a single flu virus has eight genes) that randomly reassort themselves into two completely different new flu viruses. This is how avian, swine, and human components get mixed together. The H5N1 virus is an example of this. What makes avian flu mostly non-infectious to humans is that the shapes of the spikes don't fit the sialic acid receptors on human cell walls. What makes it deadly is when it reassorts with a human flu virus and keeps the the human-fitting spikes without losing the lethality of the avian virus. It can also mutate into a human-infectious form through normal mutant swarm means.

Body's defenses:

The immune system bases its defenses upon the shapes of the spikes and trees. Whenever it is invaded by a virus, if it survives, it will be able to recognize that particular one and quickly recreate the antibodies it developed to fight the first infection, thus providing immunity or at least resistance. If a new virus emerges, it won't recognize it and won't produce antibodies in time to prevent a full-blown infection. This is what makes this new virus so dangerous: no one has any immunity to it, or rather very few have some limited resistance to it, mostly those who had the 1968 Hong Kong flu, apparently the new flu is related somewhat to it.

I hope this clarifies how the virus infects, reproduces and mutates. I also hope it shows how improbable it is to genetically engineer a weapon out of a flu virus: there is no way to keep your "weapon" from mutating into uselessness or a direct danger to yourself. I further hope that it shows why the CDC and WHO are so very nervous about A/H1N1.

I highly recommend the book. It gives a great deal of insight into what happened in 1918, and what is likely to happen in 2010.

[edit on 29-5-2009 by apacheman]



posted on May, 29 2009 @ 09:18 PM
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[/exprintable version

Influenza A(H1N1) - update 41
29 May 2009 -- As of 06:00 GMT, 29 May 2009, 53 countries have officially reported 15,510 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 99 deaths.

The breakdown of the number of laboratory-confirmed cases by country is given in the following table.

Laboratory-confirmed cases of new influenza A(H1N1) as officially reported to WHO by States Parties to the International Health Regulations (2005)

Country Cumulative total Newly confirmed since the last reporting period
Cases Deaths Cases Deaths
Argentina 37 0 18 0
Australia 147 0 108 0
Austria 1 0 0 0
Bahrain 1 0 0 0
Belgium 8 0 1 0
Brazil 10 0 1 0
Canada 1118 2 197 1
Chile 165 0 79 0
China 30 0 8 0
Colombia 17 0 1 0
Costa Rica 33 1 0 0
Cuba 4 0 0 0
Czech Republic 1 0 1 0
Denmark 1 0 0 0
Dominican Republic 2 0 2 0
Ecuador 32 0 4 0
El Salvador 11 0 0 0
Finland 3 0 1 0
France 21 0 5 0
Germany 19 0 2 0
Greece 3 0 2 0
Guatemala 5 0 0 0
Honduras 1 0 0 0
Iceland 1 0 0 0
India 1 0 0 0
Ireland 3 0 2 0
Israel 11 0 2 0
Italy 26 0 3 0
Japan 364 0 4 0
Korea, Republic of 33 0 12 0
Kuwait 18 0 0 0
Malaysia 2 0 0 0
Mexico 4910 85 369 2
Netherlands 3 0 0 0
New Zealand 9 0 0 0
Norway 4 0 0 0
Panama 107 0 31 0
Peru 31 0 4 0
Philippines 6 0 4 0
Poland 4 0 1 0
Portugal 1 0 0 0
Romania 3 0 3 0
Russia 2 0 0 0
Singapore 4 0 3 0
Slovakia 1 0 1 0
Spain 143 0 5 0
Sweden 4 0 1 0
Switzerland 4 0 1 0
Thailand 2 0 0 0
Turkey 2 0 0 0
United Kingdom 203 0 66 0
United States of America 7927 11 1163 1
Uruguay 2 0 2 0
Grand Total 15510 99 2112 4

Chinese Taipei has reported 9 confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1) with 0 deaths. Cases from Chinese Taipei are included in the cumulative totals provided in the table above.

]

WHO



posted on May, 29 2009 @ 10:08 PM
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Their temperature will then be taken and – if they show no symptoms then or the following morning – they will be allowed into classrooms the following morning to sit their exams.www.independent.co.uk...



posted on May, 29 2009 @ 10:58 PM
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Here's an article from Boston-

www.boston.com...

This is from CDC-

www.cdc.gov...

This is from tn.gov-

Total cases confirmed in state: 102


Total specimens submitted for testing: 1,338


One bit of info mentions it is "mainly" passed through droplets in the air. Does that mean there's more than one pathway for the contagion? Is that normal for a flu virus?



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 12:02 AM
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Originally posted by blc4r4
Their temperature will then be taken and – if they show no symptoms then or the following morning – they will be allowed into classrooms the following morning to sit their exams.www.independent.co.uk...


Apparently, not all public officials around the the world realize that fever isn't always a symptom of H1N1. Sometimes people infected have below normal temperatures. "Many Swine Flu Cases Have No Fever"

I guess many officials aren't aware that fever doesn't always accompany the swine flu virus because the W.H.O. doesn't list below normal body temperature as a possible symptom. They only list fever.

Early signs of influenza A(H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhoea.
Source: World Health Organization

Also, people can be contagious if even they're feeling better and not experiencing symptoms, so someone who feels better and whose body temperature has gone from above normal to normal may still be contagious.

It's a pity the officials at the school don't realize this.



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 03:53 AM
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In Lebanon now too
thestar.com.my.../2009/5/30/worldupdates/2009-05-30T132806Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-399822-1&sec=Worldupdates


Australian Swine Flu Count Rises; Cruise Ship Arrives
www.bloomberg.com...
The country’s infection count increased to 208, from 168 yesterday,

There seems to be a definite upswing in confirmed cases and deaths again still about 5% deaths and about 10% cases daily and as the numbers increase these %'s mean big jumps in numbers.



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 11:13 AM
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Hi all and i know i ts been a while since i posted anything.

but i thought this may be important....

my sister who lives in Ct USA , has been sick on and off for the last two weeks . her county that she lives in to date has the highest number of c onfirmed cases in state and she now has a pounding headache, nausia, the runs , runny nose and acheky all over. but heres the catch, no fever that she is aware of.

i told her a week ago to get her self tested but now she thinks that its too late for anti viral drugs . but i think she should still get tested for it.

ill keep on her intil she does since i need to know since she also has lyme diese.

[edit on 30/5/09 by alysha.angel]

[edit on 30/5/09 by alysha.angel]



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 02:20 PM
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I found something interesting this morning as I was researching H1N1. Before I elaborate, I want to mention that probably most of you who are reading this are likely already aware that tap water contains small traces of medication. Here's one of many sources: SOURCE: The Washington Post

Okay, so what happens if there are traces of anti-viral medications in our drinking water and what might the possible implications be? How does this relate to H1N1?

Well, Oseltamivir, is one of the anti-virals that the CDC is saying may be used for the "treatment and/or prevention" of the swine flu.

Oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu ®) is approved to both treat and prevent influenza A and B virus infection in people one year of age and older.
SOURCE: CDC

Okay, so what if more and more people are treated with Oseltamivir as more and more people are contracting the swine flu? Would it be possible our water might contain more of the medication? If so, what might the implication be?

Here's some interesting research on this subject that I think deserves your attention. The paper was published in 2007. "Antiviral Oseltamivir Is not Removed or Degraded in Normal Sewage Water Treatment: Implications for Development of Resistance by Influenza A Virus"

I found the conclusion of the paper to be particularly interesting:

In conclusion, our experimental results, theoretical calculations and hypothesis imply the possibility that ubiquitous use of oseltamivir may result in selection pressures in the environment that favor development of drug-resistance. This raises the all-important question as to whether or not such a risk should be taken, or if a more restricted use of these agents should be advocated? This is an opinion shared by other researchers [28], and we would like to add that the effects of pharmaceuticals continuously released into the environment should not be underestimated and certainly investigated carefully before widespread use of a drug is encouraged.
SOURCE

If Tamiflu is prescribed more frequently to help treat H1N1, I wonder if possible traces of the medication in our water might mean that the medication will become resistant to the virus in the future? It's certainly something I want to explore more, but that's all I have time for today.



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 04:09 PM
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“As fear of swine flu has subsided, Olson suspects that fewer of these people have gone to the doctor, leading to drops in reports of ILI that are not accurate indicators of drops in the spread of the novel H1N1 virus that causes swine flu.

Although CDC had also noted increases in Boston and New York City, Olson says his more carefully parsed data show “massive increases” that look “mild” in the CDC regional data. CDC also shows ILI in Seattle dropping down at week 20, which is the opposite of what ISDS finds. Unfortunately, says Olson, no one has systematically collected data about the actual presence of the new H1N1 virus, as it would overtax testing labs. “We’re dealing with so much uncertainty, and we have imperfect measures,” says Olson. “But we need to know what they’re weaknesses are.”

Olson says it’s possible that the epidemic exploded, quickly infected the susceptible population, and will now fade out, but he doubts that, given that New York City has seen the disease peak, drop, and then peak again. “If what New York City has seen in last 10 days is any indication, we’re going to be seeing that everywhere else,” says Olson. “
blogs.sciencemag.org...



posted on May, 30 2009 @ 09:27 PM
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Whoa, this was fast-

Confirmed cases in all states of Australia

All states and territories in Australia have now reported confirmed cases of influenza H1N1. The Northern Territory announced their first case on May 31. The infection was diagnosed in a woman who had traveled from Melbourne (in the state of Victoria).

Excerpt from a pandemic preparedness website



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 01:18 AM
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The number of people with swine flu in Victoria has jumped to 212, with 39 new cases confirmed overnight.

Most of the new cases were in school-aged people, generally between 5- and 18-years-old.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said there were still 479 people awaiting swine flu test results.

www.news.com.au...


What I cannot understand is its Sunday here in Australia, and all weekend on the TV they have broadcast football matches. I'm sitting in front of the TV looking at stadiums full of thousands of people all confined together.
The state of Victoria, where this flu is most occurring is the football capital of the country. Every weekend thousands upon thousands of people gather to watch the footy. Why?

I'm seriously not even wanting to go to the local shopping center to buy food, but what choice do we have? This is seriously &^%$%*^$ up!



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 05:48 AM
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reply to post by Burginthorn
 


I'm surprised they didn't compensate the cruiseline passengers with free tickets to the football.
Either it's gross incompentance or was deliberately done.. not sure what to hope for. Why on earth would health officials think it's okay to expose another 2000 people to an infected ship and probably infected crew? (turned out they were). It makes no sense.

[edit on 31-5-2009 by riley]



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 10:22 AM
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The article I was reading this morning indicated that the situation in Australia is worsening...to the point that they will need to focus on treating the virus versus trying to contain it.


The H1N1 virus is now in every state and territory in the country. Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon conceded yesterday that while it was important to try to track and contain the disease, it may be impossible to keep quarantining people. More than 3000 Victorians are in voluntary home quarantine. Ms Roxon said health officials would review the Victorian situation if the disease numbers rose dramatically as was expected over the next week. There are 459 further tests waiting laboratory results. "There is a tipping point at which it won't be possible to continue to do that, and where we can assess that the disease really has become a community disease," Ms Roxon said. "And then we would move to a new phase where all of those efforts go into treatment and identification of people who are at risk. SOURCE: The Australian


Wales has their first confirmed case of swine flu. SOURCE: BBC News


My research of the H1N1 virus this week has focused on ways our drinking water might be making us susceptible to the swine flu. If you've been following my previous posts, you'll see I've discovered that scientists are looking at a possible link between susceptibility to H1N1 and higher levels or arsenic in drinking water. I would like to see more information on this but other than what I've posted in the past week or so, I haven't seen anything else new.


I did find this as I was reading this morning:



Is there a risk from drinking water? Tap water that has been treated by conventional disinfection processes does not likely pose a risk for transmission of influenza viruses. Current drinking water treatment regulations provide a high degree of protection from viruses. No research has been completed on the susceptibility of the novel H1N1 flu virus to conventional drinking water treatment processes. However, recent studies have demonstrated that free chlorine levels typically used in drinking water treatment are adequate to inactivate highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. It is likely that other influenza viruses such as novel H1N1 would also be similarly inactivated by chlorination. To date, there have been no documented human cases of influenza caused by exposure to influenza-contaminated drinking water.
SOURCE: Food Consumer


I was surprised that there was no mention of the possible link between susceptibility to H1N1 and higher levels or arsenic in drinking water. I wonder if further studies are being done to confirm this? I don't have time to do any more digging, but I'll keep looking.

[edit on 31-5-2009 by cornblossom]



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 01:19 PM
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news.bbc.co.uk...

Three further Eton College pupils have been diagnosed with swine flu, taking the total number of cases at the top public school to four.

More suspected cases at the Berkshire school are being investigated after a pupil tested positive there last week.

Health chiefs confirmed there were another 17 cases of the virus across the UK, bringing the total to 246.

The new cases included one patient from Wales, which is believed to be the first swine flu case in the country.

They also included two cases in Scotland.



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 04:12 PM
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In Jamaica now too
www.alertnet.org...

Vietnam too
www.gulf-times.com...

In Singapore
www.channelnewsasia.com...
Expect more H1N1 cases, says Mr Khaw. It is just a matter of time before the communal spread of the virus will take place, as patients would have had contact with numerous people in the community.

Mr Khaw said: "As some experts in WHO put it, one-third of mankind will be infected over the next two years. One-third of mankind in Singapore means one million people will be down with it."



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 06:23 PM
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An interesting story about the public health order side of getting the flu. They call you daily to check if you are there and will fine those that do not obey. And the warning at the end make you wonder what the PTB know about its deadly future.

Source


Police flu powers in Tasmania

POLICE have the power to arrest Tasmanians who refuse to co-operate with authorities trying to stop the spread of swine flu.

Acting public health director Chrissie Pickin warned yesterday that police could be called when people were unwilling to obey directions given by health authorities or to stay in isolation.

A public health order was served on one. The other strongly argued against being put in isolation. "A couple of people in particular were quite shocked and weren't very happy about it at all," Dr Pickin said.

"If people do resist, the Director of Public Health has powers under the Public Health Act to enforce isolation. "In the unlikely event that a person fails to abide by a public health order, we may call on police for help as a last resort. Exactly how police might be used would depend on the circumstances of the specific case."
"We need the community to acknowledge [swine flu] could be a severe threat in Tasmania," she said. "People need to be supportive and follow our requests."

She said if a full outbreak of the virus took hold, the number of Tasmanians directly affected could climb to 100,000.

Health authorities are still considering whether to move to the next stage of the swine flu plan. Australia is in the containment stage of the outbreak, with 303 cases confirmed nationally.



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 08:29 PM
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Because those that forget history are doomed to repeat it-

www.wztv.com...



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 11:33 PM
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Status upgrade as swine flu can't be controlled

The swine flu's spread across the northern suburbs can't be controlled, Victoria's health chief has admitted.

Dr Rosemary Lester said health authorities were "very carefully" weighing up when to upgrade the disease from "contain" to "sustain" as it was becoming increasingly difficult to trace cases or link them to any others.

The news came as the national toll rose to 306

www.news.com.au...



posted on May, 31 2009 @ 11:54 PM
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France considers mandatory flu vaccinations

www.infowars.com...
also heard this on today's radio morning news...




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