Swine Flu news and updates thread

Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, defended giving swine flu drug Tamiflu to children as Andrew Castle, the TV presenter, said his daughter "almost died" after taking it. www.telegraph.co.uk...

B.C. has recorded another death from H1N1 flu virus, the fourth confirmed "swine flu" death in the province since July 13.

The latest death occurred sometime after Aug. 4 in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, the B.C Ministry of Health said in a news release late Monday. www.cbc.ca...

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported six more deaths related to Influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of fatalities to 32.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said there was one death on Sunday while two people succumbed to the disease last Wednesday. Three patients died on Saturday.
It was only now confirmed that the five had died of A (H1N1) following post-mortem, he said, adding that the deaths were officially reported to health authorities on Sunday.
“Four of the victims had underlying risk factors,” he said. “In the last 24 hours, 203 new cases were reported, of which 15 were treated in Intensive Care Unit and 67 patients are in the isolation wards,” he said yesterday.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by wizardwars]

New Mexico's first confirmed death caused by H1N1 influenza was reported today by officials at the state Department of Health.

A 45-year-old female from Sierra County who had end-stage liver disease and had been hospitalized since July 25 died over the weekend, according to an annoucement this morning.

RIYADH: A 33-year-old Saudi man in Riyadh became the ninth swine flu death in the Kingdom, the Ministrywww.arabnews.com...

NEW YORK (AP) - The family of the assistant principal who was New York City's first swine flu victim has filed court papers with the intention of suing the city and its health and education departments.

Mitchell Wiener's widow and three sons said in a notice of claim last week that they intend to file a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit. The notice claims the city was negligent in failing to quickly report the outbreak and failing to warn Weiner that he'd been exposed to the virus. It also claims the city didn't do its best to control the outbreak. www.wcax.com...

While drug makers prepare a swine flu vaccine in anticipation of a possible outbreak this fall, one of the issues yet to be resolved is whether the shots will contain an adjuvant. abcnews.go.com...

The Obama administration is quietly dusting off an effort to impose new federal quarantine regulations, which were vigorously resisted by civil liberties organizations and the airline industry when the rules were first proposed by the Bush administration nearly four years ago.
www.politico.com...

It would be ‘foolhardy’ for the Government to reopen schools in September while a swine flu vaccine is still unavailable, a GP respiratory expert has warned.

Children are more infectious and appear to be more vulnerable to the H1N1 virus which spreads fast among them, leading some researchers to argue that closing schools for long periods could reduce the spread of swine flu, ease its burden on hospitals and potentially limit the number of deaths due to the virus.

The Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families have both insisted that there currently is not a ‘strong argument’ for school closure – but that their policy will be kept under review.
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Professor David Price, professor of primary care respiratory medicine at the University of Aberdeen and a Government advisor on respiratory disease, backed the DH strategy of widespread antiviral use but said swine flu would be better managed through school closures.

Professor Price told Pulse: ‘If we really want to reduce use of Tamiflu, we need to look at better public health measures for reducing the spread of swine flu. It is very noticeable that rates of the illness in the UK have begun to drop now children are off school on their summer holidays.

‘There is no greater way of facilitating the spread of swine flu than allowing children to mix in schools. If we had a vaccine it would be a different matter, but given we don’t yet, it would in my view be foolhardy to allow children back to school. It's a discussion that needs to be had.’www.pulsetoday.co.uk...

BANGKOK, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday afternoon announced 16 more deaths related to A/H1N1 influenza, bringing the country's death toll to 97.

Two-thirds of the victims had congenital diseases, Deputy permanent secretary for health Doctor Paijit Warathit said.

It is believed that over the next three to four weeks, the death toll will be on a downward trend.

Thailand reported its first two confirmed infection cases on May 12. According to the World Health Organization, Thailand ranks the 33rd worst affected country in the world. news.xinhuanet.com...

Dr. Wenzel, a former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, said he had observed a broad spectrum of illness from human swine influenza: people who experienced few or no symptoms to those who rapidly developed complications and died.

The standard definition of influenza includes a fever. But an odd feature of the new virus is the lack of fever in a significant proportion of documented cases, even after some patients become seriously ill. In Chile, it was about half, in Mexico City about a third and elsewhere, less, Dr. Wenzel said. Lack of fever has been noted by other observers in several Canadian cases.

Analysis of data from specimens yet to be tested may shed light on how often infected individuals who have no fever spread the virus. www.nytimes.com...

The swine flu death toll went up to ten even as panic spread across the country. Even the World Badminton Championships in Hyderabad was hit by the swine flu scare. A Malaysian coach for the doubles was admitted to a local government hospital here after showing symptoms of the viral disease. www.hardnewsmedia.com...

The swine flu death toll apart, there was more bad news for Pune. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the “virus is freely moving in the city”.

In the 24 hours till Tuesday evening, Pune registered 73 more cases, the highest since the virus’ arrival, taking the case count to 294.

The city also registered its fifth swine flu death. Shruti Gawade (13), a Narayan Peth resident, was on a ventilator since August 7 at Sassoon Hospital. She passed away eaP Deepika (25), admitted to Nigdi’s Lokmanya Hospital, was suspected to have died of the flu but officials could not confirm the cause as her test results are not yet in.

Nine others were in critical condition. “Of these, Nigdi resident Sanjay Mistry’s (35) health is deteriorating. Shobha Gaikwad (31) and Archana Kolhe (37) too are critical but their swab reports are awaited,” said Sassoon Resident Medical Officer Deepa Lad.

“The NCDC team has not yet asked us to announce a Pandemic Level 6,” said District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi. A Level 6 situation would imply a complete shutdown of the city.

National Institute of Virology Director AC Mishra blamed Pune’s susceptibility to swine flu on the climate. “Right now, it’s neither too hot nor too cold. This is conducive for the virus’ survival,” he said.

Scared by the epidemic, students from outside are returning in droves to their hometowns. Some of these students, feared health officials, could be carrying the H1N1 virus back home.

A 24-year-old student of Symbiosis was one such carrier. He returned to Osmanabad last week and got tested after he developed a cough. The tests showed he had swine flu and was admitted to Solapur Civil Hospital. An engineering student, who returned to Shimla, is also a suspected carrier. His test results are awaited.

Pune, an education hub, has two lakh students. Schools and colleges have been shut for a week and Pune guardian minister Ajit Pawar said: “Health authorities have been asked to instruct college hostels not to allow students to return to their native places.”

However, there were huge crowds of students waiting to return home at railway stations and bus stands and travel agents said they were flooded with bookings.

“It’s impossible to stop each student. Most are taking the benefit of a week off to return homes,” said Wadia College principal Bhagwan Thakur.rly on Tuesday.

38 soldiers at Sør-Varanger Garrison, the border guard detachment on the Norwegian-Russian border, are reported to be infected by the H1N1 influenza, the so-called swine flu. barentsobserver.com...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Even heads of state get swine flu.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday he has swine flu, has been quarantined at home and is being treated with the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir.

"The pandemic makes no distinctions," said the 69-year-old president and Nobel Peace Prize winner. "I am one more case in this country and I am being submitted to the recommendations that health authorities have established for the entire population."

Arias suffers from asthma and is at higher risk than most, but was in good enough health to continue working.

"Aside from the discomfort of the fever and sore throat, I feel in good shape and in full capacity to carry out my work by telecommuting," Arias said in the statement.

www.nydailynews.com...

A 52-year-old El Dorado County woman has died after being hospitalized with the H1N1 flu virus, while Granite Bay High School administrators confirmed Tuesday that four students have swine flu and another 11 students reported flu-like symptoms. www.sacbee.com...

CANBERRA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A 41-year-old man with A/H1N1 virus was the first 'healthy' person to die in Queensland who did not have underlying medical conditions.

Chief medical officer Jeannette Young said on Wednesday the death was concerning but did not signal anything unusual, such as a mutation of the virus.

"He wasn't a member of any of the vulnerable groups which is of course a concern to people," she told reporters.

"But people do need to remember that with seasonal flu every single year we do have a number of deaths of people who have no risk factors for developing complications."

For example, Queensland Health recorded a spike in deaths of healthy people in 2007 from the normal seasonal flu, Young said.

"We would expect again there will be a number of people who don't fall into any of those risk groups who will die of this flu."

Those in the vulnerable category include indigenous Australians, pregnant women, the obese, and those with underlying conditions such as heart disease, respiratory diseases and diabetes.

There are about 100 people in Queensland with A/H1N1 flu currently being hospitalized, including around 40 in intensive care.

Brazil's swine flu death toll has soared to almost 200, Health Minister Jose Temporao said Tuesday.

His new figure of 192 was double the figure given by the health ministry last Wednesday, although a tally of individual states last week already came to 132 deaths. www.winknews.com...

NOVOSIBIRSK, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - Medical experts in Siberia's Novosibirsk Region say they are concerned at the possibility of a new potent hybrid virus developing from swine and bird flu which could threaten human lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the highest pandemic threat on June 11, the first time in 40 years, as the swine flu epidemic, which first emerged in April in Mexico, spread around the globe.

The head of the local branch of Russia's consumer watchdog in the Novosibirsk Region, Valery Mikheyev said that WHO had announced the pandemic threat "for the future."

"The situation could become complex as far as the A/H1N1 flu is unpredictable, the strain of this virus could undergo a change with seasonal flu... even with bird flu. This is what the service is frightened of," Mikheyev said.

He added that in the U.K. which has one of the highest numbers of confirmed infections in the world is above the seasonal flu pandemic threshold.

Medical experts fear a new strain spreading quickly among the population.

"There is no objective basis for calling the new H1N1 virus 'highly pathogenic' as fatalities comprise under 1% of all cases. In comparison, fatalities for the bird flu H5N1 virus are around 65%," a professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) said.

According to the Russia's watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, there are 208,058 confirmed cases of A/H1N1, with 1,688 fatalities worldwide. The number of confirmed swine flu cases in Russia has reached 55. en.rian.ru...

In the deadliest day of casualties, since the outbreak of the dreaded swine flu, five deaths, including two in Pune and one each in Vadodara, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, were reported on Tuesday taking the countrywide A/H1N1 toll to 12 in the last nine davisionmp.com...