Swine Flu news and updates thread

www.reuters.com... HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two existing drugs used to treat osteoporosis may be effective in killing influenza viruses, including the new H1N1 swine flu and the H5N1 bird flu viruses, researchers in Hong Kong have found.

The two drugs are pamidronate and zoledronate, which are marketed by Novartis AG under the brand names Aredia and Reclast, respectively.

Centre Controller Dr Thomas Tsang said today she started taking Tamiflu on July 15 after 21 people at the home fell ill the day before. She came down with a fever, cough and sore throat on July 21 and was sent to Eastern District Hospital. She was confirmed to be infected with swine flu and later recovered.

Laboratory tests available today showed her virus sample was resistant to Tamiflu - the only one among the 21 cases at the home.www.recombinomics.com...

[edit on 14-8-2009 by wizardwars]

SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported the first death case from influenza A/H1N1 on Saturday amid growing concerns, the nation's health authorities announced amid the Seoul government's stepped-up efforts to tackle the global pandemic.

The late patient, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, is reportedly a man in his 50s who has recently visited Thailand, according to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.

Showing flu-like symptoms after returning home on Aug. 8, he was admitted to a local hospital, health authorities said.

Although the exact reason for his death is still under investigation, pneumonia, caused by the A/H1N1 influenza virus, is presumed to be the culprit, authorities added. news.xinhuanet.com...

The country's first cases of drug-resistant swine flu were discovered in two leukemia patients in Seattle, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Friday.

Both patients, who had weakened immune systems from chemotherapy and stem-cell transplants, developed flu strains resistant to the anti-viral drug oseltamivir, sold as Tamiflu. seattletimes.nwsource.com...

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Officials in Mexico's Chiapas state postponed classes Friday for more than 1 million students in an effort to avoid a resurgence of H1N1 flu, which has sickened thousands throughout Mexico this year. www.cnn.com...

Parents talking on the internet forums have expressed some concern about the H1N1 vaccine that will be offered to children and adults with underlying health conditions and pregnant women as priorities.

Fears raised include its safety for pregnant women, whether the vaccine has been tested enough and the fact one of them contains a controversial mercury preservative. www.telegraph.co.uk...

HOUSTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The A/H1N1 flu death toll in the United State has reached 477 with hospitalizations of 7,511, according to the latest statistics released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Friday.

The CDC said that 41 more deaths have been reported in the past week, a big jump from the previous record of 436 released a week ago by the agency. Meanwhile, there have been 1,005 more patients of the new virus admitted to the hospitals in the past week, bringing the total number of the hospitalizations around the country to 7,511, or a 15-percent increase compared with the previous record of 6,506. news.xinhuanet.com...

ATTENTION UK - ACT NOW!

There is a petition at No10.gov. We need another 160 odd signatures today to get this taken to the next level.

SIGN HERE!

Much love,
Stay safe!

Twist

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu A(H1N1) among the US military personnel in Iraq has reached 113.

The number of cases reported on August 11 was 71, whereas, by this morning this had climbed to 113, indicating an acceleration in the rate of spread, reported Associated Press.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health meanwhile has reported the affliction of another 23 Iraqi citizens, and has called the spread of the disease among US military in Iraq as “very worrying.” www.presstv.ir...

NaturalNews) Two shocking bits of news about the H1N1 swine flu virus emerged this week. The first is that the widely-circulating swine flu virus may be a lot more dangerous than people have so far been told: It appears to resemble the 1918 pandemic virus in the fact that it is capable of embedding itself deep in lung tissue and causing deadly infections. This is very different from the more common "seasonal flu" which does not replicate in the lungs.
www.naturalnews.com...

[edit on 15-8-2009 by wizardwars]

www.youtube.com...

Iranian officials believe the new wave of swine flu, which has affected the country and its neighbors, is capable of infecting some 10 to 24 million individuals.

Head of the Iranian Health Ministry's Center for Disease Control, Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya, told Mehr news agency, that authorities predict that some 525 to 1,225 thousand individuals will be hospitalized because of the new flu strain.

"Reports show that A/H1N1 virus is swarming in the country," Gouya said, adding that the number of domestic cases is rapidly increasing www.presstv.ir...

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported its second death from influenza A on Sunday, raising concerns that the country is no longer insulated from the contagious disease that is spreading rapidly worldwide.

The 63-year-old female resident of Seoul died from pulmonary edema, an abnormal buildup of fluid within the lungs, and multiple organ failure while receiving treatment at a local hospital, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. Her identity has been withheld. english.yonhapnews.co.kr...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that it would likely be Thanksgiving before the most vulnerable, high priority populations are completely vaccinated against the H1N1 or swine flu virus. In the meantime, Sebelius said parents and schools need to make back-up plans to deal with possible illness.

“We’re playing out a whole variety of scenarios,” Sebelius said on CNN’s State of the Union. “We’re preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.” politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...

QUITO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian Policy Minister Ricardo Patino has been infected with A/H1N1 flu, the Health Ministry reported on Thursday.

Patino began to show flu-like symptoms last week and is currently being treated with anti-viral medicine at home.

President Rafael Correa is also under medical observance because one member of his security team has been infected with the flu, the ministry said.

Correa will not be isolated as he has not been symptomatic, it added.

The staff working at the Carondelet Palace has been ordered to wear masks after the infection.

Ecuador has reported 23 deaths from A/H1N1 flu, while the number of infections in the country has exceeded 700, according to the ministry.
news.xinhuanet.com...

SAN JOSE, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Costa Rican President Oscar Arias is being quarantined at home and on stable conditions, after he was confirmed to have been infected with A/H1N1 influenza, official sources said on Wednesday.

Arias will be quarantined till Monday, but he will continue his work at home, Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias said.

"We talked with the president in the morning and he said he felt good, had a good night and had followed all the treatment directions," the minister said.

The government also opened an e-mail address for people to send him messages during his recovery.

On Tuesday, Costa Rican health authorities confirmed Arias' infection with the flu.

The minister also denied that any other minister or officer from the Presidential House to be infected with the flu.
news.xinhuanet.com...

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has asked doctors to check for increases in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) once the national vaccination programme begins.

Its letter refers to the use of a swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976, when 25 people died from GBS, while just one died from swine flu.
The syndrome, which can be fatal, attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe. Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown. www.telegraph.co.uk...

Originally posted by wizardwars
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has asked doctors to check for increases in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) once the national vaccination programme begins.

Its letter refers to the use of a swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976, when 25 people died from GBS, while just one died from swine flu.
The syndrome, which can be fatal, attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe. Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown. www.telegraph.co.uk...

I was just about to post about the same thing. The source is different so I'll post anyway. 2 reports from different sources have definitely made me sit up and take notice.

The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.

It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine.

GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.

The letter, sent to about 600 neurologists on July 29, is the first sign that there is concern at the highest levels that the vaccine itself could cause serious complications.

TheDailyMail.co.uk

JERUSALEM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two Israelis infected with A/H1N1 virus died on Monday, bringing the total number of this influenza-related deaths in Israel to nine.

The two victims were both male and respectively aged 67 and 76, health authorities were quoted by local news service Ynet as saying, while adding that it is still unclear whether the epidemic was the main cause of the two deaths.

About a dozen other A/H1N1 flu patients are still in intensive care units across the country, where official statistics showed that among some seven million residents, over 2,100 have been diagnosed with the global pandemic, and half of them are under the age of 30.

Israeli health experts have warned that some one quarter of the total Israeli population would contract the virus during a possible outbreak this winter, among whom around 700 would die.

The Israeli government has initiated a plan for precaution, including purchasing a large quantity of vaccines news.xinhuanet.com...

After fighting for her life over the past month, Tiphani Corley has lost her battle against swine flu.The 19-year-old Rockledge High graduate died just before midnight Saturday at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, where doctors had said her odds of survival were barely 50-50.

With two collapsed lungs, she had relied on a bypass machine and a ventilator for survival. Family members were at her bedside when she died. www.floridatoday.com...