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Stand 22.05.2009, 13.00 Uhr In Deutschland wurden zwei weitere Fälle der neuen Grippe (Influenza A/H1N1) positiv getestet. Dabei handelt es sich um Familienmitglieder der 43-jährigen Frau aus Nordrhein-Westfalen, die am 20.05.2009 positiv getestet worden war. Die Frau und ihr Mann waren aus den USA nach Deutschland zurückgekehrt, die Tochter war nicht in den USA gewesen. Insgesamt sind damit neun Erkrankungsfälle aus Mexiko und drei Fälle aus den USA eingeschleppt worden (die beiden Staaten mit den weitaus meisten Fällen). Fünf Übertragungen sind in Deutschland aufgetreten. Die 17 Fälle [...]
The rapid spread of so-called “swine flu” among local school children shows that the virus is not fading away, a top regional health official said Thursday.
“We’re not out of the woods at all,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, chief of epidemiology for Public Health – Seattle and King County.
Nearly 70 percent of the confirmed cases in King County are in children between the ages of 5 and 18, Duchin told a special meeting of the King County Board of Health.
Confirmed cases are “only the tip of the iceberg” in terms of the total number of infections. Area emergency rooms also are reporting increasing numbers of sick children, he said.
The levels of infection in school-aged children seem to be slightly higher than during a normal flu season, Duchin said. Most of the illnesses are mild, though 11 school-aged children were hospitalized….
Australia ups swine flu pandemic threat level
SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia upped its pandemic threat level, invoking sweeping powers allowing for the closure of schools, public places and major events as the number of confirmed swine flu cases reached 12.
The update on the flu-like illness that prompted the closure of MS 113
through next Tuesday is that there’s probably not going to be an update. As in the cases of the other 30 or so public schools that it has shut down due to illness in recent weeks, the Health Department does no plan to test the students who went home sick from MS 113 for swine flu, which prefers to be known as the H1N1 virus.
The odds are that they do have H1N1, and knowing for sure would not help much at this point in the epidemiological cycle, said Jessica Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for the Health Department.
“Because we already know that the H1N1 virus is in the community, and most likely if you are sick right now you probably have the H1N1 virus, there’s no need for us to test every possible single case,” he said. “So we’re only testing in cases where there is severe illness or an unusual cluster."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today that it has at least one, and possibly two versions of the new swine flu virus that may help drug makers develop a vaccine against the novel strain.
The first of these so-called "seed viruses" is a bit like a microscopic Frankenstein, consisting of pieces from the new strain combined with other viral fragments that will allow the virus to grow well in chicken eggs -- a preliminary step in the vaccine-making process.
The other was created through reverse genetics, a newer technique.
Once the CDC sends these template viruses to drug manufacturers -- probably by the end of next week -- the companies can use them to begin cranking out pilot lots
Cases of H1N1 Flu Virus in Canada
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is committed to sharing information about H1N1 flu virus cases with Canadians. Confirmed cases are posted Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4 p.m. EDT.
As of May 22 2009, a total of 805 laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 flu virus have been reported in 9 provinces and 1 territory in Canada
From IndexMundi:
0-14 years: 29.6% (male 16,619,995/female 15,936,154)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 34,179,440/female 36,530,154)
65 years and over: 6.1% (male 3,023,185/female 3,666,472) (2008 est.)
From Wiki Demographics of Canada
Age
Group Number Per cent Number Per cent
0-4 864,600 2.7% 825,940 2.6%
5-9 926,855 2.9% 882,520 2.8%
10-14 1,065,860 3.3% 1,014,060 3.2%
15-19 1,095,285 3.5% 1,045,205 3.3%
20-24 1,047,950 3.3% 1,032,435 3.3%
25-29 975,945 3.1% 1,009,635 3.2%
30-34 987,730 3.1% 1,032,515 3.3%
35-39 1,083,495 3.4% 1,124,780 3.6%
40-44 1,285,535 4.1% 1,324,925 4.2%
45-49 1,290,125 4.1% 1,330,470 4.2%
50-54 1,158,970 3.7% 1,198,330 3.8%
55-59 1,026,395 3.2% 1,058,230 3.3%
60-64 780,135 2.5% 809,730 2.6%
65-69 593,810 1.9% 640,770 2.0%
70-74 493,460 1.6% 560,320 1.8%
75-79 386,485 1.2% 493,095 1.6%
80-84 251,420 0.8% 395,285 1.3%
85+ 161,930 0.5% 358,680 1.1%
Totals 15,475,970 49.0% 16,136,930 51.0%
A 1-year-old child has been hospitalized in Toronto after contracting swine flu, which aggravated an existing lung problem, according to a source.
The child is in stable condition at the Hospital for Sick Children, suffering from a flare-up of the pre-existing respiratory condition, triggered by the H1N1 virus. In the past week, the child was admitted, discharged and then re-admitted to hospital.
Earlier in the week, an 8-year-old was hospitalized at Sick Kids after the virus exacerbated an underlying condition, according to the source. That child has since been discharged.
Over at Toronto Western Hospital, a 60-year-old man with congestive heart failure and H1N1 is on life support. His condition is deteriorating.
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ROME, May 22 (Reuters) - Two Rome high schools have been ordered closed for a week after four students caught the H1N1 flu virus on a school trip to New York, Italy's Health Ministry said on Friday.
Four boys who returned from the United States this week in a group of students and teachers from two schools in central Rome went to hospital after showing flu symptoms. They were later confirmed to have the new strain, also known as swine flu.
Deputy Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio said in a statement the schools would be shut for seven days to avoid further infection. School authorities said they had not yet received orders to send students home. (Writing by Stephen Brown)
MADRID, May 22 (Reuters) - The Spanish army has quarantined dozens of soldiers in a Madrid barracks after 11 fell ill with what doctors suspect is the new flu virus, the health ministry said on Friday. Six of the soldiers were admitted to a specially sealed ward in a military hospital while doctors completed tests on Friday to see whether they had contracted the H1N1 strain of the virus, which has infected more than 11,000 people globally and killed at least 85