| The Mexican Swine Flu Epidemic | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 25 2009, 08:51 AM (5,065 Views) | |
| ~J~ is in Wonderland | May 28 2009, 07:28 AM Post #226 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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Shame on Miss Piggy!
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| brittany | Jun 3 2009, 09:16 AM Post #227 |
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Swine Flu found in all 50 states. |
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| sceptical | Jun 9 2009, 01:49 PM Post #228 |
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXhsosg4qt7VDKt11ln7kjzbpa5w World getting 'very close' to swine flu pandemic: WHO 2 hours ago GENEVA (AFP) — The World Health Organisation on Tuesday assessed that the world was getting "very very close" to a swine flu pandemic, saying that it was racing to prepare countries for such a situation. "We are getting very very close," said Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general, noting that in Australia, there was now "a great deal of activity in Victoria at the community level." Under the WHO's guidelines, one key criteria for declaring a pandemic would be established community spread in a country outside the first region in which the disease was initially reported, in this case, outside the Americas. The WHO has so far left its six-level pandemic alert scale unchanged at phase five, signalling that a pandemic is "imminent." The UN health agency's guidelines had initially focused on the geographical criteria to justify a phase change. However, member states have called on the agency to take other elements, such as severity of the disease into account. On Tuesday, Fukuda played down the role of severity, saying that "by going to phase six, what this would mean is that the spread of the virus continues and activity has become established in at least two regions in the world. "It doesn't mean that the severity of the situation has increased," he said. But when asked if the situation in Australia, where 1,211 cases of infections have been recorded, warranted a phase change, Fukuda would only say that the world was "getting very, very close" to a pandemic. "The declaration of phase changes... is not simply getting up in front of press cameras or making an announcement. It's really a way of preparing the world to deal with the situation," said Fukuda, adding that a "great deal of work has to be done." This includes ensuring that countries had the information and tools to handle increased numbers of patients as well as to deal with inquiries from the population. "Right now we feel that the essential steps which should be taken are on the way," he said. Giving an update on the swine flu situation throughout the world, Fukuda said 26,563 infections including 140 deaths have been reported to the health agency from 73 countries. Fukuda pointed in particular to the situation in Inuit communities in Canada where "a disproportionate number of serious cases is occurring. "At this time, we know that a larger number than expected of young Inuit people did develop serious illness and has had to get hospitalised," he said. Fukuda said he was unable to pinpoint the reasons for the trend. "We know in past pandemics that Inuit populations were very severely hit, that's why these reports raised such concerns to us," he said. |
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| sceptical | Jun 9 2009, 02:23 PM Post #229 |
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-swineflu10-2009jun10,0,7659867.story From the Los Angeles Times WHO close to raising alert to highest level for swine flu The H1N1 outbreak would be considered a pandemic. But the health organization is worried that could lead to border closings, travel restrictions and people with mild illnesses flooding ERs. By Thomas H. Maugh II 11:49 AM PDT, June 9, 2009 The World Health Organization is inching closer to raising the infectious disease alert level for the novel H1N1 influenza outbreak to its highest level, indicating that a pandemic has arrived, but has delayed doing so in an effort to prepare national health organizations and populations for the impact of such an announcement, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director general of the agency, this morning in a telephone news conference. The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose above 1,200 in Australia on Monday and the virus is no longer restricted to schools and other institutions in that country, suggesting that a community-wide spread has begun. Such a spread in a region outside North America is the primary criterion for raising the alert level to Phase 6. "One of the critical issues is that we do not want people to over-panic if they hear that we are in a pandemic situation," Fukuda said. WHO officials worry that a pandemic declaration would lead people with mild illnesses to flood emergency rooms and might lead to border closings, travel restrictions and other "unwarranted" actions. In the early stages of the current outbreak, Fukuda said, people stopped eating pork, pig herds were killed, and imports of pork were restricted by some countries. "These are the kinds of potential adverse effects" that the agency is trying to avoid, he said. Reporters repeatedly pressed Fukuda about why, given the clear spread in Australia, the agency has not increased the alert level. "We are really getting very close to that," he said. "We are working very hard to ensure that everyone is prepared for that." In an effort to mitigate over-reaction in response to an increase in the alert level, the agency last week decided to augment the current warning system with three tiers inside Phase 6 to indicate the severity of the pandemic. Barring changes in the next few days, the agency will most likely indicate that the severity is at the lowest level when the stage is raised, indicating that the virus is spreading through populations, but that its effects remain relatively mild. As of this morning, Fukuda said, there have been more than 26,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1, or swine flu, in 73 countries, with 140 deaths. In the United States, the most recent figures form the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 13,217 confirmed cases and 27 deaths. Officials believe the total number of cases, both in this country and worldwide, are actually much higher because many people have mild cases and do not receive testing. Fukuda said researchers have seen few, if any, changes in the virus since its emergence in Mexico earlier this year, and that it still remains susceptible to the principal antiviral drug Tamiflu. But they are concerned that infections continue in North America and Europe, even though the traditional flu season has ended in the Northern Hemisphere. "The disease patterns are not what we see from seasonal influenza," he said. That suggests that the virus has greater capability for spread than does the seasonal flu virus. The majority of the infections have been in people younger than 60, which is also different from seasonal flu. That suggests, some experts said, that older people may have been exposed to a different swine flu virus in the past that has conferred some immunity. About half of the people who have died from the virus were previously healthy, with no underlying medical conditions. "That is one of the observations that has given us the most concern," he said. "We don't know why they died and why other people recovered. We are looking for clues." And some populations appear to be more at risk for debilitating illness from the virus. In Canada, for example, the Inuit population appears to be especially vulnerable. In some areas, half of those hospitalized are Inuit. "Is it poverty or underlying disease? That's not clear," Fukuda said, but it is something that has been observed in previous pandemics. |
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| Kerri P. | Jun 10 2009, 07:42 PM Post #230 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5326508/ Swine flu spreads across N.C. Posted: Today at 4:58 p.m. Updated: 16 minutes ago Smithfield, N.C. — There are 59 cases of the H1N1 virus in North Carolina. Four new cases, an adult and three children, were confirmed Wednesday in Johnston County. [Watch Video] Chatham County also has three new cases of the illness, which is also called swine flu. Its cases involve two students at Horton Middle School and a preschool-aged child who does not attend school. "We've had a good number of calls about it (H1N1),” said Dr. Renee Johnson, with Apex Pediatrics Center. Johnson's office put together a task force to help patients concerned about the illness. State health officials say it is getting tougher to keep up with the number of people with flu-like symptoms. "We're now at the point where we are telling clinicians if they see flu-like illness, fever, cough, sore throat, that they should consider that to be H1N1 and act accordingly," said Dr. Megan Davies, with the N.C. Department of Health. snip... |
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| Baldo | Jun 11 2009, 10:34 AM Post #231 |
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WHO declares first 21st century flu pandemic GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization declared the first flu pandemic of the 21st century on Thursday, Sweden's health ministry said. The health ministry said the United Nations agency was raising its pandemic flu alert to the top phase 6 on a six-point scale, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968 is under way. "Today... the Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health Maria Larsson has called a press conference following a decision by the WHO to raise the pandemic level to six for the influenza A H1N1 virus," the ministry said in a statement. WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan was due to give a news conference on the influenza (A) H1N1 pandemic at 1600 GMT, following a meeting of the WHO's emergency committee of flu experts, and WHO spokesmen declined to comment before that. The move will trigger heightened health measures in the WHO's 193 member states as authorities brace for the worldwide spread of the virus that has so far caused mainly mild illness. The move to phase 6 reflects the fact that the disease, widely known as swine flu, was spreading geographically, but not necessarily indicate how virulent it is. "Phase 6, if we call a phase 6, doesn't mean anything concerning severity, it is concerning geographic spread ... Pandemic means global, but it doesn't have any connotation of severity or mildness," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said. "In fact, what we are seeing with this virus so far is overwhelmingly to date mild disease. So we would think that this event is really a moderate event for the time being, because the numbers are high but the disease is overwhelmingly mild," he told Reuters Television before the committee meeting. David Heymann, a former top WHO official now chairing Britain's Health Protection Agency, said that countries had tried to contain the virus through measures including school closures during the previous phase 5. This has extended the precious time needed to prepare for a full-blown pandemic. "During phase 5, the government and people in the U.K. have had the time to prepare for a pandemic -- this has hopefully decreased any surprise and concern that might be associated with a WHO announcement of phase 6, if one is made," he told Reuters. As it spreads in humans, science cannot predict what course the virus will take, the disease it causes and the age groups infected, Heymann said. "The severity of that disease, the effectiveness of antiviral drugs and the stability of the virus must all be watched closely," he added. A pandemic could cause enormous disruption to business as workers stay home because they are sick or to look after family members and authorities restrict gatherings of large numbers of people or movement of people or goods. World markets shrugged off the possibility of a pandemic, as investors focused on possible global economic recovery. AUSTRALIA LIKELY TRIGGER Widespread transmission of the virus in Victoria, Australia, signaling that it is entrenched in another region besides North America, was likely to be the trigger for moving to phase 6. Continued... http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55A1U720090611?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews |
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| Kerri P. | Jun 11 2009, 04:28 PM Post #232 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5335973/ Wake County confirms three more swine flu cases Posted: Today at 4:04 p.m. Updated: 5 minutes ago Raleigh, N.C. — State health officials added 24 cases of the H1N1 virus Thursday, with three new cases in Wake County. Lee, Person and Wilson counties also reported their first confirmed cases of the illness, which is also called swine flu. The World Health Organization said the spread of swine flu has created the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. The announcement by WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan came Thursday as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere to near 30,000 cases. Chan said she decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase 5 to 6, meaning that a global outbreak of swine flu has begun, after an emergency meeting on swine flu with top experts. Health officials say people in high-risk groups, such as children under age five, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions, need to be extra careful and see a doctor if they feel sick. snip... |
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| sceptical | Jun 27 2009, 05:55 PM Post #233 |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8122262.stm US passes million swine flu cases US health officials estimate that at least one million Americans have been infected with swine flu since the H1N1 virus emerged nearly three months ago. The number is far higher than cases actually reported to the authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said many cases were mild, although 127 people had died. The CDC based its figures on surveys, rather than laboratory evidence, but the numbers suggest the death rate from swine flu is lower than thought. "We're saying that there have been at least a million cases of the new H1N1 virus so far this year in the United States," said Anne Schuchat of the CDC. "Reported cases are really just the tip of the iceberg." The CDC has based its estimate on mathematical modelling, based on surveys by health officials. If the figures are correct, it is reassuring news, because it indicates that the fatality rate from swine flu is even lower than thought, says BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh. However, Dr Schuchat warned that swine flu might exhibit higher infection rates than seasonal flu and could return in a more virulent form in the autumn. According to the CDC, there have been 27,717 confirmed or probable cases; some 3,000 people have needed hospital treatment and there have been 127 deaths. Swine flu continues to affect mainly people under 50 years of age, with many of those worst affected having underlying health problems such as asthma or diabetes. The average age of those who died in the US is 37. Officials from the CDC and the World Health Organization are watching outbreaks in the southern hemisphere, in particular in Argentina, Chile and Australia, to see how the H1N1 virus has been spreading during the winter months and whether it is likely to become more virulent. Argentina's health ministry has registered 26 deaths attributed to swine flu, and 1,587 cases. Officials are advising people to try to leave space between each other as they line up to vote in legislative elections on Sunday. Chilean health authorities say there have been 6,211 cases and 12 deaths. In Australia, there have been five swine-flu related deaths, all of patients with existing medical conditions, and 3,677 cases, according to official figures. The H1N1 virus first emerged in April in Mexico, which has recorded 116 deaths and 8,279 cases, according to the WHO. On 11 June, the WHO declared a global flu pandemic, meaning that swine flu virus was spreading in at least two regions of the world. Officials stressed that this did not mean the virus was causing more severe illness or more deaths. According to the latest figures from the WHO, there have been 263 deaths and nearly 60,000 cases in some 100 countries and territories. |
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| Kerri P. | Jul 4 2009, 04:08 PM Post #234 |
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http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=419041>1=28101 'Potter' star Rupert Grint recovering from swine flu July 4, 2009, 1:16 PM EST LONDON (AP) -- The agent for "Harry Potter" star Rupert Grint says the actor is recovering from a mild case of swine flu. Grint plays the boy wizard's best friend Ron Weasley in the hit film franchise. Christian Hodell of Hamilton Hodell management said Saturday that Grint took a few days away from the set of the latest film, but has now been able to return to work. |
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