| We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Swine Flu | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Apr 26 2009, 08:48 AM (1,041 Views) | |
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Aug 29 2009, 01:53 PM Post #71 |
Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
|
Flu spreading at 'unbelievable' rate SWINE flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 per cent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world's top health official says. "This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed," World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told France's Le Monde daily in an interview. "In six weeks it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover," Ms Chan said. "Sixty per cent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems," Ms Chan said. "This means that 40 per cent of the fatalities concern young adults - in good health - who die of a viral fever in five to seven days. "This is the most worrying fact," she said, adding that "up to 30 per cent of people in densely populated countries risked getting infected." More than 2180 people around the world have died from the virus since it was uncovered in April. Some tropical countries are already reporting strains on their healthcare systems amid surges in infections. Ms Chan also said that it could be months before sufficient vaccine is available to combat the pandemic. She put world production capacity at 900 million doses a year, for a global population of 6.8 billion people. Even if this was an unprecedented effort, and authorities were speeding up procedures for getting vaccines to the market, there should be no question of compromises on their safety and effectiveness, Ms Chan said. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26000408-23109,00.html |
 |
 
|
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Oct 31 2009, 02:54 PM Post #72 |
|
Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
|
Swine flu deaths soar, Ukraine closes schools THE number of global swine flu deaths has spiked by 700 in a week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says, as Ukraine closed schools and cinemas in the toughest measures taken in Europe over the virus. More than 5700 people have died from the A(H1N1) since it broke out in April in Mexico and the US. The biggest rise in the past week was recorded in the Americas, were 636 more people were reported killed by swine flu, bringing the region's death toll to 4175, the UN agency says. Fatal cases in Europe also climbed to at least 281, while those in Asia-Pacific rose to 1070. "In the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, influenza transmission continues to intensify, marking an unusually early start to winter influenza season in some countries," the WHO said today. Ukraine confirmed its first swine flu deaths, prompting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to order schools and cinemas closed and ban public gatherings for three weeks to contain the spread of the virus. The government will also introduce "special regimes" to limit the movement of Ukraine's citizens from one region to another for non-urgent purposes, she said. Ukraine has borders with four EU countries. The prime minister's tough actions came as Ukraine confirmed four deaths from the A(H1N1) virus, amid a growing panic over several dozen unexplained deaths in the west of the country. "We can say today that Ukraine has entered into the zone of the swine flu epidemic," Health Minister Vassyl Kniazevich said. In the US, the virus may have infected up to 5.7 million over the first four months of the outbreak, according to a study by the government's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The figure is more than 100 times the number of cases confirmed in laboratories. The researchers estimated that between 1.8 million to 5.7 million cases of A(H1N1) flu occurred in the United States in the four months from April, when the virus was first reported. Of those cases, between 9000 and 21,000 were taken to hospital, the study said. "We have been saying that we were just finding the tip of the iceberg with our laboratory confirmed reporting," Anne Schuchat, the director of the national centre for immunisation and respiratory diseases, told reporters. The A(H1N1) virus has also spread in European football leagues, just days after the French first division clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille was postponed after three Parisian players were diagnosed with swine flu. Spanish second division team Real Betis, based in Sevilla, has requested that its game on Sunday be postponed after 13 players became sick with swine flu. The virus has also made its way into the English Premiership where Blackburn Rovers and Bolton reported that players and staff had contracted it. Countries in the northern hemisphere have been arming themselves with swine flu vaccines for the winter months. The WHO said experts concluded after a meeting this week that a single dose of swine flu vaccine would provide sufficient immunity against A(H1N1). These vaccines were found to be safe for usage by pregnant women and can also be administered alongside seasonal flu vaccines, according to conclusions drawn from the meeting. While clinical data was limited on the effects of vaccination on children under the age of 10, the WHO said countries should give a single dose to as many children as possible rather than vaccinating only half of the young population with two shots each. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26284793-23109,00.html |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Headline news · Next Topic » |
2:01 PM Nov 24
