News Reports for July 27, 2012

India: Affluent hit by swine flu; 96% cases from non-slum areas (Maharashtra)

Mumbai - Affluent areas in the city are proving more vulnerable to the swine flu, according to statistics released by the BMC. Of the 172 cases of H1N1 reported from January to July this year, 166, or a whopping 96.5%, are from non-slum areas. Men account for 101 cases.

There has been a spurt in H1N1 cases in July. The civic body said 110 people tested positive for the virus this month as the sudden drop in temperature has resulted in a congenial atmosphere for the disease. "Fortunately, there has been no death. Despite the rising number of cases in July, people need not panic as we are taking all possible measures to tackle the virus," (Snip)

BMC administrative wards like H-West (Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz), K-East (Andheri, Vile Parle, Jogeshwari) and S (Bhandup) have emerged as high-risk zones for the virus. The three wards have seen 28, 15 and 29 H1N1 cases, respectively, this month.

(Snip)

(Snip) the BMC's executive health officer, said the figures of people testing positive for the virus in non-slum areas had shot up because of people taking swab tests after contracting cough and cold. Private practitioners agree. "People from affluent areas insist on taking tests while the poor cannot afford them. They will undergo tests only when the illness is serious," (Snip)

(Snip)

The BMC, however, is not taking any chances and is educating slum dwellers by organising health camps on Sundays. "So far, we have held 25 camps this year. We are prepared to tackle the virus as we have sufficient stock of Tamiflu," Mhaiskar said. The civic body has 5,000, 1,000, 100 and 200 capsules of Tamiflu at its medical colleges, peripheral hospitals, dispensaries, and MOH offices respectively. The BMC will also start an awareness campaign from Monday. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/...

(Note: As a general rule, people who live in depressed areas or slums as they are called here, have lower resistance due to malnutrition, poor healthcare and poor hygiene. I'm betting there are a lot of flu cases in all those areas throughout India and IMO, they need to be doing more than just awareness campaign.)

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 05:22:05 AM UTC

China: Reopened bird market off to less than a flying start (Hong Kong)

A forlorn atmosphere hung over the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden - popularly known as Bird Street - after health officials reopened it yesterday. The popular tourist spot was closed for 21 days for disinfection after the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus was found in one of the stalls. About 1,000 birds were culled and vendors put under surveillance for signs of the disease.

Each of the 69 vendors in the Mong Kok market was given HK$12,000 in compensation and their rents were waived for one month.

A shopowner named Lam, who sells bird food, said the number of customers at the market was just one-third of that seen on a normal day before the closure. "It is raining and this may have worsened the situation," she said. Continued: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 05:30:02 AM UTC

Many Symptomatic H3N2v Cases At LaPorte County Fair

Recombinomics Commentary

One father who did not want to be identified because he was afraid speaking out would adversely affect his family's farming business became emotional when he told WSBT three of his pigs and his three daughters were all sick. He said an ambulance rushed his 11-year-old daughter from the fairgrounds to a local hospital after she passed out Thursday..........

"Me and my husband took [our 13-year-old daughter] to the emergency room and on the way from the campground to the hospital, she was almost unconscious," Hunt recounted. "I was slapping her face, asking her questions, trying to get her to stay awake."

Once they arrived at the ER with Emma, who'd been taking care of her pigs in the swine barn, Hunt said she became even more alarmed by the reaction from doctors and nurses.

"We told them we were in the swine barn and they immediately all put masks on, they started IVs in Emma and took blood cultures to be sent off. It was just nerve wracking not knowing what was going on," Hunt continued.

She wasn't alone. WSBT spoke with at least three other parents whose children also became ill at the fair with similar upper respiratory symptoms. When members of the LaPorte County Fair Swine Committee checked the temperatures of all the pigs in the barn on July 13, 41 of the pigs had fevers so high that guidelines issued by the State Board of Animal Health kept them from being sold at the auction.

The above comments from local media reports on the H3N2v outbreak at the LaPorte County Fair suggest that more than the 4 confirmed cases were symptomatic, as were a large number of swine.  

The comments raise concerns about the true number of symptomatic cases at the fair. Continued: http://www.recombinomics.com/N...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 05:35:34 AM UTC

LaPorte is in Indiana.

Map link: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 05:39:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Widespread Swine H3N2v Matches With Human US Cases

Recombinomics Commentary

Excerpt:

"This discordance between the sequences in swine and those in humans suggests that most of the human cases are not due to swine exposure. However, the recently described cases from  the LaPorte County Fair in Indiana are linked to symptomatic swine which are infected with closely related H3N2 suggesting that these cases in contrast to earlier cases are linked to contact with symptomatic swine."

Full article here: http://www.recombinomics.com/N...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 05:58:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

H3N2v Transmission At LaPorte County Fair

Recombinomics Commentary

Excerpt:

The Indiana State Department of Health, the Indiana Board of Animal Health, and the LaPorte County Health Department are actively investigating an outbreak of four human illnesses associated with the LaPorte County Fair, held July 8-14. All four individuals had direct contact with swine and all four cases are now recovered.

The above comments from the Indiana Department of Health confirm that the recent H3N2v cluster was at the LaPotre County fair.  The four confirmed cases are the largest number of confirmed H3N2v cases from a single venue and comments in tomorrow's MMWR indicates swine from the fair have also tested positive for H3N2v.  Prior H3N2v cases have had swine exposure, but H3N2v had not been confirmed in any swine contacts.

Full article here: http://www.recombinomics.com/N...

 

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by: NewsDiary @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 06:18:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This was posted by me.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 06:31:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

LaPorte County Fair H3N2v Cluster Matches WV/UT Cases

Recombinomics Commentary

The CDC has released a full set of sequences (at GISAID) from one of the cases at the LaPorte County Fair in Indiana (A/Indiana/07/2012 collected on July 16, 2010).  The sequence is closely related to the other 2012 case (A/Utah/10/2012) and the most recent human sequences from 2011 (A/West Virginia/06/2011 and A/West Virginia/07/2011) which have an N2 which is distinct from the first 10 human cases in 2011.

The detection of this sub-clade once again raises concerns that this sub-clade is transmitting in humans. Continued: http://www.recombinomics.com/N...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 19:36:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brazil registers 221 H1N1 flu deaths in 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of deaths caused by the H1N1 flu in Brazil this year rose to 221 (Snip) Most of the deaths occurred in three states of the southern region -- Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Parana (Snip)

(Snip) there was a reduction in the number of deaths in recent weeks, which indicated that the peak of the disease had already passed.

The government reaffirmed that Brazil's hospitals had been supplied with sufficient amounts of Tamiflu (Snip) the country hd launched a large vaccination campaign, which ended in June, targeting more fragile groups, such as pregnant women, elders, children aged six months to two years, and patients with chronic diseases.

The death toll registered in 2012 in Brazil represents about 10 percent of the death tally registered in 2009, when 2,060 people died of the disease. (Snip) http://www.shanghaidaily.com/a...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 06:46:27 AM UTC

New Zealand: Flu cases triple in Otago

Cases of the flu in Otago have risen sharply in the south. The latest ESR flu report shows consultations for a flu-like illness have tripled in a week.

(Snip) 180 presentations for flu-like illness per 100,000 people, around three times more than the previous week. (Snip) it's still well down compared to Canterbury who have had nearly 600 this year.

The number's expected to keep rising with this week (Snip) Rates of people asking for the flu jab are also expected to jump, with free vaccines extended for eligible groups by a month to the end of August. http://www.farmingshow.com/new...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 06:52:19 AM UTC

As flu scientists meet, question looms: When will bird flu studies resume?

Six months after leading influenza scientists announced they would voluntarily halt research into what it takes to make bird flu viruses transmit among mammals, it's still not clear when and how the cease-work order will be lifted.

Figuring out what an acceptable path towards that end might be will likely occupy considerable time and brain power as many of the researchers capable of doing this work meet in New York next week.

Several months ago many expected the research moratorium would have been lifted by now. But it is becoming clear to the flu community that getting back to business as usual may not be an easy or quick task.

"I very much hope ... that no decision is made at that meeting," microbiologist David Relman says of the annual gathering of the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance. "I think that would be a terrible mistake for this particular sequestered private group to make a declaration and decide on their own that the moratorium has been lifted. I think that would be a terrible thing." The group goes by the acronym CEIRS, pronounced like the department store Sears. Its annual three-day get-together begins work Monday in New York City.

Relman is not an influenza researcher and he won't be at the meeting. But he will be watching for developments. He is a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a group that advises the U.S. government on so-called dual-use research -- legitimate science that could pose a security threat in the wrong or in sloppy hands. Continued: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/a...


Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 19:31:39 PM UTC

US: Outbreak of Swine Flu at Indiana Fair

The state of Indiana this week reported the first novel influenza virus outbreak associated with a fair this season.

Following reports of ill swine and humans during a fair in Indiana from July 8-14, samples were taken from swine and humans. Twelve swine were randomly sampled by Indiana state animal health officials, tested at Indiana and Federal animal diagnostic laboratories, and found to be infected with swine influenza A (H3N2) viruses. Four people tested positive for influenza A (H3N2) variant virus. Genetic testing confirmed that the viruses found in humans and those found in swine in this situation are nearly identical and both have the M gene from the pandemic H1N1 virus. These cases bring the total number of detected infections with the H3N2v virus containing the pandemic M gene in the United States since 2011 to 17.

Type A influenza viruses commonly infect swine, causing outbreaks among swine herds. Most of the type A influenza viruses that infect swine are genetically very different from human (seasonal) influenza viruses, including currently circulating seasonal H3N2 viruses. While swine flu viruses seldom infect humans, such infections can and do occur. In fact, influenza viruses can spread both ways from swine to humans and from humans to swine.  

The four cases reported by Indiana occurred in people who were exhibiting swine, or family members of people who were exhibiting swine and were associated with swine contact. Previously, however, there have been H3N2v infections with no reported swine contact and instances of limited human-to-human transmission. The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians has developed the "Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings, 2011" to provide some preventive actions that are applicable to people raising swine, showing swine at fairs, or attending fairs." Continued: http://www.jaapa.com/outbreak-...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 19:41:57 PM UTC

Australia: TV flu ad misleading, say doctors (Western Australia)

WA's emergency department doctors have accused the State Government of funding a misleading campaign by warning people with minor winter illnesses not to clog up busy hospitals. It came as health officials reported 2035 confirmed flu cases in WA this year and 11 deaths, including a child under the age of five.

The Government launched a TV campaign earlier this week to convince people with coughs and colds not to go to emergency departments.

But the WA faculty of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine said claims emergency departments were being overrun by people with coughs and colds were untrue, arguing such patients accounted for less than 5 per cent of cases.

(Snip) the demand was largely caused by record numbers of sick and elderly patients, some with serious complications such as pneumonia who ended up needing to be admitted to hospital. The college said the campaign was glossing over the real problem, which was a major lack of hospital beds in Perth. This caused emergency departments to become congested (Snip) and caused ambulance ramping.

(Snip) the campaign could discourage sick people from going to emergency departments and this could have serious consequences.

"We see a lot of people coming in with flu-related illness who are very sick, and they're not people needing to be given a tissue to blow their nose," he said. "They're coming in with pneumonia or because their heart failure has worsened, or they're frail and elderly and can't cope with a flu-like illness. People can become so sick they don't know if they just have a dose of the flu or have raging pneumonia." (Snip) http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewe...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 19:57:43 PM UTC

Bronco Bill, it's Friday joke time!

Your giggles are here: http://www.newfluwiki2.com/dia...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 21:17:38 PM UTC

US: DARPA's Blue Angel - Pentagon prepares millions of vaccines against future global flu

The Pentagon's DARPA lab has announced a milestone, but it doesn't involve drones or death missiles. Scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency say they've produced 10 million doses of an influenza vaccine in only one month's time.

In a press release out of the agency's office this week, scientists with DARPA say they've reach an important step in being able to combat a flu pandemic that might someday decimate the Earth's population. By working with the Medicago Inc. vaccine company, the Pentagon's cutting edge research lab says that they've used a massive harvest of tobacco plants to help produce a plethora of flu-fighting vaccines.

"Testing confirmed that a single dose of the H1N1 VLP influenza vaccine candidate induced protective levels of hemagglutinin antibodies in an animal model when combined with a standard aluminum adjuvant," the agency writes, while still noting, though, that "The equivalent dose required to protect humans from natural disease can only be determined by future, prospective clinical trials."

Researchers have before relied on using chicken eggs to harvest compounds to use in influenza vaccines. With a future outbreak requiring scientists to step up with a solution as soon as possible, though, they've turned to tobacco plants to help produce the vaccines.

"Vaccinating susceptible populations during the initial stage of a pandemic is critical to containment," Dr. Alan Magill, DARPA program manager, says in an official statement. "We're looking at plant-based solutions to vaccine production as a more rapid and efficient alternative to the standard egg-based technologies, and the research is very promising."

The World Health Organization has gone on the record to say that as much as half of the people on the planet could be affected by a pandemic in the near future, and it could take as much as nine months for a vaccine for a pandemic virus strain to become made available.

With the lives of billions of people across the world at stake, DARPA has been trying to determine new ways of churning out antidotes in as little time as possible. Now its researchers say, that in only a month, scientists "produced more than 10 million doses (as defined in an animal model) of an H1N1 influenza vaccine candidate based on virus-like particles (VLP)."

Through DARPA's previously established Blue Angel program, researchers have spent several years searching for new ways to produce mass quantities of vaccine-grade protein that could be used to combat what they say are very real emerging and novel biological threats. Continued:  http://rt.com/usa/news/future-...  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. --Unknown

     

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by: Carol@SC @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 21:39:31 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for July 28, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sat Jul 28, 2012 at 04:44:08 AM UTC