News Reports for September 10, 2012

US: Scientists Search For Human Threat In Flu That Leapt From Birds to Seals

Scientists have been tinkering with a strain of bird flu to understand how they are able to transition from birds to mammals.  The goal was to see how many mutations it takes until the flu strain is capable of spreading from mammal to mammal. (Snip)

(Snip) In January, leading flu scientists agreed to a moratorium on further research as a response to worries about an accidental release of an engineered virus.  All human flu strains evolved from flu viruses that live in birds.

Waterfowl, like ducks and geese, carry a wide range of flu strains.  These viruses can sometimes infect mammals, but rarely spread from one mammal to another.  In these rare cases, a bird flu virus strain mutates enough to multiply quickly inside a mammal and spread to others.  Flu viruses have adapted to several mammal species (Snip)

Last fall on the coast of New England, evolution carried out an influenza experiment of its own.  On the beaches of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 162 harbor seal pups killed by a new strain of influenza washed up.  A team of scientists reports that the virus evolved from bird flu, gaining the ability to spread from seal to seal.

Eddie Holmes, an expert on flu evolution at Penn State, praised the scientists' speed in identifying the new virus and tying it to the seal deaths convincingly.  He believes the new virus needs to be carefully monitored to see if it poses any sort of threat, saying, "The question mark is what it means for seals, and what it means for us."  Dr. Holmes was not involved in the research. http://www.healthaim.com/scien...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 05:42:23 AM UTC

When did they conclude it went seal to seal?

A team of scientists reports that the virus evolved from bird flu, gaining the ability to spread from seal to seal.

Last articles I recall reading on this was that it was still unclear if the infection was actually seal to seal or if it might have been the result of virus in bird droppings in the seal nursery, thus bird guano to seal. Anyone have any data on this?

Always have a plan B.

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by: maryinhawaii @ Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 04:49:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Editorial: Different flu strains make vaccinations even more important this year

It may seem a little early to be thinking flu shots, but health officials are advising Iowans to get one sooner than later. The most recent listing by the Iowa Department of Health shows very low flu activity in Iowa.

But as doctors advise us, when the weather gets colder and more people stay inside, the bug spreads among us more easily and more quickly. So health officials are recommending acting now. It's certainly easy enough to get one. Many pharmacies throughout North Iowa are offering the vaccinations (Snip).

(Snip)

You can pick from the traditional shot, a high-dose shot for those 65 and older, intradermal shots that go under the skin instead of the muscle and are for those 18 to 64 or, for those 2 to 49, the FluMist.

The important thing, officials stress, is to get vaccinated this year especially because two of the three virus strains used in this season's vaccines differ from strains included in the past two season. Continued: http://globegazette.com/news/o...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 05:50:14 AM UTC

India: 'Treat H1N1 suspect cases immediately' (Maharashtra)

NASHIK: The chairman of the NMC's standing committee, Uddhav Nimse, conducted an urgent meeting with doctors of NMC hospitals. Nimse met NMC's medical superintendent Dr D B Patil and health officer Dr S G Hiray on Friday afternoon to review take a review of the H1N1 situation as well as other diseases against the backdrop of the monsoon.

Dr Patil said that if during the primary check-up, doctors find something suspicious, they should be able to treat it. "We have all the necessary drugs, mobile vans, isolated wards and cots in these, etc to deal with H1N1. In case a patient is suspected of having H1N1, immediate treatment must be given. (Snip)

It is essential to create awareness," he said.

Dr Patil said that since April this year, 606 patients have been given Tamiflu out of the 973 screened; 11 have been found positive of swine flu and four patients have died.

(Snip) "My advice to doctors is that in case of suspicion, don't wait for swab testing, prescribe Tamiflu," said Dr Gavit.

(Snip)

Dr Hiray said that chances of airborne diseases like swine flu are more in slum areas due to the cleanliness factor here. He said that to control malaria, pest control is being done on a regular basis.

Some doctors said that there have been instances when private doctors have not sent patients suspected of swine flu suspicious patients to the civil hospital, while in other instances, they have prescribed Tamiflu even when it was not needed. Most of the doctors emphasized upon awareness about swine flu. http://timesofindia.indiatimes...
 

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 06:09:10 AM UTC

Dynamic mapping could potentially help fill gaps in influenza research

Influenza outbreaks in the United States typically begin with the arrival of cold weather and then spread in seasonal waves across geographic zones. But the question of why epidemics can vary from one season to the next has baffled scientists.

In a paper titled "Deviations in Influenza Seasonality: Odd Coincidence or Obscure Consequence," Elena Naumova, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering at Tufts School of Engineering, and collaborators from the U.S. and India suggest that the search for answers has been thwarted, in part, by the lack of standardized research methods.

This paper builds on Naumova's previous work in which she suggests a role for dynamic mapping in epidemiological research. Here, the team concludes that newly emerging technologies like dynamic mapping can be used in concert with traditional approaches, which Naumova describes as "fraught with problems." The paper was published in advance of print in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

Naumova points out several of these problems. Data collection methods are not uniform. Researchers use ambiguous terminology and definitions. Research results are not presented in a uniform manner. "This produces volumes of information - or noise - that is prone to substantial measurement error and uncertainty that potentially obscures the causes behind seasonality rather than illuminating them," she says.

Another way influenza research falls short is that it doesn't take into account the behavior of the disease as it changes across time and geography. Using dynamic mapping as a tool, Naumova, the paper's senior author, and her team analyzed hospitalization records for adults age 65 and over from across the United States during individual flu seasons in 1991, 1997, 1999, and 2003.

The data, provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, were superimposed onto national maps showing average weekly temperatures. The data were then transformed into an interactive movie from which researchers could view data, including origin and intensity of the outbreak, as they appeared over time. Each season exhibited variations in disease patterns. Continued: http://www.news-medical.net/ne...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 07:27:26 AM UTC

An end to the flu? Oral spray 'kills 99.9% of infectious airborne germs'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea...

But a first-of-its-kind oral antiseptic spray promises to end the annual misery endured by millions of flu sufferers, and thousands of lives, around the world. Or so its manufacturer claims.

The Halo Oral Antiseptic has been found to be 99.9 per cent effective in killing infectious airborne germs.

cont.

Comment Hmmm, might be worth having, suppose it depends on the price and avalability.

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by: UK - Bird @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 16:13:52 PM UTC

How Swine Flu Can Become Pandemic

A new influenza virus that can spread from pigs to people has put some public health officials and state-fair goers on edge this season, even though the virus so far has not posed a major threat. The fear is that a random mutation could turn the virus into an infecting machine, leading to another swine flu pandemic, like the 2009 H1N1 outbreak that may have killed more than half a million people around the world in its first year of circulation.

A new study illustrates one way that the next flu pandemic might begin. Focusing on a variant of swine flu circulating in Korea, researchers discovered a gene mutation that makes the virus especially virulent.

It's not this particular virus that should cause concern at this point. Instead, the research represents an incremental step towards understanding what it is that turns a mild virus into a devastating one. By compiling a more complete library of such mutations, the hope is to better predict which animal viruses we should be most worried about and better prevent major outbreaks.

"This is not: Oh my gosh, we've got to run for the hills, this virus is coming," said Richard Webby, an influenza virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, and one of the new study's authors. "We really want to be able to try to assign some sort of risk to viruses we find in animal populations, and to know which out of a huge diversity of viruses we in human health should be concerned about. It's very hard to do that at this stage."

Influenza viruses are constantly moving targets, said Daniel Perez, a virologist who works with influenza at the University of Maryland, College Park. Regularly and without warning, this group of viruses acquire new mutations that affect how they behave.

To better understand what makes some flu viruses more threatening than others, Webby and colleagues in both the United States and Korea looked at several viruses that are currently circulating only in Korean pigs but are closely related to strains found in North America. To see how those strains might affect people, the researchers used them to infect ferrets, which respond to flu viruses much like we do.

Most of the viruses caused only mild infections. But one virus, called Sw/1204, killed the animals within 10 days. And it spread from ferret to ferret through droplets that entered the air as the animals breathed.

Genetic analysis isolated two mutations that made the Sw/1204 virus more infectious than others. One mutation, called HA-225, had already been well studied, Webby said. It is known to affect the part of the virus that sticks to host cells, allowing infection to occur. The other mutation, called NA-315, hadn't been implicated in influenza infections before. This mutation seems to influence the virus' ability to leave the host cell after it has replicated and go on to infect other cells.

It wouldn't be surprising if the same mutation appeared in other parts of the world, Perez said, because the Korean viruses used in the study are very similar to viruses circulating elsewhere. Still, the two mutations discovered in the study are far from the only gene changes that can cause outbreaks. Continued: http://news.discovery.com/huma...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 20:02:05 PM UTC

US: Another State Fair swine flu case reported (Minnesota)

ST. PAUL, Minn. - State health officials say another case of a new swine flu strain has been linked to the Minnesota State Fair. (Snip) a teenage boy who had exhibited a pig during the Fair developed a flu-like illness after he returned home. The boy later tested positive for a variant strain of H1N2.

The new flu strain contains a piece of the gene from the human pandemic virus that circulated globally in 2009. (Snip) that gene could make this virus easier to spread to humans, so federal and state health officials including the Centers for Disease Control will watch it closely.

"It's not been seen in any other state yet, but we'll definitely be keeping an eye on it," Danila said.

All four people who have contracted the virus so far were exhibitors or family members of exhibitors who spent prolonged periods of time with pigs at the fair, Danila said. He suspects new cases at this point will be limited.

(Snip)

Minnesota's new flu strain is different from another swine flu linked to farms and fairs that has sickened nearly 300 people in the U.S. http://minnesota.publicradio.o...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 20:09:54 PM UTC

India: Swine flu claims woman's life (Madhya Pradesh)

Indore, Sep 10 (PTI) A 48-year-old woman from Ratlam died of Swine flu at a private hospital here today (Snip).

The victim (Snip) had been admitted to the hospital over ten days back with symptoms swine flu died today (Snip). http://www.ptinews.com/news/29...

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 @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 20:14:16 PM UTC

LiveScience: New Swine Flu Virus Shows Lethal Signs

New Swine Flu Virus Shows Lethal Signs

An influenza virus isolated from Korean pigs is deadly and transmissible by air in ferrets, which are used as stand-ins for humans when studying the disease.

This particular virus is likely not a grave threat to humans, said study researcher Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. However, the findings do highlight the need to understand more about the viruses circulating among pigs, Webby said.

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by: pogge @ Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 23:40:41 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for September 11, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 05:26:01 AM UTC