News Reports for October 1, 2012

US: Flu experts: Don't let last year fool you

Do not let last year's mild flu season lull you into skipping a flu shot this year. As the flu season kicks off Monday, health officials are urging everyone older than 6 months old to be vaccinated.

"People cannot become complacent this year," said Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at a news conference in Washington, D.C., last week. "When it comes to flu, we can't look to the past to predict the future." In a typical flu season, 5 percent to 20 percent of the population fall ill. The very young, elderly, pregnant women and those with previous medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to potentially deadly complications.

Last year set a record for the lowest and shortest peak of influenza illness, with only 34 child deaths nationwide linked to the flu. That was last year. This is this year. The one thing flu experts know about the flu is they can't tell from one season to the next how it will behave. "Influenza is unpredictable. It can do whatever it wants to do," said Shawn Richards, respiratory epidemiologist for the Indiana State Department of Health. "If we had a light year last year, I don't think I would predict this would be a light year. I know I will get my vaccine."

Although broad predictions are difficult to make, patterns show that every three to five years or so a flu epidemic occurs, said Dr. John Christenson, director of pediatric infectious disease at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. The last epidemic involved the H1N1 virus in 2009-10. Continued: http://www.indystar.com/articl...

(Epidemic: affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time.)

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 06:04:12 AM UTC

India: Dengue-like flu stumps doctors too (Punjab)

CHANDIGARH: If you are coughing, running fever which persists for over a week, the viral could be similar to dengue. City hospitals are getting patients coming with dengue-like symptoms, which make it difficult for doctors to figure out if it is dengue or dengue-like flu.
Consequently the treatment gets delayed and if its dengue, the condition can become severe, making treatment difficult.

Dr R S Bedi, a city-based paediatrician said, "Besides dengue cases we are seeing dengue-like flu in which too there is reduction in platelet count. There are around 20-25 children coming to my clinic with this condition." It is during this time of the season that there are dengue cases and also viruses which result in fever and body aches.

"The fever continues for more than a week in flu and dengue cases. To confirm our diagnosis we recommend platelet count tests after three-four days of fever and continuous monitoring of the count," (Snip)

"Patients who come with fever and body aches get platelet count done on the first day. It is not necessary that the count will go below normal immediately. It might take three to four days. Some of these patients stop taking the right treatment and then the problem becomes severe and untreatable," (Snip) "We see 30-40 such dengue-like flu cases among children daily. Dengue is self-limiting and we do not advice antiplatelet drugs like ibuprofen (given during fever) as they also further reduce platelet count." Continued: http://m.timesofindia.com/city...  

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 06:17:35 AM UTC

India: 5 more samples sent for H1N1 confirmation (Madhya Pradesh)

BHOPAL: The district integrated disease surveillance project (IDSP) sent 5 samples of suspected H1N1 cases for tests (Snip) on Sunday.

Three of the five samples are of residents of Bhopal, two are from Vidisha and one from the neighbouring Sehore district. Test reports of 20 suspected cases were not available on Sunday, as RMRC laboratory was closed.

Increased number of swine flu tests at Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) has worried its officials. In September alone the RMRC was shut thrice for fumigation, which normally takes place once a month.

"Risk of contamination cannot be taken lightly. Both test machines are being used 24x7," (Snip) Each swine flu testing machine can handle up to 21 swap samples, and it takes about 8 hours to conduct a test. Together RMRC can test about 100 samples per day. Continued: http://m.timesofindia.com/city...

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 06:23:09 AM UTC

India: Doctor tests positive for swine flu in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)

A lady doctor in Indore was today tested positive for H1N1 virus, authorities said. Nineteen persons have died of swine flu in Madhya Pradesh so far this year. In the state capital alone, the infection has claimed 10 lives. Indore, Ujjain and Gwalior account for six, two and one deaths respectively, sources said.

The 53-year old doctor, who tested positive today, was admitted to a private hospital for treatment

(Snip)

Over a hundred persons have tested positive for swine flu in the state as of now. http://www.business-standard.c...

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 06:50:18 AM UTC

India: 48-year-old dies of swine flu (Maharashtra)

PUNE: A 48-year-old man from Tekawade village died of swine flu early on Sunday. With this, the city's H1N1 death toll has reached 15 since April this year.

"Anandrao Maruti Gopale had tested positive for swine flu on September 28. He had been on ventilator support and succumbed to the infection at 7.45 am," said S T Pardeshi, medical officer of health, PMC.

Gopale developed symptoms like fever, cough and weakness from September 24. He was admitted to a private hospital on Nashik Road where his condition deteriorated, and was shifted to Sahaydri hospital in Bopodi on September 28.

During the Ganesh festival, which concluded on Saturday, the district administration and the state health department had categorically asked people to avoid crowded places, considering the highly contagious nature of H1N1. "However, people gathered in large numbers at public places during the festival, throwing caution to the wind," Pardeshi said. Continued: 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 Oct 01, 2012 at 06:57:34 AM UTC

Mexico: Mexican avian flu 'nightmare' as 25m birds lost

Two leaders of the Mexican egg industry have spoken of their "nightmare" after an estimated 25 million laying birds were lost in an outbreak of avian influenza.

Cesar de Anda and Sergio Chavez told delegates at the London conference of the International Egg Commission (IEC) how the virus had devastated egg units in Jalisco - the state where most of Mexico's eggs are produced. "It was a very aggressive virus," said Cesar. "In a matter of days an infected farm was gone. It was a nightmare. I have been in the egg business all my life and it is the first time I have experienced anything like this. One day I just broke down in tears. It was unbelievable."

Conference delegates had earlier heard from Jorge Rueda of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture. He explained how the virus struck on June 18 in Jalisco, where 55 per cent of all the country's eggs are produced. For Mexico, it quickly became a crisis. The country has the highest consumption of eggs of anywhere in the world and is one of the world's major egg producers - turning out 2.5 million tonnes of eggs every year. Jorge Rueda explained how an action plan was quickly put in place to seal off potentially affected areas and prevent the virus spreading. Within 24 hours scientists had established that the cause of the infection was the H7 highly pathogenic avian influenza. Continued: http://www.farminguk.com/news/...

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 19:09:01 PM UTC

'Spillover': Deadly diseases that jump from animals to humans

(Note: I am not promoting this book (Spillover) or even suggesting you read it. I haven't read it. I am only posting this because of the information I found (below) in the online review of the book.)

Every year there seems to be a novel deadly disease in the news: Hantavirus, Ebola, West Nile virus, SARS, H5N1. Although they slip out of the headlines, these very scary problems still persist and kill. As of mid-September, 118 people had died from West Nile virus, and three people had died of Hantavirus in the United States in 2012. In the Congo, the 2012 toll from Ebola has reached 31 deaths, with another 38 suspected or confirmed to have the disease. With no cure and a mortality rate of 40 to 90 percent, more will surely die.

Infectious-disease biologists refer to these various bugs as zoonoses, or diseases or infection transmissible from an animal to humans. They include the well-known, such as bubonic plague, Lyme disease, rabies, AIDS, and the legendary Spanish influenza of 1918-19, and the little-known, including Rift Valley fever, Marburg virus disease, and Nipah encephalitis. All are deadly. Most have no cure. And many are little understood, in part, because they are so recently discovered.

This is the world we enter in David Quammen's new book, "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic." As he did in his John Burroughs Medal award-winning "The Song of the Dodo," Quammen has written a reportorial tour de force that spans the globe and provides a hands-on view of what has the potential to be one of the most frightening problems facing science and scientists.

As page turning as Richard Preston's "The Hot Zone," but less lurid (once again truth is stranger than fiction), "Spillover" explores the origins, scientific research and human stories of many of these zoonotic diseases, including Ebola, Marburg, and Nipah. Perhaps most interesting is his section on AIDS, tracing its origin to a single chimpanzee in Cameroon in 1908. Continued: http://seattletimes.com/html/b...

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 Oct 01, 2012 at 19:18:50 PM UTC

H1N1v Case In Ontario Canada Has H1N1pdm09 M Gene

Recombinomics Commentary

Sequencing revealed that this H1N1 carries the M gene of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09

The HA gene was found to have nucleotide sequence homologies of: 98.8 percent to the HA of the H1N1v reported in Missouri earlier this month

The above comments from a recent ProMED update confirm that the hospitalized H1N1v case in southwestern Ontario has the H1N1pdm09 M gene and is closely related to the recent US case, A/Missouri/12/2012.  Thus, all variant cases in North America since 2010 have had PB1 E618D (Snip) or H1N1pdm09 M gene (Snip).

(Snip) media reports suggest that the Ontario case may have had exposures in the United States, suggesting H1N1v is circulating in Minnesota, which is in addition the 4 confirmed H1N2v cases and 4 confirmed and 1 probable H3N2v cases.  Thus, all three serotypes appear to be con-circulating in Minnesota, while 2 or more of each sub-types are circulating in North America in 2012.  

Both of these situations are without precedent. 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 @ Mon Oct 01, 2012 at 19:36:23 PM UTC

why without precedent?

Trying to understand this - what is so unusual about this situation: that there are several variations of one flu circulating concurrently? What is the usual situation?

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by: Cathy M @ Tue Oct 02, 2012 at 01:32:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hi Cathy

What is so unusual about the situation is that ALL three of the flu strains circulating in Minnesota are "variant" flu strains. All three of these are flu strains that were only infecting hogs until recently but have now crossed the species barrier to humans. Also, this is a first in known history.....three "variant" strains have never been found in one state before.

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 @ Tue Oct 02, 2012 at 06:35:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for October 2, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Tue Oct 02, 2012 at 04:30:12 AM UTC