News Reports for April 18, 2012

Bangledesh: Swine flu is back

Dhaka, Apr 17 - Swine flu strikes back in Bangladesh after two years as the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has confirmed an outbreak in a northern district's nursing dormitory on Tuesday. At least 14 have been tested H1N1 positive, director Prof Mahmudur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

A six-member IEDCR team rushed to the Kurigram nursing institute on April 12 after the deputy civil surgeon of the district informed the national institute that 42 students of the dormitory were down with an unknown ailment. (Snip) "All of them recovered as doctors started prompt treatment with anti-viral drugs."
(Snip)
"We are not worried at this moment. But the thing is that the virus is back after two years," (Snip) He urged people not to panic, rather be aware of the disease. Continued: http://bdnews24.com/details.ph...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 05:19:38 AM UTC

Bangladesh: 14 nurses diagnosed with swine flu

At least 14 nurses of Kurigram Nursing Training Institute have been tested positive for swine flu. "Fourteen nurses among the 37 whose blood and cough samples were brought to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in the capital for diagnosing have been tested H1N1 positive, Prof Mahmudur Rahman, the director of the institute, told The Daily Star on Wednesday. "The affected are now safe as doctors started prompt treatment with anti-viral drugs," (Snip)

A six-member IEDCR team rushed to the Kurigram nursing institute on April 12 after the deputy civil surgeon of the district informed that 53 students of the dormitory were down with an unknown ailment.

They complained of fever, headache, throat ache, cough and occasional vomiting. Continued: http://www.thedailystar.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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 05:49:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

India: Swine flu on rise, yet GHMC says no to labs (Andhra Pradesh)

Swine flu continues unabated in the state. After infecting almost 100 people in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts and around half a dozen people in Vizag, an engineering student in Mahbubnagar is the latest to have tested positive for swine flu on Tuesday. However, the state epidemic cell and GHMC officials say that bio-labs aren't required as the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) is adequately equipped to test samples of all viral diseases.

Despite the GHMC being one of the biggest municipal corporations in the country, it is surprisingly not equipped with any bio-labs or team of biologists and all samples continue to be sent to IPM, which is already burdened with samples from the districts. Dr Prasada Rao, joint director, State Epidemic Cell, said, "A bio-lab or a virology lab is a costly affair, and would require sophisticated testing equipment and highly qualified microbiologists. IPM is well-equipped to handle all the swine flu or other cases of viral diseases. Separate labs aren't required."

The concern, however, persists as the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital is not in a position to deal with swine flu cases owing to lack of infrastructure. Medical superintendent of AP Chest Hospital Dr P.N.S. Reddy said, "Although we are providing technical advice to hospitals, we are in no position to cater to swine flu victims like we did two years ago, due to lack of infrastructure and equipment like ventilators and inadequate power supply," he said. Continued: http://www.deccanchronicle.com...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 05:34:31 AM UTC

India: 2 suspected H1N1 cases in Chitradurga (Karnataka)

CHITRADURGA: Doctors suspect two cases of H1N1 (Snip) in the district and the swabs have been sent to the Department of Virology at NIMHANS (Snip).

(Snip) District Nodal Officer Dr R Ranganath told Express that one case each from Challakere and another at Basaveshwara Medical College and Hospital are suspected to be swine flu during the initial screening. He urged people not to panic as there are sufficient treatment facilities. http://expressbuzz.com/states/...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 05:41:18 AM UTC

Pakistan: Avian influenza

Avian influenza is a viral infection in birds. The virus belongs to the orthomyxoviridae family and carries a segmented RNA. Bird flu infection in domestic poultry can cause two forms of disease. One is called low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) which may include unnoticed or usually with mild respiratory symptoms including decline in egg production. Another form is called high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) which spreads rapidly and it can affect multiple internal organs with mortality 80-90 percent in 48 hours. These flu viruses are carried by the wild migratory birds in their intestine. However they usually don't get sick from those viruses but they can contaminate the environment by their fecal droppings in the environment. The first report of H5N1 infection in human being was reported in Hong Kong in 1997.

(Big Snip)

We recently carried a study in Pakistan on the prevalence of influenza virus in occupational people. The occupational people are directly involved with poultry industry like poultry attendant, butcher / poultry retailer, vaccinator, laboratory technician, veterinarian and farm consultant.

The survey was done in ten districts of Punjab like Lahore, Chakwal, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Rawalpindi, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Toba Tek Singh. Besides the samples were also taken from Islamabad and Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtun Khan Province. Blood and nasal swabs were taken from 465 people  Serological evidence showed that the occupational people carry antibodies against avian influenza virus. Nasal swabs show that occupational (people) carried the avian influenza virus.

During sampling from the humans, specially in lab technician and farm attendant told that they occasionally suffer from respiratory symptom which persisted for 3-4 days. However it was not clinically confirmed that the illness was due to avian influenza virus. Poultry workers who handle the birds directly specially in the wet market people who are engaged in selling and slaughtering the birds they were found at potential risk of the avian influenza virus infection. In wet market where the birds come from various source and the virus could stay and multiply easily.

The study was taken only in Punjab province and in future similar work should be done in other provinces of Pakistan. It is suggested that close monitoring should be carried out in the occupational people who are directly exposed to poultry industry as a precautionary measure of any bird flu epidemic. Further mass media can play an important role to create awareness among the human beings on avian influenza. Of course before going to media it must be filtered through respective specialist so that unnecessary panic should not be created in mass people otherwise the poultry industry will be collapsed where many of the people earn their bread and butter from this industry. http://www.pakistantoday.com.p...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 05:54:13 AM UTC

Wild Birds Have Most Kawaoka H5N1 Transmission Changes

Recombinomics Commentary

The isolated viruses with two mutations in HA - N224K and Q226L

However, Kawaoka noticed that one of the ferrets he infected had especially high levels of virus in its nose. These viruses had picked up a third HA mutation - N158D - and could now spread between neighbouring ferrets. Kawaoka found that two of six healthy animals picked up infections from neighbours they had no contact with. Along the way, the virus acquired a fourth mutation - T318I.

Three of these mutations are new, at least in public databases. N158D is the only one of the four mutations that has been documented in wild birds.

The above comments are from a Nature description of the transmission changes found in the Yoshi Kawaoka paper, which has been unanimously recommended for publication (by the same NSABB members who previously unanimously recommended censorship of the paper).

The Kawaoak paper, however is far more useful when analyzed with the CDC paper that was published in Virology, prior to the NSABB discussions, as well as the Ron Fouchier paper accepted by Science, which is still under discussion, even though a majority of NSABB voted to publish the paper in full.

The CDC achieved ferret to ferret airborne transmission without passage in ferrets, in contrast to the Kawaoka method described above, or the Fouchier paper, which began with the two HA changes that have been widely discussed, Q226L and G228S, (which were also used in the CDC paper).  These two changes were present in sequences from the 1957 and 1968 pandemics (which involved H2 and H3), but have never been reported in natural H5 isolates.  They are the changes cited by WHO when assurances are given regarding the failure of a human isolate to acquire the "mammalian" receptor binding domain (Q226L and G228S). Thus, the three papers provided experimental validation for concerns regarding these two changes, since all three papers used H5 with Q226L, and two of the three also started with G228S. 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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 06:27:32 AM UTC

Accumulation of H5N1 Transmission Changes in Egypt

Recombinomics Commentary

With all four mutations, the virus spread even more easily. Kawaoka exposed six more uninfected ferrets to sick peers in adjacent cages. Within a week, he had found signs of the virus in all of them.

Three of these mutations are new, at least in public databases.

The above comments describe the effects of the four H5 changes (N158D, N224K, Q226L, T318I) that were associated with ferret to ferret transmission via aerosol in the Kawaoka experiments.  However, the claim that only one of the four changes (N158D) is present in public data bases is false. N224K is present in waterfowl in Egypt (A/duck/Egypt/10185SS/2010) and Vietnam (A/Muscovy duck/Vietnam/NCVD-11/2007), while T318I is present in waterfowl in China (Snip).

Although Q226L has never been reported in natural H5, the ability of N224K to substitute for the other receptor binding domain (RBD) change, G228S, raises concerns that H5N1 is naturally evolving toward human transmission, since N224K has been found in natural sequences.

The presence of this RBD change in a duck in Egypt (Snip)  is of particular concern because H5N1 in Egypt is clade 2.2 and therefore has already fixed N158D in H5 and E627K on PB2, which was also present or introduced in transmission studies by the CDC or Ron Fouchier (and use of an H1N1pdm09 PB2 in the Kawaoka studies substituted for the E627K change).

(Snip) the above sequence is from clade 2.2.1 G, which also has S133del and T155I, which has been linked to a seasonal H1N1 profile via bioinformatic analysis.  This association has also increased concerns because all public human H5N1 sequences from Egypt since mid-2009 are clade 2.2.1 G, which have S133del, T155L, N158D and PB2 E627K.

(Snip) recently released H5N1 sequences from Egypt have PB1 and PB2 acquisitions of significant stretches of seasonal H1N1, H1N1pdm09, and H3N2v, supporting recombination between H5N1 and influenza sequences that are linked to efficiently transmitting human outbreaks in the past or present.

(Big Snip)

Thus, the accumulation of significant changes in Egypt H5, coupled with a lack of transparency, increases pandemic concerns. 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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 06:32:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Canada: Study - Healthcare outbreaks may be more common on Mondays, Fridays

Infectious disease outbreaks at healthcare facilities seem to be most common on Mondays and Fridays and least common on the weekends, but those findings might be an artifact of staffing and reporting habits, Ontario researchers reported in the American Journal of Infection Control yesterday. The team used a chi-square goodness-of-fit test to analyze data on 901 outbreaks in Toronto acute, chronic, and long-term healthcare centers and found a significantly lower number on Saturdays and Sundays. Continued: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 06:50:45 AM UTC

Canada: Study finds low compliance with respiratory protection in ED staff

A study of respiratory hygiene compliance among workers in two hospital emergency departments found low overall levels, and a companion study on education and attitudes identified some measures facilities could use to improve protection. The two-part study in two emergency departments of a Quebec university hospital included an anonymous observational component conducted in February 2010 and a survey of knowledge, attitudes, and compliance in February 2009. The findings were published online recently by the American Journal of Infection Control. Observers gauged nine respiratory precaution behaviors, such as wearing a mask and isolating patients with respiratory symptoms. The observed median overall compliance with respiratory hygiene was 22%, whereas the overall median score for perceived compliance as shown in the survey was 68%. Despite hygiene posters in the areas, masks and tissues were missing in 9.6% of cases, and patient isolation and decontamination measures were rarely or never used. In the survey, nearly 92% of respondents said masks were an effective prevention measure. Continued: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 06:56:16 AM UTC

Bird flu reported at Chinese farms

BEIJING, April 18 (UPI) -- An outbreak of bird flu was reported in northwestern China (Snip) The epidemic H5N1 bird flu virus was discovered Friday at several farms in the village of Touying in Ningxia Hui autonomous region (Snip)

More than 23,000 chickens showed symptoms of bird flu on Friday, which was then confirmed by the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory as H5N1 bird flu after samples from each farm were tested (Snip)

A total of 95,000 chickens were slaughtered after the H5N1 case was confirmed, the statement said. "The epidemic is under control now," the statement said as the MOA dispatch a team the area to guide epidemic prevention. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Wo...

(Note: Hmmm, since H5N1 is probably lots of places/farms in China, I wonder why they allowed this to be known? I always get suspicious when the Chinese government admits to something. I always think, "OK, it's bigger than that"!)

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 18:51:39 PM UTC

My idea of "why" was wrong; nothing to do with Tibet.

It does have a unique population, but it's been ruled by others since the 3rd century BC.

Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ninghsia, is an autonomous region (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) of the People's Republic of China.  

Interesting:
A number of Chinese artifacts dating from the Tang dynasty and Song dynasty, some of which had been owned by Emperor Zhenzong were excavated and then came into the hands of Ma Hongkui, who refused to publicize the findings. Among the artifacts were a white marble tablet from the Tang dynasty, gold nails, and bands made out of metal. It was not until after Ma passed away, that his wife went to Taiwan in 1971 from America to bring the artifacts to Chiang Kai-shek, who turned them over to the Taipei National Palace Museum.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...

"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."  Flannery O'Connor

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by: Jane @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 at 02:49:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

US biosecurity board calls for global research guidelines

The top US biosecurity committee has called for global guidelines for research on dangerous flu strains. The move comes just weeks after the committee revised earlier advice about which details of two controversial flu studies could be published.

But information released this week shows that the committee was divided over the issue, strengthening the case for new guidelines. Meanwhile, a researcher involved in the Dutch study has obtained some new results with H5N1 bird flu that give the committee's rhetoric added urgency. Continued: http://www.newscientist.com/ar...  

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 18:56:42 PM UTC

UK: Two dead in care homes flu outbreak (Wales)

Two people have died and five others are in hospital following a flu outbreak at two nursing homes in south Wales.

Public health officials say a total of 17 people have tested positive for the influenza A strain of the virus at the unidentified homes in Swansea. Overall, 36 people, including six members of staff, have reported flu-like symptoms.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said 30 residents at one home had been offered the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu. Continued: http://news.uk.msn.com/health/...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 19:00:58 PM UTC

US: Flu spreads at veterans home to 23 (Connecticut)

ROCKY HILL, Conn. -- 23 veterans living at the state veteran's home in Rocky Hill have been hospitalized with the flu. The home has been open for more than 70 years, but administrators say, "We've never seen anything like this here."

"The curious thing about this was that most of our veterans that have this flu also had their flu shots," said Linda Schwartz, the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs.
(Snip)
The V.A. and public health department are awaiting results of cultures taken Tuesday, not wanting to take any chances. "Of course our major concern is the fact that our elderly population is at risk when you have any influenza," she said. Continued: http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/h...

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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 19:17:53 PM UTC

Bangladesh: Swine flu returns

Swine flu that killed at least eight people in Bangladesh since its first detection in 2009 has hit the country once again.

At least 31 students of Kurigram Nursing Training Institute were diagnosed with swine flu or Influenza A (H1N1) virus on Tuesday, said the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) yesterday. The patients were gradually recovering after being treated with Oseltamivir (Snip)

IEDCR Director Prof Mahmudur Rahman said the first case of swine flu was detected in Bangladesh on June 18, 2009. It resurfaced again in different parts in January after a one-year lull. This time the deadly disease has hit in January, though usually it breaks out between April and September.

IEDCR Researcher Dr ASM Alamgir said 105 cases of swine flu were detected in different parts of the country from January to March. Two cases were detected in January in Dhaka and Kishoreganj, 10 more cases in February in Dhaka, Bogra and Barisal, and another 93 cases in March in Kishoreganj, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Bogra, Dinajpur, Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore, Sylhet and Barisal.

The IEDCR said it noticed a rising trend in the number of swine flu patients across the county. Continued: http://www.thedailystar.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 @ Wed Apr 18, 2012 at 19:34:39 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for April 19, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Thu Apr 19, 2012 at 04:44:40 AM UTC