News Reports for April 20, 2012

India: AH1N1 vaccines soon (Tamil Nadu)

A surveillance committee has been set up by the State government to monitor persons who have contracted the AH1N1 virus (Snip) in private hospitals (Snip) This measure has been put in place following a lag in communication between the Chennai Corporation and private hospitals, when 22-year-old Niveditha, died in a private hospital on Monday.

(Snip) "We will procure 20,000 doses of two vaccines: the H1N1 intramuscular vaccine and H1N1 nasal spray," (Snip) "On April 27, a tender will be floated to procure 3,000 bottles of Oseltamivir, a medicine for children," said Mr. Sahoo, adding that the State would also procure additional stocks of Tamiflu from the Center.

Special isolation wards have been set up in the Communicable Diseases Hospital in Tondiarpet and all medical college hospitals in the city. "Due to space constraints, persons with symptoms are also being referred to other government hospitals. All patients in Chennai are recovering well,"  Continued: http://www.thehindu.com/news/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 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 05:10:49 AM UTC

India: Four more test positive for H1N1 (Tamil Nadu)

CHENNAI: Even as four more persons across the state contracted swine flu on Thursday, the health department has declared that they are on the "war-path" against the dreaded virus.

Two persons from Cuddalore and two from Karur, incidentally from the same two families in their respective towns, returned positive test results for (A)H1N1 (Snip) as all of them were aged between 19-41, the onset of the symptoms was not a cause for worry and they are responding to treatment (Snip)

(Snip) of the 58 infected, only nine remain in the quarantine wards. "All the others have responded well to treatment and are either in home quarantine or have recovered enough," said Pandian. The same holds good for the two men from Karur, who have been placed in quarantine at home. The duo from Cuddalore, meanwhile, are undergoing treatment at SRMC, here in Chennai.

An official government release also stated that a high-level committee had been appointed to monitor the progression of the disease in TN, with review meetings every Monday. Similar meetings would be held in all 32 districts. (Snip) http://ibnlive.in.com/news/fou...

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 Apr 20, 2012 at 05:15:22 AM UTC

India: Nagpur Swine flu update - Three test positive (Maharashtra)

A 37 year old woman admitted at the Government Medical College and Hospital (Snip) tested positive for swine flu taking the total toll in Nagpur to three.(Snip) The woman had visited Pune recently before falling ill and most probably contracted the virus there. Before her a teenage boy from Chandrapur and a pregnant woman from Mouda tehsil tested positive (Snip).

According to officials and doctors, they are well prepared to deal with the disease. This despite the fact that the government's swine flu website hasn't been uploaded since 2010 and Maharasthra, doesn't even have a helpline number. http://health.india.com/news/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 Apr 20, 2012 at 05:23:28 AM UTC

US: State Officials ID Strain Of Flu That Caused Outbreak At Rocky Hill Vets Home

Connecticut - The strain of flu that sent 24 veterans living at a Rocky Hill residential home to the hospital has been identified as one that was targeted by this year's influenza vaccine.

Linda Schwartz, commissioner of the state Department of Veterans' Affairs, said Thursday that state health officials have informed her that it was the H3N2 strain that caused several veterans at the Connecticut State Veterans Home to get sick. The vaccine that was given for this season protects against influenza B and H1N1 and H3N2, two subtypes of influenza A.

Veterans were sent to the hospital between Sunday and Tuesday. Schwartz said Thursday that no one "in the last 24 hours" had been hospitalized.

Because so many veterans caught the flu, Schwartz said she had worried that it may have been a new strain for which there was no vaccine. Schwartz said all the veterans at the home received a shot. "We'll be looking at the batches and see if there any indication that there was a flaw," she said.

Lynn Sosa, deputy state epidemiologist, said earlier this week that the vaccine could have lost its effectiveness because it is now so late in the flu season. http://www.courant.com/health/...

(Note: I hope samples have been sent to the CDC for sequencing to determine if it is the H3N2v strain instead of the H3N2 seasonal strain.)

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 Apr 20, 2012 at 05:41:24 AM UTC

India: GRH has adequate stock of H1N1 vaccines - official (Tamil Nadu)

Madurai - A 60-year-old woman, Kaliammal of Sappanikoil Street here, who was admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital on Tuesday with a complaint of high fever, has tested positive for A (H1N1) Influenza/swine flu.
(Snip)
the patient, while admission, was found toxic and dehydrated. She also had loss of consciousness and after initial check up at Ward no 223 she was shifted to the Intensive Medical Care Unit.

Rehydration was done and anti-viral drug Tamiflu was given to the patient. With institutional support, the patient improved well. Prophylactic treatment with Tamiflu tablets was given to the doctors and medical support staff who attended on the patient.
(Snip)
Deputy Director of Health Services and the District Malaria Officer are fully geared up to tackle the situation. They have already visited the residential area of the patient and the family members have been given prophylactic treatment.

The RMO said that the GRH had adequate stock of H1N1 vaccines to handle the situation and "we will soon be making arrangements to have a separate ward with ventilator support for H1N1 patients." (Snip)  Isolation ward and treatment facilities were available, both for individual and mass cases (Snip) http://www.thehindu.com/news/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 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 05:51:08 AM UTC

One more suspected case of swine flu at Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Madurai - April 20: Following one swine flu case (Snip) Madurai Corporation brought the area under health check up when Kaliammal was found positive for swine flu a day before.

Health officials conducted medical examination (Snip) and found one woman aged 45 with suspected symptoms of swine flu near Kaliammal's house.

Blood samples (Snip) was sent for testing and advised her to be isolated in the home itself for a short period and she is under follow up by health officials.

All 17 corporation hospitals were advised to have careful analysis of patients who come to hospital with fever and associated conditions for swine flu (Snip) http://myhealthbowl.com/latest...

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 Apr 20, 2012 at 14:43:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

China: Study finds H5N1 antibodies in 2.6% of Chinese poultry workers (CIDRAP)

A study of blood samples from 306 poultry workers in a Chinese province that has had H5N1 avian flu outbreaks and two human cases found that 8 workers (2.6%) had serologic evidence of H5N1 infection.

(Snip) Chinese investigators said they examined samples from three counties in Jiangsu province and used a hemagglutinin inhibition assay titer of 1:160 as a measure of seropositivity. They found the rate of seropositive samples varied from 0 to 5.4% among the three counties but did not specify individual titers or history of exposure to H5N1 viruses. (Snip) of the two strains used in testing, no samples were positive for a 2010 H5N1 strain; all positive samples were for a 2005 H1N1 strain. The authors conclude, "Our findings suggest that avian-to-human transmission of influenza H5N1 virus remains low in China." http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Apr 18 BMC Infect Dis abstract:

Background
Since 2003 to 06 Jan 2012, the number of laboratory confirmed human cases of infection with avian influenza in China was 41 and 27 were fatal. However, the official estimate of the H5N1 case-fatality rate has been described by some as an over estimation since there may be numerous undetected asymptomatic/mild cases of H5N1 infection. This study was conducted to better understand the real infection rate and evaluate the potential risk factors for the zoonotic spread of H5N1 viruses to humans. Continued: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1...

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 Apr 20, 2012 at 06:26:02 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Chinese study finds H1N1 border screening ineffective

Border entry screening was unlikely to have delayed the spread of pH1N1 flu into China by more than 4 days (Snip) Chinese and UK scientists analyzed data from multiple surveillance systems and clinical investigations to determine transmission patterns of pH1N1 in China from May through November 2009 and assess whether entry screening and holiday school closures affected transmission. They found that school closures for 8 days of national holidays in October reduced the effective reproduction number by 37% (95% confidence interval, 28%-45%). They also found that border entry screening detected at most 37% of pH1N1 cases in international travelers, with 89% of them identified as having fever at the time of entry into the country. (Snip) http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Apr 18 Emerg Infect Dis study: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/artic...  

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 Apr 20, 2012 at 06:34:44 AM UTC

Ireland: Compensation plan on table for victims of swine-flu sleep disorder

A State compensation scheme is being considered for the victims of a devastating sleeping disorder linked to the swine flu vaccine, it emerged yesterday.

Already 27 people, mostly children, have been confirmed as suffering from the disorder narcolepsy -- but the fear is that more victims have yet to be diagnosed. ...

The State took on liability for any adverse effects from the vaccines because of the rush to get them into clinics and hospitals.

http://www.independent.ie/heal...

Interest comments section

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by: Ruby Murray @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 11:43:48 AM UTC

Bronco Bill, it's Friday joke time!

Your jokes 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 Apr 20, 2012 at 21:58:40 PM UTC

Bird-Flu Research May Be Published by Journals, U.S. Says

The U.S. government said it will allow publication of research by scientists who re-engineered the avian influenza virus to make it more lethal.

The research is critical to understanding and detecting bird flu strains, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said today in a statement.
(Snip)
Groups led by the two scientists -- Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin and Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam -- engineered the H1N1 virus to be more transmissible between ferrets, mammals whose response to the flu is most like humans. Science, which is holding the Fouchier paper, is waiting until after a meeting of Dutch regulators in The Hague next week before deciding when it will publish the work (Snip)

"This information has clear value to national and international public health preparedness efforts and must be shared," Collins said in the statement. Continued: http://www.bloomberg.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 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 22:03:14 PM UTC

India: Three more cases of AH1N1 virus in Tamil Nadu

Three more people in the State, including a woman, have contracted AH1N1 influenza (swine flu). With this, the number of people who have contracted the virus now stands at 55.

Two of the three infections were reported from the city on Friday. The two persons, a 45-year-old man from Thiruvanmiyur and a 23-year-old woman from Thoraipakkam who were diagnosed with the virus, are being treated in a private hospital. Both have been quarantined at the hospital, Director of Public Health R.T. Porkai Pandian said. The third person is a 59-year-old man from Tirupur. He is being treated and quarantined at home.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/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 @ Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 22:08:46 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for April 21, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sat Apr 21, 2012 at 04:08:33 AM UTC