News Reports for May 14, 2012

Virus 'barcodes' offer rapid detection of mutated strains

Dr Julian Hiscox and Dr John Barr of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences are working with the Health Protection Agency Porton (HPA) to build a bank of molecular signatures that will help identify the severity of virus infection from characteristic changes seen in cells. Currently the team is barcoding different strains of influenza virus and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) - a virus associated with the onset of asthma in young children.

"Diseases such as flu infect and hijack our cells, turning them into virus producing factories," says Dr Hiscox. "The infection causes the balance of proteins in a cell to change - some proteins are overproduced and others suppressed. Which proteins are affected and by how much varies depending on the type of virus, allowing us to identify a unique barcode of disease for each."

The research (Snip) investigates changes in lung cells infected with swine flu from the 2009 outbreak compared with seasonal flu. The team used a labelling technique called SILAC to measure and compare thousands of different proteins in a sample. This technique was used alongside mass spectrometry to identify the proteins most affected by viral infection and used these as molecular signatures to provide the 'barcode' of disease. The paper reports how several processes in the cell were affected by the virus, with most changes seen in proteins involved in cell replication.

"Swine flu affects the lungs in a similar way to seasonal flu and this was reflected in the barcodes we found for each," explains Dr Barr. "Using this test might have been a way to identify how lethal the 2009 swine flu pandemic was going to be, lessening worldwide panic.

"Our next step is to test more lethal strains of flu, such as bird flu, to see how the barcodes differ. Flu virus frequently mutates, resulting in new strains which may be life-threatening and become pandemic. If we can test new strains using our method, we can determine their potential impact on health by comparing their barcode of disease to those of viruses already studied." Continued: http://phys.org/news/2012-05-v...  

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 05:29:56 AM UTC

Social Networks Influence Flu Shot Decision among College Students

College students' social networks influence their beliefs regarding the safety of influenza vaccines and decisions about vaccination, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The most influential people seem to be spouses, parents and friends, said study author Sean Richey, Ph.D., a political scientist at Georgia State University. "We show that a path to influencing the college students' beliefs about vaccinations may be through their social networks," said Richey. "So, public health officials may try to target the students' parents with information, for example, in addition to the students themselves."

College students face elevated risk for seasonal flu because they often live in close quarters where infectious disease can easily spread, noted Richey. Yet, during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, 30 percent of the surveyed students viewed the vaccine as unsafe, and only 10 percent chose to be vaccinated.

For the online survey, students were asked to identify four people with whom they discuss health matters. Students who believed their parents, spouses or friends were supportive of vaccination reported higher beliefs in vaccine safety and that they were more likely to intend to get the flu vaccine.

"Vaccine decisions [are] a behavior that we have very little data on, and we did not know that social networks would influence those decisions," observed Thomas Valente, Ph.D., an expert on social networks at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. The study is promising, he added, because social networks and their perceived support for vaccines are "amenable to change." Continued: http://metronews.ca/health/222...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 05:40:34 AM UTC

India: Three more A(H1N1) cases reported in city (Tamil Nadu)

Though the total number of A (H1N1) cases in Tamil Nadu rose to 151 on Sunday, Director of Public Health (Snip) said that the number of new cases is now on the decline. A 26-year-old woman from Choolaimedu, a 17 year-old youth from Madipakkam and a 22 year-old-woman from Pattalam were diagnosed with the virus on Sunday.

(Snip) there are, at present, a total of 81 recorded cases of A (H1N1) virus in Chennai. The number of deaths stands at four. 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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 05:45:32 AM UTC

Canada: Free flu shot program missing under 2s; 'vaccine fatigue' may be to blame

TORONTO - Ontario's universal flu shot program isn't making much progress with the under-two crowd, a new study suggests. Vaccination rates among children aged six to 23 months is very low and has been since Ontario started offering free flu shots for all, said the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Ontario's universal flu shot program began in 2000.

The rate of toddlers who were fully immunized for flu from 2002 to 2009 never topped 10 per cent, the research showed. From a high of seven to nine per cent in the three seasons following the province's SARS outbreak in 2003, the rate slipped downward to four to six per cent in the latter part of the study period.

The 2003-04 winter was a harsh flu season with an unusually high pediatric death rate in the United States. In fact as a result of that season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control began to collect data on pediatric flu deaths. And 2003 was also the year when the Canadian and U.S. bodies that advise on vaccine policy first recommended flu shots for children in this age group.

This study captures how little progress has been made towards enacting that recommendation. In addition to estimating percentages of kids who got flu shots, it analyzes which children were more likely or less likely to have a flu shot in any given year. Continued: http://thetyee.ca/CanadianPres...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 05:55:44 AM UTC

Malaysia: Fever, flu hit Thomas Cup squad members

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's Thomas Cup Squad, scheduled to leave for Guangzhou today (Sunday), is not in the best condition as two of the players are down with fever and flu. However, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) High Performance director, Datuk James Selvaraj is confident the situation would not weaken the spirit of the national players who are highly motivated.

"Although, the training period is very brief, I see the players have high spirit and discipline. "If they play at the best level, and as a team, I believe we won't have a problem reaching our target which is the semi-finals," he told Bernama here, Saturday.

A Bernama check on the final preparations of the squad at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara on Saturday found Malaysia's first singles player Datuk Lee Chong Wei and second singles Liew Daren not training because they were down with fever and flu. Continued: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my...

(Note: Traveling and participating in sports events is a good way to spread the flu to many people in many countries. Guangzhou is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in China and it borders Hong Kong.)

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 06:14:40 AM UTC

New Zealand: More Kiwis get flu vaccination

More than 858,980 doses of influenza vaccine have already been distributed this year in New Zealand, an increase of 28,530 doses for the same period in 2011.

Although many Kiwis have had their annual influenza vaccination early this year, a leading virus expert says time is running out for those who are still unprotected from this serious illness. "People should call their doctor or nurse as soon as possible to book their 'flu' vaccination as it can take up to two weeks to develop immunity from the time of vaccination. Flu cases usually start to rise about now with the onset of winter," warns National Influenza Specialist Group (NISG)1  spokesperson and virus expert Dr Lance Jennings.

Flu immunisation is free for New Zealanders at high risk of more severe disease and  complications - pregnant women, people aged 65 and over, and anyone with ongoing health conditions such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes, respiratory disease (including asthma), kidney disease and most cancers. Canterbury residents also qualify for free vaccination if they are aged between 6 months and 18 years old.

Dr Jennings says it's good to see New Zealanders have heeded the national advice to vaccinate before winter. Continued: http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/un-d...

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

     

---

by: Carol@SC @ Mon May 14, 2012 at 06:21:29 AM UTC

Egypt's Real Crisis: The Dual Epidemics Quietly Ravaging Public Health

By Laurie Garrett & Steven A. Cook
May 14 2012, 7:01 AM ET

A combination of avian flu and foot and mouth disease risk destroying the protein supply, eroding public trust, and further destabilizing the Arab world's most populous country.

Lost in the recent political jockeying and protest violence leading up to Egypt's May 23 presidential elections is the unfolding public health disaster there. Avian flu and foot and mouth disease are running rampant, killing people and livestock as well as inflating the price of food. It's a serious health and economic issue, but it has potentially much larger implications for Egypt, and this little-discussed crisis is beginning to resemble those that occur in failed states.

The Egyptian state, which was not particularly well-prepared for public emergencies even before the February 2011 revolution brought it into near-chaos, has little capacity to cope with the outbreaks threatening not only Egypt, but also Sudan, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jordan. Egypt's public health infrastructure barely functions. The sort of social service that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have provided over many years, it falls far short of what is needed to combat the current crisis. Cairo does not have the money to throw at the problem, having burned through more than half of its foreign currency reserves in the 15 months since Mubarak's fall.

Ground zero for Egypt's public health emergency is Libya, where last year, in the midst of civil war, foot and mouth disease swept through the country, killing more than 10 percent of its sheep and cattle. Smugglers subsequently brought infected sheep across the Libyan border, setting off a foot and mouth disease (FMD) wildfire that Egyptian officials have been unable to slow.

full article
http://www.theatlantic.com/int...

United we stand: Divided we fall
www.flunewsnetwork.com

---

by: cottontop @ Tue May 15, 2012 at 00:58:26 AM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 15, 2012

Thank you!

---

by: AlohaOR @ Tue May 15, 2012 at 04:29:43 AM UTC