News Reports for May 23, 2012

US: Flu Cases In Chemung County Are Not Severe (New York)

Elmira, N.Y. - The Centers for Disease Control reports New York is the only state with widespread flu activity in the past few weeks. (Snip) Chemung County health officials say the cases in our area have been mild.

The CDC recently mapped out which states had the most flu activity in the past few weeks.  While most states have only seen sporadic or no activity, the virus is widespread in New York.

But public health director, Bob Page, says the number of flu cases in Chemung County are not unusually high. Page says, "Viruses do change and mutate and acting in different ways. I don't know if this is a trend. Continued: http://www.wetmtv.com/news/loc...
 

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 May 23, 2012 at 05:42:53 AM UTC

Study: Obesity not a risk factor for medically attended flu

May 22, 2012 (CIDRAP News) - A new study suggests that obesity does not increase a person's risk of getting sick with influenza-a finding that may come as a surprise to those who are familiar with findings about obesity as a risk factor during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.

Studies during the pandemic showed that those who caught the virus had a higher risk of severe illness if they were very obese. Those findings prompted some to wonder if obesity is a risk factor for contracting flu in the first place. The new study suggests the answer is no.

The researchers, from two clinics in Wisconsin and Minnesota and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studied adults who sought care for respiratory illnesses during two flu seasons and the 2009 pandemic. They found that patients who tested positive for flu were no more likely to be obese than patients who tested negative. "Our study demonstrates for the first time that among community-dwelling adults seeking outpatient medical care for an acute respiratory illness, obesity is not a risk factor laboratory-confirmed influenza," says the report, published May 14 in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. The first and senior authors are Laura A. Coleman, PhD, and Edward A. Belongia, MD, of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Marshfield, Wis.

Obesity tied to immune defects
The authors comment that obesity has been linked to various human immune defects, including reduced responses to tetanus, hepatitis B, and 2009 H1N1 vaccines. In addition, some studies have shown that obese mice are more likely to die of flu.

In the 2009 pandemic, various studies linked severe obesity to an increased risk of complications and death in flu patients. For example, a study focusing on the first 16 weeks of the pandemic in California showed that extremely obese patients were three times as likely to die of the infection as normal-weight patients were.

The authors of the recent study prospectively studied community-living adults (age 20 and up) who visited the Marshfield Clinic for treatment of respiratory illness during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 flu seasons and the 2009 pandemic (May to November of 2009). Those who had a fever, chills, or cough were enrolled and tested for flu.

Obesity was defined by body mass index (BMI). Patients were classified as underweight (BMI less than 18.5), normal (BMI 18.5 to 24.9), overweight (BMI 25.0 to 29.9), obese (BMI of 30.0 to 39.9, or extremely obese (BMI 40 or over). 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 May 23, 2012 at 05:49:52 AM UTC

India: No H1N1 case reported in Pune in last 12 days

PUNE: (Snip) However, experts have advised precautionary measures in view of the impending monsoon, which provides an ideal setting for influenza-like illnesses.

Since March, the deadly virus has infected 364 people and has claimed 12 lives. "The last reported case was on May 10 when a 34-year-old man from Wadgaonsheri tested positive for the contagion. (Snip)

Similarly, the last admitted swine flu infection case was on May 9. A two-year-old boy from Tadiwala Road was treated for the infection at the PMC-run Naidu hospital. The last infected case requiring intensive medical care was also on May 9 when a 23-year-old woman was admitted to the ICU of a private hospital in Hadapsar. She later recovered.

The last reported H1N1 Influenza A casualty in Pune was on April 27 when a 62-year-old man from Bibvewadi had succumbed to swine flu at a private hospital, taking the death toll in Pune to 12 since March 14. The victim was a cancer patient. On March 14, Kanta Sarode (48) succumbed to the H1N1 infection, becoming the first swine flu victim in Pune district since April 2011.

The latest swine flu death was from the neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad when a 30-year-old woman Jayshree Santosh Gandhale, a resident of Kondhwa Khurd, succumbed to the swine flu infection on May 6 after showing miraculous recovering. The woman was on ventilator support for more than 40 days. The last reported H1N1 positive case from Pimpri-Chinchwad was on May 4.
(Snip)
The extended winter in the state, the intermittent sharp disturbances during the winter to summer transition phase and declining immunity among the masses were thought as likely reasons for the rise in swine flu the cases.

Scientists at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) had recorded 10% to 15% rise in swine flu cases in March. Incidentally, Mexico, which reported the first case of swine flu infection in the world, was also seeing an increase during the same period since the pandemic shut down much of the country three years ago.
(Snip)
In 2010, the World Health Organisation had warned that during the change of season, there will be sporadic seasonal outbreaks, for a couple of years before the virus dies down. http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

(Note: India only reports laboratory confirmed flu cases so the numbers are much higher than given here. IMO, they were pretty lax about testing even the symptomatic patients that were admitted to the hospitals.)

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 May 23, 2012 at 06:00:00 AM UTC

About 6% of poultry workers in India study have H9N2 antibodies

About 6% of poultry workers in and around Pune, India, had antibodies to H9N2 avian flu in their bloodstreams (Snip)  Researchers (Snip) analyzed serum samples from 338 poultry workers in a region known to have had H9N2 outbreaks in poultry. Workers from farms and live-bird markets responded to an invitation to participate in the study. (Snip) 21 workers (6.2%) had antibodies to H9N2, by either hemagglutination inhibition (HI) or microneutralization (MN) assay and using a titer of 40 or higher as the cutoff. If test results were taken separately, 4.7% of workers had antibodies by HI and 3.8% by MN. Serum samples from 249 members of the general public were all negative for H9N2 antibodies. The authors said the study "showed low prevalence of antibodies against AI H9N2 virus, which is comparable with reported studies from South-East Asia." Nonfatal illnesses caused by H9N2 viruses have been reported in a few children in Hong Kong and elsewhere in China in recent years. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

May 18 PLoS One study http://www.plosone.org/article...

CIDRAP overview of avian flu in humans http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

(Note: I recommend you check out "CIDRAP overview of avian flu in humans".)

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 May 23, 2012 at 06:20:36 AM UTC

This is India

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 May 23, 2012 at 06:30:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Vietnam approves new H5N1 project

Vietnam's agriculture ministry has approved a project to fight avian influenza in poultry and humans, supported by $300,000 from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (Snip). The project will be implemented within the next year in nine cities and provinces: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Tri, and Lang Son (Snip) The goals of the program are to improve management of the national health system, ensure equal access to health services, strengthen information sharing, and promote collaborative efforts for fighting avian influenza. Vietnam is among the countries where the H5N1 avian flu virus is endemic in poultry. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

May 20 VNA story http://talkvietnam.com/2012/05...

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 May 23, 2012 at 06:27:15 AM UTC

Australia: Epidemic reporters needed for national flu tracking

The world's fastest growing online influenza surveillance program is seeking more participants to register their symptoms and help researchers better understand the potentially life-threatening disease.

Flutracking.net, an Australian initiative of researchers from the University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Health, is the second largest program of its kind in the world. This flu season the program's organisers are aiming to boost the total number of participants from approximately 12,000 to 15,000 to further increase the accuracy of the community influenza snapshot.

Flutracking coordinator Dr Craig Dalton from Hunter New England Health said the program's purpose was to alert health officials to large outbreaks of the debilitating virus. "The information collected allows health professionals to better prepare for potential outbreaks in specific regions and direct public health action. For example, during the 2009 influenza pandemic, Flutracking gave health authorities a more complete understanding of the outbreak and increased knowledge to help address the situation," Dr Dalton said.

Flutracking participants complete a 10-second weekly online survey about whether they are experiencing flu-like symptoms. The survey involves volunteers from every state in Australia and each participant receives a weekly email update including an influenza activity map that reveals the nation's influenza-like illness hot spots.

"Large employers are now circulating Flutracking survey invitations to their employees to raise awareness of flu as part of corporate wellness programs," Dr Dalton said. Continued: http://www.healthcanal.com/pub...

FluTracking.net http://www.flutracking.net/

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 May 23, 2012 at 13:46:41 PM UTC

Bird-flu research: The biosecurity oversight

The fight over mutant flu has thrown the spotlight on a little-known government body that oversees dual-use research. Some are asking if it was up to the task.

The packages that started arriving by FedEx on 12 October last year came with strict instructions: protect the information within and destroy it after review. Inside were two manuscripts showing how the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus could be made to transmit between mammals. The recipients of these packages - eight members of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) - faced the unenviable task of deciding whether the research was safe to publish.

The group deliberated. Soon, the rest of the NSABB's 22 voting members and two dozen non-voting members and advisers were drawn in. For five-and-a-half weeks, they pored over the data in the papers, weighing the benefits of sharing the information against the risk that doing so might lead to the accidental or intentional release of a lethal new virus. They exchanged views in hundreds of e-mails and in more than 24 hours of teleconference calls. Continued: http://www.nature.com/news/bir...

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 May 23, 2012 at 13:56:02 PM UTC

Flu shot beneficial to pregnant women and fetuses: study

Pregnant women in Ontario who received a flu shot during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic were less likely to give birth to a very preterm baby or to lose their baby shortly after birth, a new study shows.

They were also less likely to give birth to a baby who was born small for its gestational age, said the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

More at the Globe and Mail.

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by: pogge @ Wed May 23, 2012 at 20:41:55 PM UTC

Antibodies Against Multiple Strains Produced By Pandemic 2009 H1N1 Vaccination

The pandemic 2009 H1N1 vaccine can generate antibodies in vaccinated individuals not only against the H1N1 virus, but also against other influenza virus strains including H5N1 and H3N2. This discovery adds an important new dimension to the finding last year that people infected with pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus produced high levels of antibodies that were broadly cross-reactive against a variety of flu strains.
(Snip)
The new discovery brings the researchers closer to being able to design a pan-influenza vaccine that reliably induces broadly cross-reactive antibodies at sufficiently high levels to protect against different influenza subtypes. Continued: http://www.medicalnewstoday.co...

(Note: Hmmm, I had the flu shot last October and it contained the H1N1 swine flu vaccine but I still spent a week in bed in March with the flu.)

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 May 23, 2012 at 22:29:19 PM UTC

US: 32 cases of flu-like illness reported at Bentley Village in North Naples (Florida)

NORTH NAPLES - Nearly three dozen cases of flu-like illness at Bentley Village retirement community in North Naples prompted public health officials to suggest restricted visitation from outsiders.

"We advised them to limit visitation to what is absolutely necessary," said Deb Millsap, a spokeswoman for the Collier County Health Department. Doctors and family members who must visit are asked to wear a mask and wash their hands when they come in the buildings and after they leave so they don't spread potential illness elsewhere in the community.

Bentley Village officials contacted the health department this past Saturday to report residents and employees were suffering from flu-like illness. To date, there are 32 cases of illness within the assisted living facility and nursing home, Millsap said. The health department cannot confirm if all the individuals have flu, but one individual has been hospitalized, she said.

The breakdown is 24 residents of the assisted living facility and nursing home combined, and eight staff members. Continued: http://www.naplesnews.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 @ Wed May 23, 2012 at 22:34:06 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 24, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 04:05:53 AM UTC