News Reports for May 24, 2012

US: Is the flu making a comeback in the area? (Pennsylvania)

The flu is making a late-season come-back this year. Compared to last year, reported cases of the flu jumped just last month.

After hearing that there was a spike in the number of cases of the flu in our area in the month of May, we went to representatives with the state Department of Health to find out what's going on.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Health told CBS 21 News, that at this time last year, there had been a reported 19,000 cases of the flu during the flu season, here in Pennsylvania. Take that nearly 20,000 cases and compare it to this year's number of 2,000 and it's clear, this was a mild year for cases of influenza. Some are wondering if the decrease in numbers is due to the overall mild winter seen throughout the country but that has yet to be determined.

But despite those statistics, just last month the number of cases of the flu went from just 27 last May to 249 this year. Continued:  http://www.whptv.com/news/loca...

(Note: IMO, any area of the country that sees an upsurge in flu cases needs to be correctly testing samples to see if it is one of the variant strains like H3N2v.)

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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 05:01:18 AM UTC

CFK recovered from flu, resumes presidential agenda

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner resumed the presidential agenda today after making a full recovery from a bout of flu. The president has spent the past 48 hours signed off from work, recuperating at the Olivos Presidential residence. Continued: http://www.buenosairesherald.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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 05:14:00 AM UTC

India: Health officials alerted ahead of monsoon (Maharashtra)

PUNE: Ahead of the monsoon, additional chief secretary Jayanthkumar Banthia on Tuesday held a meeting of health officials on swine flu.

"Civil surgeons, district health officers and municipal corporation health officials working across the state were asked to be on the alert as transmission of H1N1 virus is likely to increase during monsoon," (Snip)

(Snip) "We have been asked to reorient the medical staff, sensitise high risk groups and issue an advisory to all schools (Snip) The PMC has received 2,000 swine flu vaccine doses to protect the front-line staff involved in swine flu management.

"We have given 290 vaccine doses to health staff working at 15 private designated hospitals in Pune. We are also motivating our medical staff to get vaccinated against the virus," (Snip) 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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 05:40:56 AM UTC

Widespread H1N1pdm09 Tamiflu Resistance in Mexico

Recombinomics Commentary

Biologia Molecular y Validacion de Tecnicas in Santo Tomas, Mexico has released a series of 2012 H1N1pdm09 HA and NA sequences at Genbank. Earlier sequences from January collections in Mexico City had H274Y and matched sequences in Texas, California, and Illinois. The latest sequences are more recent and cover a larger geographic area and also have H274Y, extending the spread on H274Y in North America.

All eight of the NA sequences from Mexico had H274Y. They were collected between Jan 2, 2012 (Snip) and Feb 28, 2012 (Snip). Locations are throughout Mexico (Hidalgo City, (Snip) Tlaxcala City, (Snip) Veracruz City, (Snip)  Guanajuato City, (Snip) and Mexico City (Snip) and match earlier sequences from Mexico City, as well as US sequences in Texas, California, and Illinois.

Although weekly PAHO reports describe the high levels of H1N1pdm09 in Mexico when these samples were collected, the high levels of H274Y were not described.  Recent PAHO and CDC reports have noted increased levels of H274Y in Texas, including 13/16 cases with no Tamiflu exposure. The sequence identities and clonal expansion have not been described.

The familial clusters in the US further confirm the transmission of this sub-clade and the number of cases undoubtedly is many or orders of magnitude higher than the cases represented by the recently released sequences. 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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 05:55:29 AM UTC

Widespread H1N1pdm09 Tamiflu Resistance in the United States

Recombinomics Commentary

Three patients were using oseltamivir for 1 day or more at the time of specimen collection. Thirteen had no exposure to oseltamivir.

The recently released H1N1pdm09 NA sequences from Mexico confirm widespread transmitting oseltamivir (Tamiflu), H274Y, resistance in Mexico in 2012.  Although most of the eight sequences were partial, all covered position 274, and all had Y at that position.  Earlier sequences from Mexico City had H274Y and were closely related to each other and recent sequences from the United States (Texas, California, Illinois).  The recent sequences from Mexico had associated characterization sheets which included location, as well as collection date for the 8 sequences, which were collected between Jan 2 and Feb 28, 2012.  The earliest case was from Puebla, just south of Mexico City, but subsequent sequences were from cases located throughout the country, from Veracruz on the eastern coast, and central Mexico, as well as Hidalgo City, near the Texas border.

Similar sequences were also found in Texas, as demonstrated by the sequences released by the CDC and described above.  Most of these isolates were from cases who had no exposure to oseltamivir, and at least one of the three samples from patients with exposure were collected a day after the start of treatment, raising concerns that a subset of the sequences that had H at position 274, also had Y at that position at concentrations below 50% of the signal (samples with H274Y at a level below 50% are reported as wild type). 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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 06:17:10 AM UTC

Study: Canine influenza H3N2 can spread to cats

In a laboratory study, the canine influenza virus (CIV) H3N2 spread from dogs to cats via respiratory droplets, suggesting that cats could be another host for the virus (Snip) CIV H3N2 originated in birds and was first reported in 2007 (Snip)

The team assessed interspecies aerosol transmission by infecting four dogs intranasally with the virus and then housing cats and ferrets in cages a few inches away. In addition, the team infected two cats and three ferrets intranasally and then placed them in cages with uninfected animals of the same species. All the intranasally infected animals got sick with respiratory signs, but the illness was milder in the ferrets than in the cats and dogs. The cats housed near the infected dogs showed respiratory signs and shed virus after 9 days of exposure, but the ferrets housed near the dogs stayed healthy. Uninfected cats caged with infected cats got sick, but the naive ferrets housed with infected ferrets stayed well.

"These data suggest that cats, in addition to dogs, can be another susceptible host of CIV H3N2; ferrets may not be susceptible host but may be susceptible after viral adaptation," (Snip)

They say the transmission of the virus between dogs and cats "underscores the concern that these same viruses might also be able to infect humans who come in contact with the animals."

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

May 23 Influenza Other Respi Viruses abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 06:29:10 AM UTC

US: 32 people suffering from flu-like symptoms at Collier County assisted living facility (Florida)

Naples: Thirty-two people, including 24 residents and eight employees at the north Collier assisted living facility and nursing home Vi at Bentley Village are suffering from flu-like symptoms.

"They're limiting visitations to their assisted living facility," said Stacy Revay, Collier County Health Department's coordinator for Healthy Communities. "We're asking that all necessary visitors wear masks and wash their hands before entering and exiting the facility."

The health department was alerted to the spreading sickness on Saturday after more than a dozen residents began experiencing flu-like symptoms that include fever, nausea, body aches, headaches and vomiting.

"They're pretty typical flu-like symptoms," Revay said. The 24 residents experiencing the symptoms represent less than one percent of 700 people who reside there, Revay added. "They're living in pretty close quarters, so something like this can spread pretty quickly." Revay said the illnesses don't appear to be more aggressive than a normal flu. Continued: http://www.news-press.com/arti...

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 @ Thu May 24, 2012 at 19:44:17 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for May 25, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Fri May 25, 2012 at 04:25:46 AM UTC