News Reports for June 9, 2012

US: Flu not gone from Central Texas

Austin (KXAN) - Health officials with the Centers For Disease Control recently said the flu season is over for now, but that does not mean influenza has disappeared altogether.  The 2011 - 2012 flu season started late and was pretty mild compared to most other years, but we have seen flu cases popping up again in the last couple of weeks in Central Texas.  Most of the cases have been in children.

Medical experts at the Austin Regional Clinic's northwest lab told us they have tested 63 people from around Central Texas in the last week for the flu.  Some tests were positive.  They say flu does tend to stick around a bit in the summer months here.  It can spread easily when children get together at summer camps, in summer sporting events or summer school.

Doctors remind parents to take their children to the doctor if he or she has flu-like symptoms even now, and make sure you and your children continue to use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Continued: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/health...

(Note: I hope they are testing to see if any of these cases are one of the new variants like H3N2v that was seen in a few states earlier this year. I would hate to see another new strain surprise us like H1N1 swine flu did in 2009.)

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 05:54:21 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Thailand launches trial of nasal-spray H5N1 vaccine

With help from the United States and the WHO, Thailand has launched a phase 1 trial of a nasal-spray H5N1 avian flu vaccine for humans (Snip) HHS said Thailand is one of the first countries to test a nasal-spray H5N1 vaccine, which uses a live attenuated virus. (A nasal-spray seasonal flu vaccine, FluMist, has been used in the United States for about 10 years.)

The vaccine was originally developed at the Institute for Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia (Snip) Through a grant to the WHO, HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provided funds and technical assistance to Thailand's Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) for work on the vaccine. The grant helped Thailand build a pilot-scale manufacturing facility, plan and launch clinical trials, and develop a regulatory process for evaluating the vaccine (Snip)

BARDA Director Robin Robinson, PhD, called the phase 1 trial a milestone in international efforts to speed the development of locally produced flu vaccines around the world. The vaccine is part of Thailand's pandemic preparedness program. The results of the trial are expected by May 2013, (Snip)

US National Institutes of Health records show that at least two clinical trials of live attenuated H5N1 vaccines have been conducted in the United States. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Jun 7 HHS press release http://www.phe.gov/Preparednes...
 

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 06:01:12 AM UTC

Globally, only regional pockets show increased flu activity

Global flu activity remains low with the exception of Hong Kong, Madagascar, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic, health officials report.

"Influenza activity in the northern hemisphere temperate regions is continuing to decline or back to baseline levels indicating the season is ending," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update today. It added that activity in the tropics is low except for Hong Kong and Madagascar, where H3N2 viruses are predominating. In addition, activity began to increase in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador in late April (Snip) H3N2 predominates in the former country and pandemic 2009 H1N1 (pH1N1) in the latter.

In the Southern Hemisphere, activity is picking up a bit in Chile and Paraguay, which reported 3% and 12% increases in influenza-like activity (ILI), respectively (Snip) H3N2 predominates in Chile, whereas pH1N1 dominates in Paraguay.

Of 2,297 flu viruses typed globally, 1,325 (58%) were H3N2, 598 (26%) were influenza B, 157 (7%) were pH1N1, and 217 (9%) were unsubtyped influenza A (Snip)

In its weekly update on US flu activity, the CDC reported that all major flu indicators were below baseline, and no pediatric flu deaths were reported, leaving the seasonal total at 26. That figure is lowest the CDC has recorded since it started tracking the statistic 7 years ago.

Continued with WHO and CDC links: 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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 06:14:22 AM UTC

Sri Lanka: Hospital ward closed in Sri Lanka over swine flu

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lankan health officials have evacuated a ward at a government-run hospital near the capital after four staffers were infected with swine flu.

(Snip) tests have confirmed that four staff members there were infected with the H1N1 virus. He says they are being treated and that their condition is improving.

(Snip) 40 patients were transferred from the ward, which was then shut down. (Snip) no patients have been infected. http://www.wsvn.com/news/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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 06:19:45 AM UTC

China: H5N1 bird flu reported in NW China

BEIJING, Jun 8 - China's northwestern Gansu province has reported an outbreak of the highly epidemic H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has announced.

More than 6,200 chickens at a farm in a village in Luyang, a town in Jingtai county, showed symptoms of suspected avian flu Friday, and 260 of them have died, (Snip) The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory on Tuesday confirmed the epidemic was H5N1 bird flu (Snip)

Local authorities have sealed off and sterilized the infected area, where a total of 18,460 chickens have been culled and safely disposed of (Snip)

A team was dispatched by the ministry to the quarantined area to guide epidemic prevention and monitoring.

Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a contagious disease of animal origin caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. It can be fatal to humans. http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/new...

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 06:25:14 AM UTC

An unknown disease kills children in India

Translated

The country's authorities can not determine the causes of the deaths of dozens of children. In the past two weeks at least 73 children have died of an unknown disease in the northern state of Bihar (Snip) Representatives of the Regional Health Department reported 30 children killed in Muzaffarpur district, nine in the Gaya and 34 in Patna.

Previously it was reported that the cause of death of Indian children could be an outbreak of encephalitis virus transmitted by mosquitoes. However, the State Health Minister, Ashwani Kumar Choubey said in a statement that have not yet determined the cause of dozens of deaths of children.

On Friday, the staff of the Ministry of Health held an emergency meeting where they discussed measures to combat the epidemic. (Snip) experts noted that more than 40 children are still in serious condition and remain in the regional hospital.

Meanwhile, local doctors report that medical staff do not have the necessary medicines and modern equipment to diagnose the disease. Continued: http://actualidad.rt.com/actua...

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 06:43:36 AM UTC

Russia: Soldiers passed away from pneumonia in the military part in the Chelyabinsk province

Translated

(A) Soldier of Alexander Mikhailov, died of pneumonia in a military (unit) in the settlement (of) Trekhgorny-1 in the Chelyabinsk region. Native soldier, assigned six months ago from Chelyabinsk (died) on June 1. (Snip) the funeral of 19 year-old soldier (was) held on June 6.

(Snip) in the unit (Snip) of 32,616, (there are) about 100 sick soldiers. 16 were hospitalized.

"The military remained silent. Witnesses say that (the unit) is located near the marshes, where soldiers staged forced marches in a new form. As a result (they caught a) chill," (Snip) http://www.argumenti.ru/incide...

(Note: Military exercises in marshes where there are plenty of water foul? I would feel better reading this if they said they had tested them for H5N1.)

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 07:05:49 AM UTC

The headlines translated out to read "soldiers"

but only one died, according to this article. His name is Alexander Mikhailov. About 100 soldiers in the same unit are sick and 16 have been hospitalized after performing military exercises in a wet land area (marshes).

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 07:25:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

China: One more patient with Influenza A at Kowloon Hospital

Hong Kong - Regarding a male rehabilitation ward in Kowloon Hospital in which some patients had been confirmed with Influenza A recently, the hospital announced the following updates today (June 9).

One more male patient (aged 76) presented with respiratory symptoms and fever in the rehabilitation ward today. (Snip) the test result was positive to Influenza A. The concerned patient is being treated under isolation and is in stable condition.

Admission to the ward has been suspended and restricted visiting to the ward has been imposed. Infection control measures have already been stepped up (Snip). All other patients in the concerned ward are under close surveillance. (Snip) http://7thspace.com/headlines/...

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 @ Sat Jun 09, 2012 at 19:43:18 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for June 10, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sun Jun 10, 2012 at 04:36:06 AM UTC