News Reports for June 15, 2012

Malaysia: NS trainees quarantined with H1N1 symptoms

ALOR SETAR: Ninety national service trainees at Dusun Minda National Service Training camp in Kuala Nerang have been quarantined after coming down with Influenza A(H1N1). Eleven boys and four girls have been warded at the Kuala Nerang Hospital while the rest were treated with anti-viral medication and sent back to the camp.

Kedah Health Department director Dr Ismail Abu Taat said the trainees had on Tuesday complained of flu and cough to their camp commander and were sent to the hospital for a check-up. He said the trainees were found to have H1N1 symptoms.

Dr Ismail said initial investigations revealed that a trainee had came down with high fever and it had spread to the others. "Until Wednesday, there was no report of any new cases," he said.

He said the cases of H1N1 were the first recorded in the state this year.

Dr Ismail advised parents of the trainees not to worry as "the situation is under control". He added that the camp had not been closed, and the trainees and instructors were told to keep the premises clean. The camp management, when contacted, declined to comment on the case.
A trainee who declined to be named said all trainees had been provided with face masks to wear on Tuesday. Continued: http://thestar.com.my/news/sto...

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 Jun 15, 2012 at 06:03:55 AM UTC

Australia: Winter illnesses goes flu the roof (Queensland)

FLU season has hit the Central Highlands. Local doctors report patients are seeking medical help to fight the duration and severity of the seasonal affliction.

Belman Medical's Dr Michael Belonogoff said while new strains of the virus had not been detected, he could not rule it out and urged residents to get the latest flu vaccination.

"It's not too late to get the vaccination," Dr Belonogoff said, and reminded residents it could take up to a fortnight for the vaccination to work.
(Snip)
Pharmacy First chemist Angela Cornford reported an increase in sales of cold and flu medications, but said the best way to combat the illness was through rest, a healthy lifestyle, getting enough sleep and minimising the spread of germs. http://www.cqnews.com.au/story...

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 Jun 15, 2012 at 06:29:19 AM UTC

India: Training on bird flu held (Manipur)

A three-day training on 'capacity building for veterinary doctors & para-vets in preparedness, control and containment of avian influenza (bird flu) in Manipur' organised by Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Services commenced from today at the Conference Hall of Manipur State Veterinary Council, Sanjenthong.
(Snip)
To prevent outbreak of the deadly viral disease in Manipur the State's Veterinary Department had carried out large-scale culling of birds (chickens) as a pre-emptive step but there is no certainty that avian influenza has been completely eradicated in the country, said the Director who expressed confidence that organising training programmes like today's will keep veterinary doctors and department personnel on constant alert to face any eventualities. Continued: http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=11...

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 Jun 15, 2012 at 06:36:07 AM UTC

CIDRAP: Newspaper - Internal CDC records raise lab biosafety concerns (US)

An investigation by USA Today detailed internal concerns about airflow problems at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) lab in Atlanta. The report published today cited e-mails among CDC employees discussing concerns about an incident in February in which air from a potentially contaminated lab blew into a "clean" corridor where visitors weren't wearing protective gear.

(Snip) CDC engineers have aired written concerns about the air containment systems and that scientists working with poxviruses expressed at a meeting worries about working in the lab as currently designed.

The CDC didn't address the newspaper's direct questions, but it issued a statement saying no pathogen releases have occurred (Snip) Although the safety systems at times experience challenges, multiple systems are in place to cover worker and public safety  (Snip)

BSL-3 labs are designed for work with pathogens that can spread through the air and cause potentially serious or fatal disease, whereas BSL-4 labs are designed for work on aerosol-transmitted agents for which there are no vaccines or treatments, such as the Ebola virus. http://www.usatoday.com/news/n...

Jun 13 USA Today story http://www.usatoday.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 Jun 15, 2012 at 07:09:50 AM UTC

Researchers track evolution of variant H3N2 in swine samples

In the wake of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the US Department of Agriculture improved influenza surveillance in swine that includes routine sequencing of hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), and M proteins from submitted samples.

Researchers have used the results to track recent evolution in swine and the emergence of variant H3N2 (H3N2v) viruses that were found in 12 recent human infections. The findings (Snip) are based on an analysis of 674 M segments collected from 2009 through 2011 in North America and 388 viruses that had M, HA, and NA segment sequencing.  

The group also analyzed HA, NA, and M sequences from eight of the H3N2v viruses from humans. They found prolific reassortment of the pandemic M segment into a range of genetic backbones, which gave rise to the novel combination of H3, N2, and M segments in swine that has spread widely in North American pigs since 2009, especially during the latter half of 2011, when the viruses turned up in humans.

However, they noted that frequency of the variants in swine isn't high enough to explain the number of H3N2v infections in humans.

(Snip) the H3 from the variant virus was transmitted from humans to swine during the 1990s and that the N2 was more recently acquired from humans in 2001-02, which might explain why mainly children have been infected (Snip)  http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Jun 13 J Virol abstract http://jvi.asm.org/content/ear...

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 Jun 15, 2012 at 07:24:08 AM UTC

CIDRAP: UK flu vaccine study shows moderate benefits for 2010-11

A study of influenza vaccine effectiveness during the United Kingdom's 2010-11 flu season found that the trivalent seasonal vaccine was effective against both the seasonal strains and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain circulating that year and that vaccination with the adjuvanted 2009 H1N1 vaccine in the previous season offered little extra protection in 2010-11 except in very young children.

(Snip) The study was conducted from Sep 1, 2010, through Mar 17, 2011, among patients at five UK primary care sentinel sites. Investigators looked at those with flu confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction testing and those with flulike illness who tested negative for flu. Vaccination data were obtained from patients' medical records. A total of 7,797 patients were swabbed, and 39 were dropped because they were positive for H3 or influenza A other than 2009 H1N1. Effectiveness for the seasonal flu vaccine was 56% (95% confidence interval [CI], 42%-66%) overall; age-adjusted effectiveness was 87% for children younger than 5 and 84% for kids aged 5 to 14 years. Effectiveness of the vaccine against influenza B was 57% overall, which increased to 75% in school-aged children. Vaccination with the H1N1 monovalent vaccine during the 2009-10 season followed by trivalent vaccine in 2010-11 afforded protection against 2009 H1N1 in only 28% of patients (95% CI, 6%-51%) overall but in 72% (95% CI, 32%-91%) in children under 5. The study found lower vaccine effectiveness for the Yamagata lineage B strain. 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 @ Fri Jun 15, 2012 at 07:45:53 AM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for June 16, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sat Jun 16, 2012 at 04:50:12 AM UTC