News Reports for July 12, 2012

Australia: Flu crisis swamps Perth hospitals

Disease experts are blaming the surge on one of this season's dominant viruses, influenza A/H3N2. It is a potentially deadly strain which caused havoc during the last northern hemisphere winter.

The Australian Medical Association WA said there had been an alarming rise in flu cases across GP surgeries and hospitals in the past few weeks and the trend had worsened in the past few days.

Health Department figures show a 40 per cent rise (or an extra 11,000 patients) in emergency department attendances for the flu in May and June this year compared with the same period in the past two years.

Ambulances waiting to hand over their patients were forced to queue outside Perth emergency departments for almost 600 hours in the past 10 days, one of the worst ramping figures on record.

The blowout in patient numbers meant St John Ambulance failed to reach its crucial response time target for priority-one calls on Monday and Tuesday, managing to attend only 86 per cent within 15 minutes instead of 90 per cent.

AMA WA president Richard Choong said the flu crisis showed the health system did not have inbuilt "surge" capacity. "We run all year at nearly 100 per cent capacity and we cannot cope with this seasonal load because there just doesn't seem to be the resources and beds to cope," he said. Continued: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewe...  

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 Jul 12, 2012 at 05:38:54 AM UTC

Australia: Dangerous flu season upon us (Victoria)

DOCTORS are warning people to protect themselves against potentially deadly flu strains that have already taken lives and sent dozens of people to hospital.

Nationally, 8183 cases of flu have been reported this year, with 1034 of them in Victoria. This is up from 698 during the same period in Victoria last year and 226 in 2010.

Seven deaths have been reported to the federal Department of Health. But the chairman of the Influenza Specialist Group, Dr Alan Hampson, said this was likely to be the tip of the iceberg. He said he feared Australia was in for a difficult year because most people were being diagnosed with the H3N2 and Type B flu virus strains.

''When we see high levels of H3N2, which is the predominant strain this season, there is significant impact, especially in high-risk groups. Typically, we can expect to see more deaths and hospital admissions,'' said Dr Hampson, whose group receives some funds from pharmaceutical companies.

The World Health Organisation's Ian Barr said he also feared a worse flu season than the past two years. But he said this year's flu vaccine included protection against these strains because they were dominant in the northern hemisphere winter.

The director of respiratory medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Professor Lou Irving, said the early flu season had hit Victorian hospitals in recent weeks. He said his unit had admitted 20 patients last week, compared with an average of eight to 10 patients. ''It's fair to say the flu season puts an enormous pressure on the public hospital system ... and the increased activity negatively impacts on other activities in hospitals including elective surgery,'' he said. http://www.coastaltimes.com.au...

(Note: World Health Organisation's Ian Barr: "this year's flu vaccine included protection against these strains because they were dominant in the northern hemisphere winter." The man is clearly not telling the whole truth and he should be ashame! Yes, the southern hemisphere got a vaccine which included protection against H3N2 and B strains but what they got is not for the same H3N2 and B strains that dominated in the latter part of the flu season in the northern hemisphere. That is why WHO changed the flu vaccine composition this time!)

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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:03:06 AM UTC

New Zealand: Influenza badly affecting workforces

Climbing influenza rates are cutting swathes through Mid Canterbury workplaces, and putting more pressure than last year on regional hospital services.

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is asking general practices to give patients with influenza symptoms same day appointments, but that is something that might be impossible in Mid Canterbury.

Among workplaces affected by the flu is Rainer Irrigation, where yesterday about half a dozen of its 90 staff were off sick with the flu.

Office manager Colleen Briggs said flu was one of those things workplaces had to put up with this time of year. "I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary, it's just that when you get a bug (in the workplace) it goes in clumps, you might get three or four with the same strain."
Continued: http://www.ashburtonguardian.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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:11:30 AM UTC

South Africa: 8000 ostriches face slaughter after flu outbreak

About 8000 ostriches in the Western Cape are being slaughtered after a fresh outbreak of avian flu.
Infected ostriches were found on a farm near Albertinia and on two farms near Heidelberg two weeks ago (Snip)  All birds found on an infected farm had to be killed as part of the government's "stamping out" policy.

The industry had recently stated it had brought the H5N2 disease in the province under control and was a step closer to having its export status re-instated. The European Union had banned all exports since last April.
(Snip)
"We have to look at other control measures because this stamping out is possibly not the way to go." http://www.timeslive.co.za/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 @ Thu Jul 12, 2012 at 06:16:03 AM UTC

Australia: Doctors warn of influenza outbreak (Queensland)

THE Sunshine Coast has had more than 100 confirmed cases of influenza this year and doctors say it is only the tip of the iceberg. The average for this time of year is 78 cases.

Australia-wide, more than 5000 cases of the H3N2 and Type B strains have already been confirmed and doctors warn that thousands more cases are going undiagnosed.

Queensland has been the worst affected state with 2536 cases - a 10% rise in diagnosed cases on this time last year.

So far, children under nine years have been the hardest hit but there have also been more cases among the elderly, as well as those aged 35 - 44 years. Continued: http://www.gladstoneobserver.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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:21:51 AM UTC

India: First swine flu death in Pune this month (Maharashtra)

Swine flu (H1N1 virus) claimed its first victim in Pune this month. Harish Chandra Lonkar, 55 (Snip) was admitted to KEM hospital on July 5. He (Snip) died late on Tuesday night. (Snip) he was brought in with flu like symptoms but condition worsened due to morbid conditions like renal injury. http://www.indianexpress.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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:32:39 AM UTC

India: Two new cases of swine flu detected in Mumbai (Maharashtra)

With two new cases of swine flu being detected on Wednesday from Haffkine Laboratory in Parel, the count of patients has risen to 80 since January this year.

A 24-year-old male from Powai and a 47-year-old male from Kurla (Snip) tested (Snip) positive for H1N1 virus (Snip)

(Snip) the Powai-based male has sought treatment on OPD basis, the 47-year-old male from Kurla has been admitted to civic-run KEM hospital in Parel.

"Both the patients have been put on Tamiflu treatment and are stable," (Snip). http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai...

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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:37:36 AM UTC

Study flags drop in antivirals for hospitalized flu patients

Jul 11, 2012 (CIDRAP News) - Researchers following recent antiviral trends in the United States have found a troubling drop in the use of the drugs for treating hospitalized patients with lab-confirmed flu, especially children.

They found that strong recommendations from medical organizations helped push use of the drugs in seriously ill patients to high levels during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, but that levels fell the following flu season. The study, conducted by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collaborators from several state health departments, appeared today in the latest issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

During the 2009 pandemic the CDC issued guidelines recommending that hospitalized children and adults with confirmed or suspected flu receive early antiviral treatment, regardless of underlying conditions. By the start of the 2010-11 season, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) followed up with the same recommendations.

Using population-based hospital data from the CDC's Influenza Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET), the team compared the proportions of children and adults hospitalized with lab-confirmed flu infections who were treated with antivirals during the 2010-11 season and during the 2009 pandemic. Patients were included if they were hospitalized within 14 days after a positive influenza test result. Investigators reviewed medical charts to collect demographic, medical history, and clinical information.

Among nearly 9,000 patients identified in FluSurv-NET who were hospitalized with lab-confirmed flu during the 2009 pandemic, 77% of children received antiviral treatment and 82% of adults received the drugs. Researchers found that 99% of the treated patients got oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

However, the following flu season, among just over 6,000 patients hospitalized with lab-confirmed flu, the proportion of children who received antivirals dropped to 56% and the percentage of treated adults fell to 77%, according to the study.

Researchers said the drop from 2009 to the 2010-2011 season was significant for all age groups except those 65 years and older. 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 @ Thu Jul 12, 2012 at 06:47:44 AM UTC

H5N1 Virus Could Evolve Quickly

"Knowledge is power." Sir Francis Bacon, an English author and philosopher once spoke these words. With this theme in mind, the results from a research project on a pandemic strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus were recently published in Science. (Snip)

In the study, researchers genetically modified the H5N1 virus and found that mutations at five locations could cause the pandemic strain to be produced.
(Snip)
"Our main conclusion is that the H5N1 bird flu virus can acquire the ability of aerosol transmission between mammals, and we show that as little as five mutations, but certainly less than 10, are sufficient to make H5N1 virus airborne," explained Fouchier in an article by the Guardian.
(Snip)
Last month, Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison revealed details of another type of the H5N1 virus that can be passed along. He produced a mutated strain of the swine flu virus that appeared in 2009.

Approximately 16 years ago, scientists first identified the bird flu and determined that it can lead to serious illness or death. Even though it cannot spread between humans presently, scientists wanted to understand how many changes were needed before the virus could become airborne. They initially theorized that flu viruses needed to mix with another virus to become pandemic. Fouchier's project showed that the "reassortment" process was not needed for the H5N1 virus to become airborne.

An accompanying study featured in Science focused on using computer and mathematical models to better understand if the types of viruses produced by Fouchier and Kawaoka could happen naturally. Derek Smith, professor of infectious diseases at Cambridge University, completed the study. Smith's team analyzed surveillance data on avian H5N1 viruses over the past 15 years and discovered that two of the necessary five mutations have already been seen in strains that already exist.

"We now know that we're living on a fault line," noted Smith in the Guardian article. "What we have discovered in this working collaboration with Drs. Fouchier and Kawaoka is that it's an active fault line." Continued:  http://www.redorbit.com/news/h...

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 Jul 12, 2012 at 06:55:11 AM UTC

Study: H1N1 flu in pigs and people at Ohio county fair identical

(CIDRAP) The discovery of identical triple-reassortant H1N1 influenza in pigs and humans at a county fair in Ohio in August 2007 illustrated the importance of coordinating public health and animal health disease investigations (Snip)

Clinical signs of a flu-like illness were seen in most of more than 200 pigs within 80 hours of their arrival at the fair; these included anorexia, fever, lethargy, and a "barking" cough. The pig barns were temporarily closed to the public and the animals were treated with antibiotics.

Five days after the pigs' arrival at the fair, respiratory symptoms in several exhibitors were reported. Nasal swabs and sera were collected from 10 randomly selected pigs and two ill people and analyzed. The viruses isolated from the animals and the people (Snip) were genetically identical and were similar to H1N1 swine flu viruses currently found in US swine.

Serologic testing suggested that the pigs had been exposed to swine flu virus by natural pathways or vaccination before coming to the fair. (Snip) http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Jul 9 Zoonoses Public Health 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 Jul 12, 2012 at 07:13:38 AM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for July 13, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Fri Jul 13, 2012 at 04:36:39 AM UTC