News Reports for September 18, 2012

Bahrain: Father on holiday dies of swine flu

A FATHER-OF-TWO has died in Bahrain from swine flu after apparently contracting the illness while on holiday in India. Jose Arulappan Venzilause Gomez, 41, was admitted to hospital just days after he arrived back in Bahrain on September 1.

He was first admitted to American Mission Hospital (AMH), but was later transferred to the Royal Bahrain Hospital (RBH) where he died on Friday. It is the first reported H1N1 fatality in Bahrain since January last year.

"He went on vacation to Thiruvan-anthapuram, capital of the Indian state of Kerala, for 15 days with his family," (Snip) "He went on August 15 and came back on September 1.

(Snip)

"His health condition deteriorated and he went to AMH on September 5, but they referred him to RBH the same day where he was diagnosed with H1N1. "He was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but died on Friday night."

(Snip) the body of Mr Gomez was repatriated to India last night.

(Snip)  

"The patient presented at AMH with H1N1 and was incubated there and put on ventilator," said a spokeswoman. "He was then transferred to RBH while on a ventilator due to the fact that AMH didn't have an ICU. "At RBH, the patient was kept in the ICU in the isolation room to keep the flu from spreading up until he passed away." Continued: http://www.gulf-daily-news.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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 08:08:22 AM UTC

South Korea: Seoul to Step up Bird Flu Prevention Efforts

Korea will begin monitoring all its ports of entry to intercept any possible inflow of avian influenza (AI), (Snip).

(Snip) a special inspection will also take place at all air and sea ports on September 17-25 to check the ports' monitoring and quarantine capabilities.

The move comes as new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have already been reported in many Asian countries, including China and Hong Kong, as well as in Mexico.

"The government is stepping up its prevention measures due to an expected rise in the number of people going overseas during the Chuseok holiday along with an increase in the number of Chinese tourists coming to the country during China's national holidays from September 30 to October 7," (Snip).

South Korea last reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic AI late last year that led to the culling of over three million birds throughout the nation. http://www.thepoultrysite.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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 08:15:37 AM UTC

India: Swine flu claims one more life in Indore (Madhya Pradesh)

INDORE: Swine flu claimed yet another life on Monday leading to four deaths from H1N1 disease this season from city and nearby districts. The deceased was identified as a 23-year-old female patient from Ujjain who was rushed to Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital on Monday with respiratory problems. (Snip) the patient was referred from Ujjain but she died on way to the hospital.

This takes the total toll due to swine flu in the city this year to two while two others who died in city are from neighbouring districts. (Snip) 12 new samples were sent for confirmatory test to the Jabalpur-based lab. On Sunday, four samples were tested positive with flu.

All positive patients have been admitted to various hospitals in the city. A total of 63 samples have been sent for confirmatory test to Jabalpur lab, of which 51 reports have been received by health department. 17 patients have been confirmed positive with the flu while five positive patients have been discharged. Continued: 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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 08:28:48 AM UTC

India: One more swine flu case detected (Maharashtra)

GONDIA: One more suspected swine flu case has been reported from Purada village in Deori tehsil of Gondia district. The patient Naresh Gyaniram Nagrikar has been admitted to the isolation ward of Orange city hospital in Nagpur. (Snip)

Tests are being conducted (Snip) to ascertain whether Nagrikar is suffering from swine flu. 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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 08:33:49 AM UTC

Kenya: Flu-malaria co-infection not uncommon in Kenyan preschoolers

About 5% of Kenyan children under 5 years old who contracted influenza or malaria were co-infected with the other disease, which tended to increase hospitalization time, a study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found.

Researchers from Kenya and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data on flu and malaria infections confirmed from July 2009 through June 2011 in Kenyan kids under 5 at two rural sites. They found that 45.0% (149/331) of influenza patients were co-infected with malaria, while only 6.2% (149/2408) of malaria-positive patients were co-infected with flu. The overall rate of co-infection was 5.4% (149/2,739). The team found that children with influenza were less likely than those without to have malaria (risk ratios [RRs], 0.57-0.76), and kids with malaria were less likely than those without to have flu (RRs, 0.36-0.63). 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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 08:57:52 AM UTC

Flu antibody's precision targeting may spur new treatments, vaccines

Scientists report that they have mapped the structure of a human antibody that zeroes in on the precise part of the flu virus's hemagglutinin protein that latches onto host cells, a finding that they say may spur the quest for new flu treatments and a broadly protective flu vaccine.

Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies found the antibody, called C05, by screening billions of antibodies generated from the bone marrow of patients who had been exposed to certain flu strains, says a Scripps press release. The team found that the antibody could bind to proteins from a variety of influenza A viruses, including subtypes H1, H2, H3, and H9. In addition, C05 protected cells in lab cultures from these viruses, prevented infections in mice, and "rescued" mice when used as post-infection treatment. C05 is "almost unique" among broadly neutralizing flu antibodies in that it specifically recognizes and blocks the receptor-binding site (RBS) on the head of the hemagglutinin molecule, the release says. The RBS changes little from strain to strain, whereas the surrounding structures vary. Continued: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidr...

Sep 16 Nature report http://www.nature.com/nature/j...

Sep 16 Scripps press release http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_...

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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 09:04:38 AM UTC

Researchers Pinpoint Antibody Critical to Fighting Flu

Sifting through thousands of proteins, researchers have identified an antibody that not only prevents the influenza virus from taking hold of its victims' cells, but also cures already infected animals.

And by examining the cell and virus in their crystalline, or 3-D forms, the researchers were able to identify how this antibody effectively neutralized the virus. The antibody grabs hold of a particular structure on the virus - a structure the virus uses to latch onto its victim's cells. And while researchers had known how critical that structure is for the virus, they had deemed it too small for an antibody to effectively get a hold of.

This focused binding "using only a single loop on the antibody has never been seen before, and it's really fascinating," said Ian Wilson, lead author and a professor of structural biology at the Scripps Research Institute. "It gives us some good idea about designs for vaccines and therapies." The report appears in today's edition of the journal Nature.

The work got started by a team of researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and Sea Lane Biotechnologies, a biotech company in Silicon Valley.

Because bone marrow serves as an archeological repository for all the antibodies a person has ever made, the team began collecting bone marrow from people who had been exposed to particular strains of the flu. The researchers knew the antibodies they were looking for would be in there. Then using all of the samples they collected, both domestically and internationally, they were able to create a library of billions of flu antibodies. Winnowing the collection down to just those antibodies that could bind to influenza A viruses, they landed on C05.

They found that if they put C05 in a petri dish, with some healthy cells and influenza A, the C05 protected the cells from being infected. Continued: http://www.nbcnewyork.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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 19:08:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bird flu hits S China city

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The H5N1 avian flu virus has been detected in the city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong province (Snip)

The virus has infected 14,050 ducks and killed 6,300 of them since Sept. 11, when symptoms were first reported, a Ministry of Agriculture official said.

After the epidemic was confirmed, local authorities cordoned off an infected area in the city and killed all poultry in the area before starting to decontaminate it, the official said. Continued: http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl...

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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 19:15:15 PM UTC

China: Zhanjiang avian flu in local culling 60,000 birds

Translated

(Snip) according to the Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province Economic and Technological Development Zone, occurred (in) poultry H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic avian flu.

On September 11, in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province Economic and Technological Development Zone, East Town, part of farmers reared duck suspected bird flu symptoms, incidence duck 14050 death 6300. Yesterday, the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed H5N1 subtype of highly pathogenic avian flu.

After the outbreak, the local regulatory requirements in accordance with the relevant contingency plans and prevention technology, adhere to the law to prevent and control scientific prevention and control, really good job in the work of the epidemic disposal. http://news.21cn.com/hot/gd/20...

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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 20:46:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mexico: Current avian flu damages to Mexico's industry: €514,000

Latest analysis from the Mexican Poultry Association says that damage to the poultry industry from the recent bird flu outbreak has cost over 8.63 million pesos (€514,200).
Officially over 22.3 million birds have been slaughtered and 7,688 jobs lost.

The estimated cost to industry is due to decreased egg production, a fall in income and the knock-on effect on jobs, President of UNA, Crivelli Jaime Espinoza said.

The study was conducted on behalf of UNA by the Associate Economics Group and is entitled: Economic and Production Impacts of Avian Influenza in Los Altos in Jalisco. Continued: http://www.worldpoultry.net/ne...

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 @ Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 20:10:42 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for September 19, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Wed Sep 19, 2012 at 04:20:25 AM UTC