News Reports for October 5, 2012

India: 2 more test positive for H1N1 (Madhya Pradesh)

BHOPAL: Two more persons were tested positive for swine flu in the state capital on Thursday. The district (Snip) sent 8 samples of suspected H1N1 cases for tests to the ICMR laboratory in Jabalpur. This year about 55 persons have tested positive for swine flu in Bhopal, resulting in 20 deaths.

The two confirmed cases are admitted to private hospitals in the city. "The condition of the two-year old girl, who tested positive for swine flu is critical. Another 35-year-old man is likely to be discharged in a few days," (Snip)

The last reported death (Snip) was that of a 70-year-old man, who died at his residence in the city on October 1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes...

(Note: According to the figures given here, the CFR is over 35%!)

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 07:36:43 AM UTC

Get flu shots now, experts advise

With barely a ripple of flu last season, this one is bound to be worse partly because of new influenza viruses that might be circulating, a flu expert said Thursday.

That makes it even more important to get vaccinated this season and to do it before a wave of flu hits, said Dr. James Wilde, a professor of emergency medicine at Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from May 20 through Sept. 22 there were nearly 3,000 positive tests for flu, compared with an average of about 375 during the same period the previous six years. The agency said the unusually high number of cases doesn't indicate how many cases would pop up this flu season.

"I'm not predicting that we are going to have a horrible year, but I think it is a very, very safe bet that we will have a more significant season than we had either of the last two seasons, particularly more than last season," Wilde said. That is because last season was "essentially the year without flu," he said.

(Snip)

This year will probably be different because, after two straight years of the same flu strains circulating in the U.S., two new strains are likely to be circulating. According to the CDC, one of the new potential strains, the influenza A H3N2 strain described during the summer, matches the strain included in this year's vaccine. Less than half of the influenza B strains described during the summer match up with the B component in this season's vaccine, according to the CDC. It is too early to tell whether the vaccine will be a good match, but people who do not get it will likely be without any protection from either previous vaccines or infections, as might have happened last year, Wilde said.

"If you don't get the vaccine, you're more likely to get sick this year than last year," he said. Continued:  http://chronicle.augusta.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 @ Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 07:47:16 AM UTC

ProMED: Novel coronavirus - Saudi Arabia (11): clin. lab. & epi. investigations

In this update:

[1] UK - HPA investigation findings, Eurosurveillance

[2] UK - Clinical and laboratory findings, Eurosurveillance

[3] Saudi Arabia - ongoing investigations, newswire

[4] USA - current recommendations, MMWR

Note: Continued with a lot of information on the investigations and findings of this new novel coronavirus: http://www.promedmail.org/dire...

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 07:56:23 AM UTC

India: Swine flu: 30 Swine Flu cases so far, Jaipur most affected (Rajasthan)

Jaipur: Swine flu has caused two deaths in the state. Both the deaths took place in and around capital. One was of Jaipur resident, other was of Sikar district. There have been 30 swine flu cases so far. Jaipur remains the most-affected with 15 patients infected with swine flu (Snip)

The highest number of cases among all seasonal diseases in state remained of malaria with 25,000 patients. Of the 334 patients admitted at SMS, 4 died. Malaria's impact has been seen on most dists. Director, Public Health claims the number is less when compared to last year when it was over 26,000 dreaded scrub typhus. Continued: http://daily.bhaskar.com/artic...

(Note: The CFR is 6%. Based on the official numbers given by each state in India that has cases of H1N1 swine flu, the CFR range is at a level of high to OMG! IMO, this needs to be investigated!)  

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 08:08:39 AM UTC

India: 12 test positive for swine flu (Maharashtra)

PUNE: As many as 12 people tested positive for swine flu on Thursday. Of them, the condition of a 25-year-old woman from Purandar taluka is said to be critical. (Snip)

"The woman has been put on a ventilator support at the isolation intensive care unit at Bharati Hospital. She delayed seeking medical advice" (Snip)

The woman developed symptoms such as cough and fever from September 29 and breathlessness from September 30. Her throat swab tested positive for swine flu on October 4. She also suffers from diabetes. Of the remaining infected patients, eight are women and three are men (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 @ Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 08:32:32 AM UTC

UK: Britons 'most unhygenic'

(Snip) A Harvard University study suggested that people in the UK were half as likely as other nations to cover their hands and mouth more frequently when coughing or sneezing during the swine flu outbreak. They quizzed 900 randomly chosen adults in Argentina, Japan, Mexico, UK, and USA and found that few people in Britain changed their behaviour to reduce the spread of the H1N1 (Snip)

Just over half washed their hands more frequently or used hand sanitiser during the 2009 pandemic, compared with 89% in Argentina. While 25% coughed or sneezed into their elbows more often, as recommended during the outbreak, that compared to 84% in Argentina.

Only a third of Britons disinfected their home or workplace more often while almost three quarters of people in Argentina or Mexico took such measures (Snip).

Fewer people in the UK wore masks during the pandemic.

Dr Gillian Steel Fisher of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, America, said: "The wide variations between countries in our study shows that in the event of another serious outbreak of infectious disease, public perceptions have to be taken into account to best tailor and communicate policy approaches that need public support in each country." Continued: http://www.healthcare-today.co...

(Note: Clearly, the population of a lot of countries, including the US, could take lessons from Argentina! JMO)

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 08:41:20 AM UTC

Hand hygiene here is terrible

Though rapid news of the mildness of the swine flu probably disincentivised people from changing their behaviour.

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by: UK - Bird @ Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 09:47:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

UK - Not SARS - Dubai man, 38, put into isolation in hospital

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

A man was fighting for his life in an isolation ward last night after being diagnosed with a tropical disease following a foreign trip.

He was taken ill after travelling on a connecting flight into Glasgow from Dubai, and health officials are trying to trace his fellow passengers in case they have also caught the disease.

Tests have confirmed that the 38-year-old man is suffering from the potentially deadly Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF).

cont.

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by: UK - Bird @ Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 09:50:38 AM UTC

Canada: Public Health Ontario is pushing for mandatory vaccination for health care workers

London Free Press:

Get vaccinated or get fired.

That's the future for health- care workers in Ontario if a leading public health agency gets its way.

Public Health Ontario called for that strict measure Thursday after years of declining vaccination rates among health-care workers and research that suggests thousands of Canadians die needlessly each year because nurses and other health-care workers refuse to get a flu shot.

"Annual influenza vaccination should be a condition of continued employment in, or appointment to, health-care organizations," the agency recommended.

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by: pogge @ Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 12:22:04 PM UTC

ProMED: Influenza (97): USA & worldwide, CDC update

During the period 20 May to 22 Sep 2012, the United States experienced low levels of seasonal influenza activity overall; however, more seasonal influenza viruses were detected than in the summer months of previous years. Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 (pH1N1), influenza A (H3N2), and influenza B viruses were detected worldwide and were identified sporadically in the United States. In July 2012, influenza A (H3N2) variant viruses (H3N2v) were 1st detected in Indiana, and since 12 Jul 2012, a total of 306 cases have been reported from 10 states. This report summarizes influenza activity in the United States and worldwide since 20 May 2012.

United States
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During the period 20 May to 22 Sep 2012, U.S. WHO and NREVSS [the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System] collaborating laboratories tested 42 562 respiratory specimens for influenza viruses; 2986 (7.0 percent) tested positive for influenza, indicating higher levels of activity than typically seen in summer months but lower levels than during winter months and the height of influenza virus circulation. During the summer months of the previous 6 years (excluding the summer during the 2009 pandemic), the average number of respiratory specimens tested for influenza was 29 728 (range: 20 652-39 523), with an average of 375 (1.3 percent) specimens testing positive (range: 245-541). Of the 2986 specimens positive for influenza in the summer months of 2012, a total of 1497 (50 percent) were influenza A viruses, and 1489 (50 percent) were influenza B viruses. Influenza B viruses predominated and were reported more frequently than influenza A viruses from May until mid-July 2012; influenza A (H3N2) viruses were more commonly reported from mid-July to September 2012. Of the influenza A viruses, 1117 (75 percent) were subtyped: 759 (68 percent) were influenza A (H3N2) viruses, 263 (24 percent) were H3N2v viruses, and 95 (9 percent) were pH1N1 viruses. Influenza viruses were reported from 44 states and Puerto Rico in all 10 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Regions. The largest proportion of positive samples came from the southeastern United States (HHS Region 4: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) with 1133 (38 percent), followed by western states (HHS Region 9: Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada) with 726 (24 percent).

During 22 May to 22 Sep 2012, data from ILINet indicated that the weekly percentage of outpatient visits to ILINet [Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network] providers for influenza-like illness (ILI) remained below the national baseline of 2.4 percent and ranged from 0.9 percent to 1.3 percent. The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I), as reported by the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System, remained below the epidemic threshold and ranged from 5.5 percent to 6.6 percent. Two influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported; one was associated with an influenza B virus, and one was associated with a pH1N1 virus.

Novel Influenza A Virus Infection Continued: http://www.promedmail.org/dire...

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 13:20:47 PM UTC

CIDRAP: UK experts share new details on novel coronavirus case

Oct 4, 2012 (CIDRAP News) - Clinicians and scientists in the United Kingdom who are treating a Qatari man infected with a novel coronavirus issued new reports on their investigations today, with fresh details such as that the man had indirect exposure to camels and sheep in his home country.

The two reports appear in the latest issue of Eurosurveillance. One focuses mainly on the patient's illness course, the epidemiological investigation, and the public health response, and the other describes clinical findings, diagnostic testing, and the analysis of the virus, which has been named hCoV-EMC.

Both reports credited a Saudi Arabian doctor's ProMED Mail post about a patient from Saudi Arabia who died in June from the same coronavirus, which they said raised suspicions about the unexplained fever and respiratory infection in the Qatari man, who had traveled recently to Saudi Arabia. ProMED Mail is the online reporting system of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

In a related development, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report on the new coronavirus today and addressed travel issues, especially those related to the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, which takes place from Oct 24 through 29.

According to the first report, the 49-year-old man, who has been treated in the United Kingdom since Sep 12, was in Saudi Arabia with a group in the first weeks of August, where he and several others experienced rhinorrhea and fever. He returned to Qatar on Aug 18, and his respiratory symptoms got better 3 days later.

In Qatar he spent time on a farm where he keeps camels and sheep, though he reportedly had no direct contact with them.

On Sep 3 he reported mild respiratory symptoms, which later worsened, and he was hospitalized 6 days later for bilateral pneumonia. When he didn't improve, he was flown to London for intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, where his health team found renal impairment. The man was transferred to another London hospital on Sep 20-the same day as the ProMED post-when his condition deteriorated further.

In light of the ProMED post, the patient's UK health team the next day tested him and got positive results on a pan-coronavirus assay. Genetic sequencing the following day revealed that the man's virus was closely related to the novel coronavirus that killed the Saudi Arabian man.

Health officials immediately isolated the man in a negative-pressure single room, instituted a full personal protective equipment protocol, and worked up case and close-contact definitions to start looking for other possible cases. They monitored close contacts for 10 days after exposure.

The authors wrote that the man was probably infected in Qatar, since he was there 16 days before his most recent respiratory illness, and they noted that the earlier mild illness he had had in Saudi Arabia resolved 2 weeks before his most recent illness onset. Noting 95% of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cases had an incubation period of less than 10 days, they said that unless hCoV-EMC has an unusual biphasic feature or a very long incubation period, Qatar was the probable site of the man's exposure.

Investigation identified 64 people who had been in close contact with the man during his medical stay in the UK. So far, none have had severe respiratory infections, but 13 had mild symptoms that resolved. A hospitalized patient who got sick after possible contact with the man was tested, with negative results. The new virus hasn't been detected in any of 10 symptomatic healthcare worker contacts who were tested as of today.

In addition, four possible cases in people with a recent history of travel to Saudi Arabia were found in the UK. Samples, available for three of them, were negative. An investigation is ongoing in the illness of the fourth patient, who died in early September.

So far there is no confirmed evidence of ongoing person-to-person spread of the virus. However, UK officials pointed out that a severe respiratory illness outbreak in the Middle East was reported earlier this year, and said further investigation is needed to determine if a new coronavirus has been circulating more widely in the area or if it recently made the jump from an animal reservoir. They cited an outbreak of severe respiratory disease at a hospital in Jordan that sickened 11 people, including 8 healthcare workers.

A brief report on the outbreak appeared in a May 4 communicable disease threat report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. One nurse who had underlying medical conditions died. The Jordanian health ministry suspected the source of the infections was viral, though lab results weren't available at the time. 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 Oct 05, 2012 at 13:41:37 PM UTC

Bronco Bill, it's Friday joke time!

Your giggles are here: http://www.newfluwiki2.com/dia...

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 Oct 05, 2012 at 23:27:03 PM UTC

Please post new news stories to...

News Reports for October 6, 2012

Thank you!

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by: AlohaOR @ Sat Oct 06, 2012 at 04:13:25 AM UTC