Flu ( incl Swine, Bird etc ) 01 (Apr 09 - Sep 12)

[winston]

H1N1 vaccines for GS:-

If they only knew... I was amused by the recent "scandalous" news that some Wall St. giants such as Goldman Sachs had actually received doses of H1N1 flu vaccine ahead of many hospitals.

The morning TV anchors were up in arms. Not fair! We bailed them out with billions of our tax dollars! They should get in line along with everyone else.

No question, it does seem fishy, as long as you ignore the fact that throughout history the rich and powerful always have their way at the expense of Joe Working Guy.

But the Joes might actually find pleasure in the situation if they realized some little known details about the vaccine.

Like: The nasal spray form of the vaccine contains live attenuated virus, while the injection form contains the mercury preservative thimerosal. And those who actually manage to get the vaccine might raise their risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing immune system disorder.

Something tells me if the Joes knew the truth about the vaccine, they'd gladly let the million-dollar-bonus tycoons cut in line.

Source: HSI Alert

[winston]

China vows to punish H1N1 death cover-ups By Huang Yan and Lucy Hornby

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has promised severe punishment for officials caught concealing deaths from H1N1 swine flu after a medical expert said suspect cases may have been held back by local governments.

The Health Ministry said China had adopted a new H1N1 accounting method earlier this month. If a person was confirmed with H1N1 and then died, the case should be reported as death from H1N1, whether or not there was another condition.

"People responsible will be punished if reports of H1N1 virus cases are held back, lied about or delayed," said Deng Haihua, spokesman for China's Health Ministry, according to a notice on the ministry's website (www.moh.gov.cn) seen on Friday.

Zhong Nanshan, respected by many in China for his candor and work fighting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, said he did not believe the national H1N1 death toll of 53, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Thursday.

Zhong, who heads the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in southern China, said that "some areas have not been testing deaths from severe (pneumonia) and treating them as cases of ordinary pneumonia without any question."

The World Health Organization does not have a standard for which deaths to attribute to H1N1, although it does define how to diagnose cases, spokeswoman Vivian Tan said from Beijing.

"We don't think anything unusual is happening here, in terms of how the virus is spreading or how virulent it is," Tan said.

The H1N1 flu strain affects the respiratory tract. Patients who become severely ill or die typically suffer from pneumonia, either brought on directly by the virus or due to secondary bacterial infections.

The World Health Organization reported more than 503,536 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 worldwide on November 8, with at least 6,260 deaths. However, it has stressed for months now that the figures were only the tip of the iceberg.

It urged countries to place more resources on mitigating the disease rather then on costly prevention measures or testing everyone. All WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will say is that "millions" have been infected.

China's previous method attributed the death to previously existing conditions but not to H1N1, thereby reducing the number of cases reported as H1N1 death cases, a separate notice on the Health Ministry's website said.

A ministry official told Reuters it would no longer issue cumulative tolls, only new cases and deaths.

That will make it difficult to determine the actual extent of H1N1 deaths in China, which based on previous figures have been statistically much lower than in other countries.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNe ... health1100

[helios]

Mutations and resistance to current Tamiflu treatment.

I wonder what would be upcoming for the next 6 months ... DNA vaccines?

News at Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... lZII&pos=8

[millionairemind]

Jialat

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreads 'between patients'
By Fergus Walsh
Health correspondent, BBC News

Health officials say a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu has spread between hospital patients.

Five patients on a unit treating people with severe underlying health conditions at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, were infected.

Three appear to have acquired the infection in hospital.

They are thought to be the first confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission of a Tamiflu-resistant strain in the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8370859.stm

[winston]

Severe reactions to swine flu vaccine: WHO AFP

GENEVA (AFP) - – An unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline has been recalled, the WHO said on Tuesday.

"An unusual number of severe allergies to the vaccine have been detected in Canada," World Health Organisation spokesman Thomas Abraham told AFP.

"The Canadian authorities are conducting the appropriate investigations on the vaccines" and "recalled a batch of vaccine from GSK."

"We need to understand what happened in Canada," he added.

Abraham said, however, that the WHO had not changed its recommendations regarding swine flu vaccines.

Last week, the WHO said checks on many of the 30 deaths recorded following mass pandemic flu vaccinations had so far ruled out a direct link to the vaccines.

The fatalities made up a minute fraction of at least 65 million doses of swine flu vaccines which have been administered, said the WHO, citing data from 16 countries.

For every 10,000 doses of vaccines administered, only one report of adverse effect had been logged.

Of every 100 reports of adverse effects, five are serious cases such as death, according to the WHO.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20091124/t ... b2fc3.html

[winston]

Actress Fann Wong down with H1N1

SINGAPORE: The local full—feature comedy "Happy Go Lucky" held its first day shoot ceremony on Monday without leading actress Fann Wong, who has been diagnosed as having H1N1.

Fann, who had returned on Thursday from a work trip to Hainan Island, developed flu symptoms the next day and a fever on Sunday. She was diagnosed that evening with the virus when she visited a doctor.

While the artiste rests at home, production of the movie — slated for a Chinese New Year release — is in "tremendous chaos" as a new filming schedule has to be planned, her manager told MediaCorp.

The actress has been given a 10—day medical leave. The comedy is Fann’s first movie since her September wedding to actor Christopher Lee.

[kennynah]

aw....i am sorry she contracted H1N1...but i wont miss any of her shows...

(i realize that what i said above has a double talk to it...but i guess, you know what i mean)

[millionairemind]

Nov 25, 2009
Boy with H1N1 dies

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy, whose tracheal fluids tested positive for H1N1 virus, died on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it is investigating the child's death.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, MOH said the boy was found to have fever and cough on Monday. His condition worsened the following day and he was sent to a hospital, where he died later.

The boy was pupil of Lycee Fran�ais de Singapour, a pre-school.

'As a precautionary measure, the principal of the school has decided to close the pre-school classes until further notice,' said MOH.

'Meanwhile, MOH is working with the school to identify if there are any clusters of illness among the students.'

The Ministry advised the public to maintain high standards of personal and environmental hygiene. Parents should seek medical advise if a child is unwell and keep him at home.

[winston]

H5N1: Hong Kong seeks information on mainland dog flu reports By Crof

Via the Hong Kong government website: Info sought on Mainland dog flu reports.

The real story is in the last paragraph.

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2009 ... ports.html

[kennynah]

WTH is this man ! now we have dog flu???