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

[winston]

Singapore General Hospital confirms H1N1-related death By Ernest Luis

SINGAPORE General Hospital (SGH) confirmed on Saturday with The Straits Times, the first case of a H1N1-related death this year.

Mohd Lazim Kalang, 77, died on Wednesday due to a lung infection, after being warded Jan 15 for fever.

But will there be any new precautions for visitors to SGH from Saturday onwards?

The SGH spokesman replied: 'No, the current measures are already in place and no special extra steps are needed for now, as the Health Ministry has indicated.'

H1N1 has already been reported as one of the three dominant flu strains in Singapore and the rest of the world.

The most immediate risk is that it could develop into pneumonia in elderly patients, or those with respiratory illnesses or affect the very young.


http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 29735.html

[winston]

Hong Kong detects drug-resistant A/H1N1 flu virus

HONG KONG (Xinhua) - Hong Kong's Department of Health 's Public Health Laboratory Services Branch (PHLSB) Monday announced that a strain of A/H1N1 influenza virus which is resistant to anti-virus drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) was detected.

A department spokesman Monday said the virus was identified during PHLSB's routine sensitivity tests of the A/H1N1 virus to oseltamivir and zanamivir.

"This is the seventh case of Tamiflu resistance to A/H1N1 flu virus detected in Hong Kong. Tests showed that this strain is sensitive to zanamivir (Relenza)," he said.

The virus was isolated from the specimen taken from a two-year- old boy who developed flu-like symptoms beginning Jan. 10. He was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on the same day and his nasopharyngeal aspirate specimen taken on the day of admission tested positive for A/H1N1 virus. He has been discharged and is now in stable condition.

Test results Monday showed that the virus isolated from the patient's nasopharyngeal aspirate on Jan. 19 was resistant to Tamiflu but sensitive to Relenza.

The boy had been prescribed with Tamiflu during hospitalization and it is likely that Tamiflu resistance emerged during the course of drug treatment.

The spokesman said there was no evidence of further transmission of Tamiflu-resistant A/H1N1 from the patient.

The case will be reported to the World Health Organization.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ar ... goryId=200

[winston]

Two patients critically ill with swine flu in Hong Kong

Hong Kong - Two more patients were critically ill with swine flu in Hong Kong, health officials said Friday as the virus continued to spread in the densely-populated city.

A 65-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were both in intensive care after being diagnosed with the H1N1 virus since Saturday, a statement from the city's Hospital Authority said.

At least two people have died and 27 others, including the two new patients, have been admitted to intensive care units in Hong Kong with the virus this winter.

Eighty people died of swine flu in Hong Kong during the 2009 global outbreak during which the city bought 3 million doses of swine flu vaccine. Some 2.8 million unused doses were later dumped.

Six Hong Kong residents died in the first modern outbreak of human bird flu in 1997. Another 299 Hong Kong people died in the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ ... -Hong-Kong

[winston]

DJ 20 Dead Of Swine Flu In China In 2011 - Ministry

BEIJING (AFP)--At least 20 people have died of swine flu in China this year, the health ministry said Friday, but officials said there was no reason to panic even as the flu season reaches its peak.

The fatalities from A(H1N1) influenza have been recorded in at least nine locations since mid-January, the ministry said.

The official Xinhua news agency reported another death in Guangdong province in the south, citing local officials, but an official at the ministry said he couldn't confirm that the toll had risen to 21.

Swine flu has killed more than 18,400 people and affected practically all parts of the world since it was uncovered in Mexico and the U.S. in April 2009, according to the World Health Organization.

At least 800 people died in China of swine flu as of April 2010, according to the health ministry.

In August last year, the agency said swine flu had 'largely run its course,' declaring an end to the pandemic but warning that 'localized outbreaks of various magnitudes' were likely to continue.

Several countries have recently reported deaths from A(H1N1) influenza as the flu season peaks but not on the scale seen when the outbreak first emerged, due in part to mass vaccination campaigns.

Shu Yuelong, director of China's National Influenza Center, said while the number of serious cases and deaths could increase, the outbreak wasn't as bad as that seen in 2009, according to the government-run Health News.

Wang Yu, spokesman for the Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the threat posed by A(H1N1) shouldn't be overestimated.

'Now we know it as a new, but common kind of flu,' Wang was quoted saying by the Global Times on Friday.

'There's no need to panic.'


Source: AFP

[winston]

Hong Kong reports one more A/H1N1 flu death

HONG KONG, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said Monday in a statement that a 61-year-old man who has confirmed to have contracted A/H1N1 flu virus died, bringing the city's total number of swine flu deaths this year to five.

According to the statement, the man, who had a history of chronic disease and experienced flu-like symptoms, was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on Feb. 11. He died in the following day due to continued deterioration of clinical condition.

Test results of the patient proved positive to the Human Swine Influenza.

Hong Kong Hospital Authority spokesman said there were 12 newly- confirmed Human Swine Influenza cases who were being treated in intensive care units in the past three days.

In response to the recent influenza situation in Hong Kong, the Hospital Authority, in close collaboration with the Center for Health Protection, has activated the enhanced monitoring system for severe influenza patients staying in the intensive care units of public hospitals, said the statement.

The spokesman said as of 2 p.m. Monday, there were a total of 37 influenza patients staying at the intensive care unit of public hospitals in Hong Kong, including the above 12 newly confirmed Human Swine Influenza cases.

Hong Kong reported this year's first swine flu death on Jan. 25.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/c ... 731929.htm

[kennynah]

i pray and hope that UK will not have any bird flu outbreak anytime soon...becos, if it happens, i dunno what else to makan here... all of a sudden, chicken is now our staple meat...practically eat it everyday...just a variety in the way it's cooked...hahaha... buay tahan....
where's my durians/mee robus/meepok/char kway teow....

[winston]

DJ Three More Swine Flu Deaths In Hong Kong - Officials

HONG KONG (AFP)--Three more people in Hong Kong have died from swine flu, bringing the death toll to at least 17 in the past month, the territory's health authority said Monday.

Health officials have stepped up surveillance on the virulent strain of influenza since late last month amid concerns about more deaths in the teeming metropolis of seven million.

The latest three victims, who died last week, were a 64-year-old woman and two men aged 71 and 83, and come a year-and-a-half after an outbreak of the disease killed 80 people in the city.

'We are currently at the peak of the flu season,' York Chow, the city's Secretary for Food and Health, told reporters Sunday.

'We anticipate this peak will last until mid March.'

But Chow sought to play down fears of widespread fatalities, saying there were no signs so far that the virus had mutated into a drug-resistant strain.

Hong Kong is particularly nervous about infectious diseases following the 2003 SARS outbreak, which killed 300 people in the city and a further 500 worldwide.

Swine flu has killed more than 18,400 people and affected virtually all parts of the world since it was uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April 2009, according to the World Health Organization.

In August, the agency said swine flu had 'largely run its course', declaring an end to the pandemic.

Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

I was in HK recently and did not see a lot of people wearing masks or panicking on this issue...


Hong Kong reports another flu A/H1N1-related death

Hong Kong reported another flu A/H1N1-related death case, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) said Friday.

A 27 month-old girl died Thursday due to continued deterioration of clinical condition, according to HA.

As of 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, no new case of flu A/H1N1 had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, while a total of six influenza patients are staying in the intensive care units of public hospitals in Hong Kong, it added.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001 ... 25015.html

[winston]

New H1N1 virus strain appears in Singapore: WHO

SINGAPORE: WHO researchers say the H1N1 flu virus that swept the globe in 2009 has mutated, with the new strain appearing in Singapore and Australia.

The new virus has a genetic twist, making it resistant to drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza, the two mainstay drugs used to tackle the virus.

The World Health Organisation's influenza research group says more than 10 percent of H1N1 flu infection samples from Singapore, collected during the early months this year, showed mildly reduced sensitivity to the two drugs.

The new variation of the virus has also mixed with the old form in at least one patient.

Researchers say it proved extremely resistant to Tamiflu, and the patient, who already had a weakened immune system, died.

But lab tests showed the experimental flu drug peramivir remains an effective treatment against the virus.

The new variant has also been detected in other parts of Asia-Pacific, according to a report by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne.

It is feared that if this new form of flu spreads, other mutations may occur and trigger even greater drug resistance and more serious illness.


Source: CNA/ir

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 04/1/.html

[winston]

UN agency warns on mutant bird flu in China, Vietnam

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Monday warned about a new mutant strain of the deadly bird flu H5N1 virus in China and Vietnam, saying there could be a "major resurgence" of the disease.

The Rome-based organisation said it was concerned about "the appearance in China and Vietnam of a variant virus able to sidestep the defences provided by existing vaccines," adding that the new strain was known as H5N1 - 2.3.2.1.

"Virus circulation in Vietnam poses a direct threat to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia as well as endangering the Korean peninsula and Japan," it said, warning that the virus could be spread beyond Asia by wild bird migration.

It called for "heightened readiness and surveillance against a possible major resurgence" of the virus, which developed into a pandemic in 2009.

The UN's World Health Organisation says 565 people have been infected since the deadly H5N1 strain first appeared and 331 of them have died as a result.

FAO said the latest death occurred earlier this month in Cambodia, which has registered eight cases of human infection this year -- all of them fatal.

"This is no time for complacency. No one can let their guard down with H5N1," Juan Lubroth, FAO's chief veterinary officer, was quoted as saying.

"The general departure from the progressive decline observed in 2004-2008 could mean that there will be a flare-up of H5N1 this fall and winter, with people unexpectedly finding the virus in their backyard," he said.

FAO said that the areas recently affected by deadly bird flu also included Bulgaria, Israel, Mongolia, Nepal, the Palestinian Territories and Romania.

http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/a ... id=5211824