Diseases ( incl Covid19 ) 02 (Oct 12 - May 20)

[winston]

Ebola update: How worried should you be?

by Chris Martenson

Source: Peak Prosperity

http://thecrux.com/ebola-update-how-wor ... 37gMXBU%3D

[winston]

TOL:-

I have a few friends who is really afraid of Ebola.

And some of these guys have been comparing Ebola with SARS as if they are an "expert" on the subject.

If you are also thinking like them, my comment is: "Please take some time to read up on Ebola":-
1. It's not an air-borned disease like SARS
2. By the time it's contagious, you would be very sick and very likely, you would be in a hospital already
3. It would be quite difficult for Ebola to spread in a big way, in a developed country

Dont let the few health care workers who caught Ebola scare you.

And if you like to worry, I can tell you that it's more likely that you will die by Dengue than Ebola.

And for those who sold during SARS, dont you feel very stupid now ?

[winston]

Ebola in HK

ebola.jpg

[winston]

Hong Kong halts some U.S. poultry imports due to bird flu in U.S BY P.J. HUFFSTUTTER

(Reuters) - Hong Kong said Monday it has suspended imports of certain U.S. poultry and poultry products because strains of avian influenza have been identified in the United States, marking the second foreign market ( Korea ) to issue such a ban.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/ ... QO20141222

[winston]

Hong Kong raises bird flu alert as woman critically ill

Hong Kong hospitals raised alert levels Sunday as a woman diagnosed with the deadly H7N9 avian flu virus was in a critical condition.

The 68-year-old woman was hospitalised on December 25 after returning from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen almost two weeks earlier, although it has not been confirmed where or how she contracted the virus.

Ten people had previously been diagnosed with H7N9 in Hong Kong, including three who died. All had contracted the virus in mainland China, according to Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP).

The outbreak, which first emerged on the mainland in February 2013, has reignited fears that a bird flu virus could mutate to become easily transmissible between people, threatening to trigger a pandemic.

In response to the new case — the city’s first since early 2014 — Hong Kong announced it was raising its response level in hospitals to “serious” from “alert,” with extra precautions implemented in hospitals from Sunday.

The rules include limitations on visiting hours and compulsory surgical masks for those visiting patients.

There are three response levels with “emergency” the most serious. The Hong Kong government reduced the level from “serious” to “alert” in June, after a drop in cases.

Health minister Ko Wing-man said late Saturday that the woman had been with two friends in Shenzhen, where she had eaten “home-cooked chicken,” although she is not believed to have had contact with live poultry at markets.

She remained in a critical condition in intensive care Sunday, hospital authorities said.

Hong Kong slaughtered 20,000 chickens in January after the virus was found in poultry imported from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

A four-month ban on live poultry imports from mainland China was then imposed to guard against the disease.

Ko said the new response level would not affect the import of poultry for the time being, as “rapid testing” had been introduced to check birds for the disease.

“We will closely monitor the situation… then decide the appropriate measures,” he said.

Hong Kong is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) swept through the city in 2003, killing 299 people and infecting around 1,800.

There have been 469 cases of H7N9 in mainland China since 2013, according to Hong Kong’s CHP.

Source: The News, Nigeria

http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2014/12/28 ... cally-ill/

[winston]

Flu claims at least 111 lives in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 111 people have died in Hong Kong from flu in the past one month, according to Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

One of the latest cases involves a 60-year-old customs officer who suffered multiple organ failure after being infected with the H3N2 flu virus. He died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Dr. Leung Chi-chiu, chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association's Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, warned that the flu season will last at least for a few more weeks.

He said the flu has been very severe this season worldwide and figures from the United States showed that the number of hospital admissions of the elderly had been on record levels there.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that much of the country will enter active flu season in the next two to three weeks.

Several provinces in southern and eastern China have reported human infections of H7N9 avian flu.

In southern China's Guangdong province, the number of H7N9 cases has reached 12 since the beginning of 2015. In southeastern China's Fujian province, 15 such cases were reported this year, with two deaths. Zhejiang and Shanghai have also seen H7N9 cases.

Source: Xinhua

[winston]

Flu-hit HK hospitals at critical mass with intensive care units 95 per cent full

Intensive care units in Hong Kong hospitals are close to breaking point as they struggle to cope with a major flu outbreak, that has exposed worrying staff shortages across the city's public health-care system.

Source: SCMP

[winston]

15 Hongkongers die from flu in one day as outbreak death toll nears 200

The elderly and the seriously ill are the most vulnerable to the flu.

Fifteen more people died from influenza in hospital - the most in a day since the epidemic began at the start of winter, the Centre for Health Protection said.

Source: SCMP

[winston]

U.S. exports at risk as bird flu hits heart of poultry country

BY TOM POLANSEK AND P.J. HUFFSTUTTER

Source: Reuters

[winston]

Hong Kong flu update: More than 400 deaths, Southern hemisphere seasonal flu shot recommended

The number of seasonal influenza deaths reported in Hong Kong has surpassed 400 with the latest tally at 408 since the beginning of the season.

Hong Kong/CIA

This includes four additional flu deaths reported in the past 24 hours.

To date, the total number of cases of influenza-associated admission to intensive care units is now 541. The CHP notes, in the last winter season in early 2014, 266 cases (133 deaths) were filed.

In addition, Hong Kong health officials welcomed the recommendations on the use of the southern hemisphere seasonal influenza vaccine (SH SIV) by the CHP’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD).

“The SH SIV contains the currently predominant influenza A/Switzerland/9715293/2013 (H3N2)-like virus strain. Based on the risk assessment, the SCVPD recommends the elderly to be the priority group to receive the SH SIV to protect them from the possible summer influenza season. Besides, the SCVPD recommends all persons living in residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) to receive the SH SIV for the prevention of influenza outbreaks,” Dr Leung Ting-hung said today.

“The elderly, particularly the very old elderly, are the most vulnerable in this season as reflected by the high proportion of severe and fatal cases affecting the elderly, the high influenza admission rate among the elderly and the high proportion of RCHEs having outbreaks of influenza-like illness (ILI),” Dr Leung explained.

“The SH SIV, when available, may be given by phases starting from the oldest age group, such as those aged 85 or above, in the community first as they are at higher risk of developing severe illness after infecting influenza. Most of them also have pre-existing underlying illnesses predisposing them to severe illness,” Dr Leung remarked.

The first 100,000 doses of SH SIV is expected to be delivered in late April or early May, the vaccination program is preliminarily planned to be conducted in May and June.

Source: Outbreak News Today

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/hong-kong- ... ded-67269/