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

[winston]

Older people may have swine flu immunity

Older people may have some kind of immunity to swine flu, US health officials said, as the number of confirmed and suspected cases of H1N1 virus rose again around the country.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 64 percent of US infections have occurred among patients between the ages of five and 24, with just 1 percent aged 65 or older.

One possible explanation is that ''older adults might have been in contact a long time ago with a virus related to the one that we see now,'' said Anne Schuchat, CDC interim deputy director for science and public health programs.

''Adults might have some degree of pre-existing ... antibodies to the H1N1 virus, especially older adults over 60 or 65,'' she added.

''The presence of pre-existing antibodies may be due to previous exposure to [influenza] infection or vaccination.''

Health authorities around the world have been surprised that with the number of cases of swine flu now topping 11,000, with 85 deaths, many of those infected have been younger people.

The CDC's study suggests children and teens may be particularly vulnerable to contracting the disease – a worrying prospect as officials brace for the possible return in a few months' time of a more virulent strain of the H1N1 virus.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[winston]

[url]Theory Two: In the e-Alert "Deal or No Deal?" (4/12/06), I noted that in October 2005,[/url]the U.S. government paid out $2 billion to purchase 200 million doses of Tamiflu – the medication that's supposed to reduce flu symptoms. That huge supply of Tamiflu has been sitting around for more than three years now – it must be nearing its expiration date. So...hmmm...how could we move a LOT of Tamiflu that's about to expire?

Soon after newscasters started their morning-noon-and-night pandemic coverage, U.S. authorities shipped millions of Tamiflu doses to various states.

50 swine flu suspects put on Tamiflu

Fifty people believed to have close contact with swine flu patients have shown up at government clinics to take Tamiflu antivirals since the arrangement was implemented yesterday.

Centre for Health Protection controller Thomas Tsang Ho-fai said 15 others who opted not to take Tamiflu are still isolated in Lady MacLehose Holiday Village while two to three are being housed in Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village.

The government has tracked down most of those who had been in close contract with two of Taiwan's three confirmed cases who were diagnosed with the disease after arriving on the island from the United States via Hong Kong.

The government will stick to its strategy of taking all measures to contain the disease for the time being while being prepared to change its game plan once a widespread outbreak takes place, Tsang added.

STAFF REPORTER, The Standard HK

( During SARS, the people who took those potent steroids had a lot of side-effect, including brittle / broken ribs etc.. )

[millionairemind]

Just 11,000 ppe down and the system is overwhelmed??? Jialat...

What happens if 1MM ppe. get it??

Swine Flu ‘Overwhelmed’ U.S. Health-Care System, Report Says
Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Catherine Larkin

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The swine flu outbreak has overwhelmed the U.S. health-care system, a report said.

Communication between government agencies and doctors isn’t well coordinated and the World Health Organization’s six-step pandemic-alert scale causes confusion, according to an analysis released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Trust for America’s Health and the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity. Worried citizens flood emergency rooms while undocumented immigrants and the uninsured delay getting medical care, the report said.

The H1N1 influenza virus has spread to more than 11,000 people in the U.S. and caused 17 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. WHO is at phase 5 of its alert scale, meaning a pandemic is imminent, even as the bug causes little more than a fever and cough in most patients. Researchers say it is critical to address vulnerabilities in the system before a crisis strikes.

“H1N1 is a real-world test of our initial emergency response capabilities,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit organization in Washington, in an e-mailed statement. “The country is significantly ahead of where we were a few years ago. However, the outbreak also revealed serious gaps in our nation’s preparedness.”

The report includes 10 recommendations for strengthening the public-health infrastructure, including halting job cuts in state and local health departments, providing care for uninsured Americans during an emergency and helping health-care facilities prepare for a surge in new patients.

The work was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a Princeton, New Jersey-based endowment fund that provided $523.3 million in grants and contracts last year to support health programs in the U.S., according to its Web site. The family of Robert Wood Johnson started Johnson & Johnson, now the world’s largest health-care products company.

[winston]

9 Ways to Avoid Getting the Swine Flu by Dr. Vijaya Nair, MD, MS

It is often hard to stay calm, when the news reports contain such words as Swine Flu: Impending Pandemic. Moreover, just the seasonal flu kills an estimated 36,000 people here in the U.S. every year. However, anxiety works against your immunity and other important body functions. You need to strengthen your body and can do so by practicing relaxation techniques, eating healthful foods, and adding natural supplements to your diet.

Grant Yourself the Gift of Immunity: 9 Ways to Stay Healthy This Flu Season

There are a number of things we can all do in the meantime to minimize our chances of getting the infleuneza virus. Vaccines and drugs are not at all reliable when it comes to especially a new viral influenza strain. Bolstering your immune system is the best way to protect yourself and those around you. There are a number of techniques we can safely utilize. The details are found in my book: PREVENT CANCER, Strokes, Heart Attacks and other Deadly Killers.

1. Good Hygiene
The old saying still holds true: Wash your hands, often! Any time you cough, sneeze, touch food, or use the bathroom, thoroughly wash your hands. This means a gentle, natural soap and water for a good 20 seconds. Use a face mask when out in public. Keep your environment clean with natural cleaners and air purification.

2. Watch for Flu, Respiratory, or Pneumonia Symptoms
Since swine flu is manifesting as a respiratory problem, you should keep an eye out for these symptoms in yourself and others. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, cough, muscle pain, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, giddiness.

3. Stay Home
If you are experiencing any suspicious symptoms, stay home from work, school, travel and social engagements. This will help slow the spread to other people, and help you to heal faster.

4. Relaxation
Our immunities and inflammatory responses are compromised by high-anxiety situations. Studies have shown that psychological stress reduces the immune system's reactions to hormonal secretions that are normally used to fight inflammatory response.

Consider spending time focused on relaxation: buy a yoga video, explore meditation, practice positive visualization or look into guided imagery techniques. A good massage can also help.

5. Sleep
Get seven to nine hours of sleep a night, and take a nap if you need to. Sleep helps the body to heal, and limits your chances for picking up infection.

6. Healthful Diet
Proper nutrition through a varied diet is the ideal way to promote a strong immune system. Consume more fermented foods in your diet, especially fermented soybean which contains probiotic bacteria, isoflavones, saponins omerga-3 fatty acids, and phytosterols. These help to build one's immunity by helping to maintain peak levels of natural killer cells and macrophages (types of white blood cells) and by supporting cytokine production, which responds to infections.

7. Sunlight
Sunlight is the best way for your body to make vitamin D, which is great for immune system support. If you can, try to get 15 minutes of direct sunlight each day. Eat lots of berries and leafy green vegetables to protect your skin from being burned. I recommend at least 2,000 I.U. of vitamin D per day. Studies show that vitamin D stimulates the immune system and disease fighting cells, called macrophages and T cells.

8. Exercize
Regular exercise activity is wonderful for keeping the immune system strong. Several 20-30 minute brisk walks a week are recommended for most adults.

9. Natural Supplements
It is nearly impossible to get all the body needs to ward of viruses through diet. Supplementing your diet with natural products containing fermented soy, curcumin, resveratrol and green tea will give your body the boost it needs to be at its peak.

Fermented Soy: Boosts the body's immunity and regulates its inflammatory responses.

Curcumin: Have anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-fungal and immune regulating properties.

Resveratrol: Is found in red wine and has been considerered a life prolonging plant. Taking Resveratrol supplement rather than consuming alcohol is a safer, more effective way to benefit.

Green Tea: One cup of green tea provides 10-40 mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant effects greater than a serving of broccoli, spinach, carrots or strawberries. Green Tea supplements provide the maximum benefit.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/9_wa ... e_flu.html

[greenhoney]

its stage 6 already and a pandemic doesn't seem to bother the stocks too much. recent good emplyment data and consumer confidence in the US seemed to cushion the news. i guess its better to have a job than a widepread disease!

[millionairemind]

Luckily its been mild so far...no deaths... (fingers crossed).

I have also noticed on MRTs that more ppe. are wearing the mask, and it is becoming common sight. This is good.

The Japs and Taiwanese have good hygiene practice. When they have a cold, they cover up to prevent it from spreading.

S'pore confirms 82 new H1N1 cases, makes transition to mitigation phase
Posted: 01 July 2009 2213 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore has confirmed 82 new cases of H1N1 flu, bringing the total to 783 so far. Most are local cases.

Three hundred patients have fully recovered, while the rest are in stable condition.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it is making the transition to the mitigation phase, so those with flu-like symptoms may see polyclinic or pandemic preparedness clinic doctors, who will make a preliminary assessment. They need not call 993 for the special ambulance.

Only severely ill or high-risk patients will be tested for the H1N1 flu virus, and hospitalised if needed. Those with mild symptoms may be sent home and if necessary, prescribed anti-viral drugs.

The ministry said doctors will take into account patients' risk of developing influenza-related complications, prevalence of H1N1 flu in the community and weigh the risks and benefits of treatment.

Depending on the severity of patients' illness and other risk factors, they may be referred to the hospital for further management. Hospitals will increasingly focus on managing more complex cases.

In this transition stage, MOH said hospitals have used their clinical discretion to selectively test patients for H1N1 flu only when required for clinical management (eg. severely ill patients) and/or in situations where it will be of significant public health importance.

Cases that are assessed to be very mild are not hospitalised but placed on home quarantine orders.

The ministry said H1N1 flu testing is not necessary before treatment is starts and there is no need for GPs to send all suspected cases to hospital for testing.

[winston]

Tamiflu-resistant A(H1N1) flu patient found in Japan

TOKYO: A genetic mutation of A(H1N1) flu that is resistant to the anti-viral Tamiflu has been discovered in Japan, the first such case in the country, the health ministry said.

It was the second reported case of Tamiflu resistance linked to A(H1N1) flu in less than a week.

The latest case was found in a patient who had been given the drug since first being diagnosed with A(H1N1) around two weeks ago, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Health, Welfare and Labour Ministry.

The patient - a woman in Osaka prefecture - was recovering after having been given Ralenza, an alternative anti-flu medication, the report said.

A spokeswoman for Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche, which makes Tamiflu, said the company had been informed of the case and called it "normal."

"It is absolutely normal," she said, adding that "0.4 percent of adults develop resistance" to Tamiflu.

She said the case does not indicate Tamiflu has become less effective against A(H1N1) flu.

Danish authorities announced earlier this week they had discovered resistance to Tamiflu in a female patient. Ralenza was also used successfully to treat her.

According to the latest World Health Organisation figures, Japan has 1,266 reported cases of A(H1N1)flu, but has so far recorded no fatalities. - AFP/de

[millionairemind]

Lets hope it stays inefficient and relatively mild

July 3, 2009
H1N1 FLU PANDEMIC
New flu is 'inefficient'


WASHINGTON - WITH H1N1 flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is - so far - more a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire.

The new virus, H1N1, has a protein on its surface that is not very efficient at binding with receptors in people's respiratory tracts, researchers at the Harvard University-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

But flu viruses are known to mutate rapidly, the research team noted, so this one must be watched closely in case it changes to become easier to spread.

Even if it does not mutate, it is causing plenty of illness here and abroad already - and vaccine makers are working 'at full speed' to develop shots for use later this year if the government deems it enough of a threat, Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious disease director of the National Institutes of Health, said on Thursday.

The results of those tests will help the US government decide whether to distribute H1N1 flu vaccine starting in September, how much, and whether children or others should be first to get it.

The government wants public input before it makes any decisions, Dr Anne Schuchat of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Thursday.

It is currently flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, and viral spread in Argentina has prompted schools there to give students an early vacation. But H1N1 flu has not abated in the Northern Hemisphere, unusual since influenza usually retreats from summer's high heat and humidity.

Ram Sasisekharan, lead author of the report, meanwhile, warned that the H1N1 strain might just need a single change or mutation to make it resistant to Tamiflu.

The researchers also noted that the new virus is more active in the gastrointestinal tract than seasonal flu, leading to intestinal distress and vomiting in about 40 per cent of those infected.

The research was funded by the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences. -- AP

[kennynah]

life goes on.... dont worry too much about this...

the human race is very resilient one...

[millionairemind]

Tamiflu-Resistant Swine Flu Virus Found in Hong Kong (Update2)
Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Nipa Piboontanasawat and Jason Gale

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tamiflu-resistant swine flu was found in a teenager who hadn’t taken Roche Holding AG’s best-selling antiviral medicine, Hong Kong’s health department said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... GPdD61pf30