H1N1 (Swine Flu) spreads worldwide= Is declared a Pandemic

[cycloneye]

Latest update from Puerto Rico:

Deaths=35
43=suspisious deaths
382=confirmed cases
2345=probable cases

[cycloneye]

Latest update from Puerto Rico:

The confirmed cases numbers keep going up.

Deaths=36
Confirmed Cases=501

[angelwing]

Meanwhile:

Seasonal Flu Shot may increase H1N1 Risk

Preliminary research suggests the seasonal flu shot may put people at greater risk for getting swine flu, CBC News has learned.

"This is some evidence that has been floated. It hasn't been validated yet, it's very preliminary," cautioned Dr. Don Low, microbiologist-in-chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"This is obviously important data

rest of story here:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/ ... sonal.html

[Stephanie]

Meanwhile:

Seasonal Flu Shot may increase H1N1 Risk

Preliminary research suggests the seasonal flu shot may put people at greater risk for getting swine flu, CBC News has learned.

"This is some evidence that has been floated. It hasn't been validated yet, it's very preliminary," cautioned Dr. Don Low, microbiologist-in-chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"This is obviously important data

rest of story here:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/ ... sonal.html

GRRRREAT!

[RL3AO]

I'm off to get my flu shot in an hour.

[lurkey]

First death of a child from H1N1 flu in NC



I'm still not getting the seasonal or H1N1 flu shot. . .

[LilGrimmy]

It's gotten to the point here where there are rumors starting to circulate about my school being shut down because of it.

[angelwing]

North American flu season could be complicated with H3N2 virus

With mass media attention circulating around the worldwide H1N1 pandemic, little focus has been put on this season's more virulent flu variety found in the H3N2 bug. The presence of both varieties could make for a complicated flu season.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/print/article/279808

[CajunMama]

This story saddens me immensely

H1N1 Death
Posted: Oct 1, 2009 06:52 PM

A pregnant Acadiana woman has been confirmed dead this week after complications with the H1N1 virus.
Representatives with Lafayette General Medical Center have said they were able to save the baby and at this point it is doing well.

From KLFY TV10

[JonathanBelles]

Pregnant women have been one of the worst hit groups of people by H1N1. There was a very similar story here in FL not too long ago.

[southerngale]

Gosh, it happened so quickly. She was playing soccer on Thursday... she died on Tuesday. Just horrible!!

Texas Girl, 12, Dies From H1N1 When Brain Swelled
Bryan Rupp, 12 News

Public health officials say a 12-year-old South Texas girl has died after the H1N1 virus caused her brain to swell.

The sixth grader from Flour Bluff was hospitalized Saturday, September 24 after staying home from school the day before.

The girl, who has not been identified, was a student at the Flour Bluff Intermediate School. She had played in a soccer game on Thursday, but had felt sick when she went home.

She was taken to Driscoll Children's Hospital on Saturday and passed away on Tuesday.

Health officials do not know how the girl got the virus, but they said she had been healthy.

[lurkey]

Mutation not causing greater virulence in swine flu


Date: Wednesday Sep. 30, 2009 12:45 PM ET
TORONTO — Dutch scientists have reported they have found what was thought to be a key mutation in some swine flu viruses from the Netherlands, a change many virologists feared would give the viruses the ability to cause more severe disease.

But so far the evidence seems to suggest this mutation does not make the new H1N1 virus more virulent, the researchers said Tuesday.

The change, at position 627 on the PB2 gene of the virus, is known to increase the ability of flu viruses to replicate; prolonged viral replication can lead to more serious illness. The mutation has been found in all known human flu viruses, including the three that caused the pandemics of the last century.

"Everybody predicted that this mutation is going to have a big impact on virus replication of the new H1N1," said Dr. Ron Fouchier, one of the authors of the report and a molecular virologist at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

"If you would have asked me three months ago, I would have bet my car on it. But nobody placed that bet because everybody was sure that it would increase (virulence)."

If they had, it seems they might have been able to claim the keys to Fouchier's SUV.

Three people either known or suspected of having been infected with the mutated H1N1 viruses suffered only mild disease. And ferrets infected with a laboratory synthesized H1N1 virus with this change also did not suffer more severe disease. Ferrets are the standard animal model for human flu.

"Given the information that we have at present, we have no indication for increased virulence," said Dr. Marion Koopmans, chief of virology in the infectious diseases laboratory of the National Institute of Public Health, The Netherlands.

"This is a mutation that is in the textbooks as something to look out for, but whether it really confers something to these (H1N1) viruses remains to be seen."

Koopmans, Fouchier and a number of colleagues disclosed the surprising findings through ProMed, a website and mailing list that serves as an early warning system for infectious diseases developments. It is closely scrutinized by scientists and public health officials in the infectious diseases sphere.

The Dutch scientists reported finding two viruses with this change that appear to have been transmitted between mid-July and mid-August in the West Frisian Islands in the north of The Netherlands. The area is a popular destination for Dutch and German campers.

One of the mutated viruses was recovered from a male who had been there and who started developing symptoms on Aug. 9. The second was found in a girl who hadn't been to the area, but whose sister had been camping there at the time. The sister was also sick, but there was no specimen from her to test. Koopmans said the working assumption is that the sister who went camping was also infected with this virus.

The first virus was only discovered in mid-September, when it made its way to Koopmans' lab. An investigation at that point showed the male and the sister had been part of a group of 24 who shared two tents on the island. Most of the members of the camping party reported having been ill.

Koopmans said officials have looked at specimens from the area and from the regions from whence the campers came, but haven't found more viruses with this change.

"There's no evidence yet that this virus has spread any further in Holland," Fouchier said. "Of course we're currently still looking for it. Every virus we get our hands on we check (position) 627. But we haven't found any more."

Labs have been looking for this mutation from the moment the new H1N1 virus was fully analyzed and it was seen it didn't have the same amino acid at position 627 as other human viruses have.

Some scientists even suggested the virus might not be fully adapted to spread among humans because it didn't have this change, but instead had an amino acid at position 627 that is normally seen in avian flu viruses. The pandemic virus, which is a never-before-seen hybrid of swine, avian and human genes, has an avian PB2 gene.

Dr. Richard Webby, head of the World Health Organization's influenza collaborating centre at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said there is good evidence this mutation is associated with adaptation of avian influenza viruses to humans, but the proof that it is linked to severity of disease is less clear.

Viruses with this change show increased virulence in mice and sometimes in ferrets, but not always, he said, suggesting the ferret data probably are more reliable. "I think this is one instance where mice are probably lying a little bit," Webby said.

In some flu viruses this change is known to allow the virus to replicate at cooler temperatures, meaning they can infect the upper airways, rather than the warmer deep lung area preferred by avian flu viruses.

That might actually be a good thing with this H1N1, Webby said, noting autopsies have shown that in severe cases the pandemic virus wreaks havoc deep in the lungs.

Dr. Nancy Cox, who heads the influenza division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, warns people should not take too much comfort from the fact this change doesn't seem to make the virus more virulent at this point.

"We just know that influenza can change in unpredictable ways through mutation and reassortment," she said, referring to the process by which flu viruses swap genes with each other.

"The unexpected can arise, and arise very quickly. So we shouldn't write this off. It is causing hospitalization. It is causing fatalities. And in every single case that you hear about, it's a tragedy."

[somethingfunny]

An interesting statistic that I read in the Dallas Morning News:

In a typical flu season, those aged 65 and older make up 60% of hospitalizations.

This season, they account for just 1% of flu-related hospitalizations.

Patients between 50 and 64 make up 5%.

25-49 year olds account for 22% of hospitalizations for H1N1.

And 72% of cases requiring hospitalization are in patients 24 years old and younger. 52% are 5-24 and 20% are 4 or younger.

[angelwing]

Something worrisome, I got this link in my mail at work:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showth ... p?t=124781

Children dying from the flu

[dixiebreeze]

I'm still not getting the seasonal or H1N1 flu shot. . .

Nor are we, Lurky. Even those in my family who are health care workers are refusing the vaccine -- they don't trust it.

[PTPatrick]

I tested positive for swine flu today at work (I work in a hospital). Have been fighting off mild congestion all week and thinking it was just allergies and weather change as I have had no fever until today and really no cough until last night. But this morning it really hit me hard and fast and I was febrile and having shortness of breath. They gave me tamiflu, although it sounds like it may be too late and that even if it wasnt, H1N1 isnt all that responsive to it. Kinda bizarre though...that I would be sick with it for 4 days and barely feel it, then all the sudden in a few hours time it went nuts.

[Stephanie]

Wow PTPatrick! I hope you get better soon and the Tamiflu does work for you.

[cycloneye]

Just got the news that another person has died caused by the swine flu climbing the total of deathes in Puerto Rico to 37.

[lurkey]

I tested positive for swine flu today at work (I work in a hospital). Have been fighting off mild congestion all week and thinking it was just allergies and weather change as I have had no fever until today and really no cough until last night. But this morning it really hit me hard and fast and I was febrile and having shortness of breath. They gave me tamiflu, although it sounds like it may be too late and that even if it wasnt, H1N1 isnt all that responsive to it. Kinda bizarre though...that I would be sick with it for 4 days and barely feel it, then all the sudden in a few hours time it went nuts.

the H1N1 flu does that. . . it will hit you like a Mack truck all at once. .. .

drink plenty of liquids and lots of rest during and after the symptoms go away. . .

Hope you feel better


My office got word this week about guidelines regarding the 'flu (seasonal and H1N1). .. . if you have a fever you have to stay home. .. if you become sick with fever at work (they ordered thermometers) your supervisor has to order you to go home.. . in order to come back you have to go online or call HR and answer 3 questions (basically stating that you have been fever-free for 24 hrs without fever-reduction medication) before your supervisor will let you
back....

[vbhoutex]

I tested positive for swine flu today at work (I work in a hospital). Have been fighting off mild congestion all week and thinking it was just allergies and weather change as I have had no fever until today and really no cough until last night. But this morning it really hit me hard and fast and I was febrile and having shortness of breath. They gave me tamiflu, although it sounds like it may be too late and that even if it wasnt, H1N1 isnt all that responsive to it. Kinda bizarre though...that I would be sick with it for 4 days and barely feel it, then all the sudden in a few hours time it went nuts.

Wow, that almost confirms that it is what I had too. My doctor did say it was probable later when I asked him. He didn't test me for it(back in May) The only thing that makes me still wonder is that no one else around me got it.