Mecca: Two pilgrims down with H1N1 influenza virus

MECCA: The health ministry has detected the H1N1 influenza virus in two female pilgrims from a European and east Asian country, while an African was found to have contracted cholera.

The Saudi Gazette reported today that the women, aged 26 and 52, were infected in their countries of origin.

It said the ministry's monitoring unit diagnosed the duo as soon as they arrived, and were given the necessary treatment at a hospital.

One of them has since been discharged while the other is in stable condition, said the report from Riyadh.

The Saudi Gazette said the unit was determining how the 41-year-old man, currently undergoing treatment, was infected with the disease.

Read more: New Straits Times 

LankaJournal: A threat of spreading Influenza AH1N1

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health warns that there is a threat of spreading Influenza AH1N1 in the island.
The Unit of the Ministry states that all hospital staff is already kept on alert regarding this.

 

According to the Ministry sources 15 patients have been found from various parts of the island. They have been called over for treatment with fever and cold who were identified as Influenza AH1N1 patients following investigations.

 

The Ministry of Health makes a special request from the public to concentrate on medical treatment immediately if symptoms such as fever, cough, cold and headache are exposed.

 

Read More www.h1n1now.com

BBC: Child sick with swine flu dies

A child who was diagnosed with swine flu just over a week ago has died, the Public Health Agency has confirmed.

The eight-year-old girl was a pupil at Ceara School in Lurgan, County Armagh - a special school for children with severe learning disabilities.

Twenty people from Northern Ireland died in last year's swine flu outbreak, including a number of children with severe learning difficulties.

The girl was one of two people diagnosed with the virus last week.

The other case, involving a man from Northern Ireland, was not linked.

Read the rest here.

Here we go again...

It seems the right time to re-open this blog.
See the next blog...

Final entry (for now)

A little over a year ago, in the midst of the Mexican flue/ Swine-flue/ AH1N1-hype, I started a blog with news and views, rumours, predictions and solutions about the 2009 outbreak of A/H1N1.

A year has passed and most sources have stopped updating their websites about the flue.

It is time I stop updating too. This is my last entry in this blog.

But if H1N1 will re-appear, or if a new flue-virus will appear. be assured that this blog will reopen.

Thank you for visiting, reading and commenting on this blog.

Signing off,
pmlgrn

The cost of the H1N1 Scare Tactics

Figures have recently been released that show how much money the government of Canada spent on the H1N1 flu pandemic. The feds spent $37 million on advertising and communications. This was more than was spent on anti-virals ($14 million), preparing emergency responses ($8.6 million) and outbreak management ($21 million).

After the figures were released, Dr. Richard Schabas, a former Ontario medical officer of health, renewed his criticism that the government spent too much money after the flu outbreak had finished. In the end, although the H1N1 did qualify as a worldwide pandemic, its effect on the vast majority of those who caught it was mild. Many people had this particular strain of flu and didn’t even know it. The number of people who died from H1N1 was about one tenth of the number of Canadians who die each year from ordinary flu.

There is nothing unusual in the fact that the government spent so much money advertising in order to tell people where they should go and get their flu shots. It was perfectly consistent with the way democratic governments operate in the 21st century.

Read the rest of this article 

AOL News: Did Hyping H1N1 Create A Dangerous Flu Fatigue?

With the World Health Organization warning yet again this week that the H1N1 virus has yet to reach its peak, a flu season that's milder than average hardly seems that way. Now, the nearly yearlong coverage of H1N1 has left some worried that future influenza outbreaks will be met with ambivalent flu fatigue among the public.

'It's inevitable that there's H1N1 fatigue,' Dr. Robert Daum, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told AOL News. 'Health officials, the media and the public are all stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one.'

No doubt, the H1N1 virus was a legitimate health threat. The WHO estimates that 16,000 people have died from the flu strain, which targeted children and teens rather than the elderly. The virus was also prevalent during spring and summer months, whereas flues usually peak in the winter.

Complete article:
AOL News: Did Hyping H1N1 Create A Dangerous Flu Fatigue?

KRDO.com: Another Outbreak Of H1N1 Could Be Coming Soon

H1N1 has been very quite since the start of 2010 but that does not mean that it has gone anywhere.

The first out break of H1N1 was in April of 2009 with another wave of outbreaks in October, and with the history of pandemics a third outbreak or wave could happen before the end of the season.

'Based on history of previous pandemics sometimes there has been what we call a third wave, and we have not seen that yet. We can't for sure write H1N1 off, at least for this particular winter season we are going to have to wait and see.' This is according to Dr. Bernadette Albanese with the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment.

The best way to prevent getting the flu is still getting vaccinated. Other ways that can prevent the flu, washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze and if you are sick, stay home and get better before you go back to work or school.

KRDO.com: Another Outbreak Of H1N1 Could Be Coming Soon

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Nat Geo Report: Sharks killed for swine flu vaccine

Sharks are being killed to obtain a substance called squalene for preparation of swine flu vaccine, according to a report by National Geographic.

The report said vaccines being made to protect people from swine flu are killing sharks because millions of doses of the pandemic H1N1/09 vaccine contain a substance called squalene, which is extracted from shark livers.

Olive oil, wheat germ oil and rice brain oil also contains natural squalene, but in smaller amount. This has drawn drug-makers' attention towards killing of sharks, especially the deepwater species, that contain huge amount of the substance.

According to the report, commercial fishers are being hired to obtain shark livers.

Read the rest of this article here

Orlando Sentinel: Secret health talks & Bio hazards

The U.S. isn't ready to deal with a flu pandemic, and even less prepared to handle a more serious disease or biological attack.

This alarming assessment comes from former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, based on how the nation has responded to theswine flu. That response has been hampered by shortcomings in making vaccines and tracking the disease.

Mr. Graham is co-chair of a panel on terrorism that found the most likely mass attack would be biological. Given that threat, and the systemic problems exposed by the swine flu, policymakers need to get right to work on fixes. As the senator has noted, terrorists won't give us six months' warning.


Secret health talks

When he was running for president, Barack Obama vowed that his administration would put together a plan to reform health care and broadcast those negotiations on C-SPAN "so the American people can see what the choices are." That was then.

Now, the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress are hammering out a final deal on reform behind closed doors. President Obama's spokesman weakly argued that there already has been enough public exposure in the process.

The head of C-SPAN, the network that covers Congress, has called on its leaders to allow their health-care talks to be televised. Brian Lamb pointed out that the legislation in question "will affect the lives of every single American."

If Mr. Obama really is committed to transparency in government, he'll make sure Congress lets the cameras in.


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