February 1st, 2010 by MWilhelm

(AP) — LEXINGTON, Ky. – Doctors applied the paddles to Maddy Kidwell’s little body over and over and over and over.

Four times in 10 minutes.

Four times before her heart began to beat again.

Her parents, Harold and Edith Kidwell, knew something had gone badly wrong because the nurses wouldn’t even let them near the room she was in.

It was just another unreal moment in a string of unreal moments that had led them from watching their almost 3-year-old daughter play happily on the floor to waiting while she fought for her life.

The H1N1 flu virus that hit Maddy so hard “wasn’t even really on my radar,” her mom said. She’d told her kids to keep their hands washed and had bought some hand sanitizer. But she didn’t get them vaccinated. It didn’t seem necessary, she said.

“You never realize how easy it could happen to you.”

Maddy’s case is extreme, but 229 children have died from H1N1 since August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State health officials reported that four of the 39 people in Kentucky who died of H1N1 have been children.

The number of cases overall has waned in recent weeks, but CDC officials expect another surge as the nation enters what is typically flu season.

Dr. Philip Bernard, who treated Maddy at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, said H1N1 is “a completely preventable disease because there is vaccine available.”

January 19th, 2010 by MWilhelm

NEW DELHI: The national capital Tuesday reported eight new swine flu cases, taking the total number to 9,600, a health department official said.

“There were eight new cases of Influenza A(H1N1) on Tuesday, of which two were children. With this, the total number of swine flu cases in Delhi has risen to 9,600,” Anjana Prakash, the assistant nodal officer handling swine flu cases in the capital, told IANS.

The total number of children affected by swine flu until now is 5,338.

There were no new deaths reported due to the disease. As of now, the total number of deaths in the capital because of swine flu is 89.

December 28th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Another young victim of swine flu in Poland is 12 years old patient from Przemy?l. The boy stayed in hospital for 8 days, but unfortunately it was no possible to save his life.

he boys from Le?ajsk died last Saturday because of breathing insufficiency. “It was a child with cerebral palsy since his birth. What is more he suffered from lungs insufficiency. He came here in a very bad condition, so we had to keep him connected to a respirator” – explained doctor Krzysztof Pop?awski – vice-director of hospital in Przemy?l.

he doctors gave him very little chances to become alive, – “The boy had problems with his lungs and to be honest, only the respirator kept him alive” – added the doctor.12 years old boy is the youngest victim of dangerous flu in Podkrpacie region.

October 21st, 2009 by MWilhelm

KEYSER — With two confirmed cases of swine flu in Mineral County, and four suspected cases in county schools, the Mineral County Health Department is sponsoring a special vaccination clinic Thursday for county first responders, health care workers and pregnant women.

The 4:30-7:30 p.m. clinic will be held at the Health Department, located on Harley Staggers Drive in Keyser, just south of Keyser Primary-Middle School.

A.J. Root, administrator of the Mineral County Health Department, said clinics are being limited to those three groups of county residents until more vaccine becomes available. He expects the vaccine to next be made available in county schools, as more supplies arrive.

“I wish we could do it all at once, but we can only provide vaccines as we get it,” Root said.
According to Root, Mineral County has had only two confirmed cases of swine flu. The first occurred several months ago, and the second just recently.

On Monday, Mineral County school officials confirmed that four children — three at Keyser Pre-K on Piedmont Street and one at New Creek Elementary — had been kept out of school with what their doctors suspect is swine flu. Tests are being conducted and the results are expected to be known by the end of the week.

Swine flu vaccinations are being made available to health care workers and first responders, including firefighters and EMTs, because they are most likely to come into contact with the virus. Pregnant women and their fetuses have been identified as especially susceptible to swine flu, and are included in the initial clinics as well.

The Thursday clinic follows outreach clinics the health department has conducted at meetings of the Mineral County Ambulance Authority, as well as a clinic held at the 911 center. In addition to Thursday night’s clinic, the health department offers the shots to those three groups through its regular immunization clinics, held every Tuesday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 16th, 2009 by MWilhelm

(WHAS11)  One of the world’s best basketball players is being treated for the swine flu.

Cleveland’s Lebron James and two teammates have tested positive for Influenza A; the H1N1 virus is a strain of that type of flu.

James said if something like this was going to happen, he’s glad it happened before the season starts so that he can get plenty of rest.

The Cavs are now waiting for the results of tests to determine exactly what variation of the flu the players have.

It’s been almost a week now that Kosair Children’s Hospital started giving workers the vaccine.

No one has reported any symptoms or gotten sick.

The same can also be said for teachers and faculty at New Albany and Floyd County Schools.

35% of the staff have gotten the nasal spray so far and school officials tell us everyone seems to be doing okay.

“I got it on Monday…didn’t feel anything,” said Julia Frith, an ICU nurse at Kosair.

So far 2,000 doses of the H1N1 nasal vaccine have already started going out  to the nurses and doctors at Kosair Children’s Hospital.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 9th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Grant County health officials said Thursday that reports from health care providers and schools confirm there’s a swine flu outbreak in the county.

Since Sept. 1, health care facilities have reported 235 people who tested positive for Influenza A, which is a broader category of influenza viruses that includes H1N1, also known as swine flu.

Eighty of those tests came between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, the Grant County Health District said.

Because the majority of the nationwide Influenza A samples being sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control are confirmed to be swine flu, health officials assume that the flu cases they’re seeing now are swine flu.

Five Grant County school districts have reported absentee rates higher than 10 percent, with some nearing 20 percent of students out sick.

Health and school officials are asking parents to keep sick children home and not send them to school until 24 hours after a fever has passed without the use of fever-reducing medications.

The health district expects to vaccinate children on-site at schools once the swine flu shot is available.

October 9th, 2009 by MWilhelm

ATLANTA — Health officials say swine flu activity is picking up, with 37 states now reporting widespread cases.

Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that the count is up from 27 states the previous week. The figures suggest a leveling off of flu activity the previous week may have been short-lived.

Meanwhile, CDC officials say states have ordered 3.6 million doses of swine flu vaccine for a campaign that started this week.

On the Net:

CDC swine flu update: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

September 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

OAKWOOD — A student at Harman Elementary School has been diagnosed with H1N1 swine flu.

A letter sent to parents Tuesday, Sept. 29, said the student had a fever with mild flu symptoms and will return to school this week.

The letter, from two school nurses and Principal Allyson Couch, added that the custodial staff is following district guidelines to ensure the building is cleaned thoroughly every night.

Harman, at 735 Harman Ave., enrolls 500 students and is one of two elementary schools in Oakwood.

Second case suspected

City schools Superintendent Mary Jo Scalzo said a kindergarten student at the Lange School, 219 W. Dorothy Lane, is a suspected case.

That child, identified as a boy, is at home recovering and hasn’t been diagnosed yet, but the treating physician believes it to be H1N1, Scalzo said.

The case at Harman is the first swine flu diagnosed among students in Oakwood schools, she said.

September 28th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Two more patients with H1N1 flu have been admitted to hospital, including a child from the Beecher Bay Indian Reserve, which already has seen one death from the illness.

The two new cases — a Victoria-area adult and the child, under six — were admitted late last week.

Meanwhile, of the two flu-stricken children admitted to hospital last week, one has been sent home, also to Beecher Bay Reserve, 30 kilometres southwest of Victoria.

The other child from up-Island, a more serious case, remains in hos-pital.

Last Wednesday, a woman from the Beecher Bay Reserve died in Victoria General Hospital. She had aggravating health problems. The woman was Vancouver Island’s first death from H1N1 and the sixth in B.C.

http://www.theprovince.com/health/swine+cases/2022756/story.html

September 15th, 2009 by MWilhelm

DAYTON — The University of Dayton has confirmed its first case of H1N1 flu within the student body, according to a news release from the university on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

A student visited UD’s Student Health Center last week complaining of flu-like symptoms, the release said. By Tuesday, the student had recovered and returned to class after a period of self-isolation in a house in the student neighborhood.

As of last week, there had been a handful of confirmed H1N1 virus (swine flu) cases in the Miami Valley, none of them at the University of Dayton. Previously there were nine cases in Montgomery and three each in Warren and Greene counties.

The UD student treated last week was tested, and the positive results of that test were delivered to the university Monday evening.

The release said UD is promoting prevention and awareness on campus and is offering advice to students through a Website at www.udayton.edu/flu . Students who have been seen by their doctors for flu-like symptoms are being asked to report their medical conditions to the university.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/ud-confirms-swine-flu-case-300294.html

September 9th, 2009 by MWilhelm

With sick gamers documenting their illnesses on Twitter, the organizers of last weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo are urging everyone who attended to take an apparent swine flu outbreak seriously.

PAX organizers say they have confirmed nearly 100 cases of H1N1 virus infections, or swine flu, in the wake of the Seattle videogame convention, which drew approximately 75,000 gamers to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center between Sept. 4 and 6.

In an e-mail to Wired.com, Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo urged attendees to take appropriate steps to keep from spreading the illness, “especially if you’re around kids and the elderly. The folks that attend PAX are in their mid-twenties and therefore not nearly as susceptible to the more severe issues associated with the flu,” he said, “but those around them might not (be).”

Twitter is abuzz with discussion of the outbreak, with hash tags #nerdflu and #paxflubeing used to discuss PAX flu cases.

“Apparently the PAX swine flu outbreak is being called ‘H1Nerd1,’” wrote Twitter user impsy.

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September 8th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Like many universities in the nation, Morehead State University has had its bouts with the H1N1 Swine Flu. Medical professionals say the university is on top of the situation.

“We’ve had two laboratory confirmed cases and both are doing well,” said Dr. Brenda Wilburn, director of counseling and health services at MSU said Thursday. “They became ill the first or second week of school. Both stayed away from the public as directed.”

Wilburn said she is doing everything possible to be informed about the illness and how to prevent it.

“I was at governor’s state meeting on the H1N1 flu,” Wilburn said. “It is a statewide program that the governor is doing to see if everyone is on track with prevention of the illness and everyone’s level of readiness. We are trying to be transparent and keep everyone to date. We’ve been to a national conference on this.”

The university does have a plan for the pandemic flu, she said.

“We are working closely with the state health department.” she said. “We’ve been working on policies that follow state and national guidelines set by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).”

Wilburn has a piece of advice for students, faculty and citizens for staying healthy. Read the rest of this entry »

September 3rd, 2009 by MWilhelm

More than 80 percent of the pediatric deaths from swine flu that have occurred so far have been among children older than age 5, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an analysis of 36 pediatric deaths reported through Aug. 8.

Although information about pediatric deaths from previous flu seasons is scant, about half occurred among those age 5 and older during previous seasons, the agency said.

“Child deaths from influenza are really tragic,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden. He added, however, that it remains too early to know whether the pattern will continue and how many pediatrics deaths will occur this year from swine flu.

“The jury is still out,” he said.

It could be that the virus is no more dangerous for older children but that more deaths are occurring in that age group because more children are being exposed in school, said Deborah Christensen, a CDC epidemic intelligence service officer.

“We have seen a lot of illness in school-age children during this pandemic,” Christensen said.

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September 2nd, 2009 by MWilhelm

Jaipur, Sep 2 (PTI) A German national is suspected to have contracted the swine flu and his swab samples have been sent for laboratory tests, a health department official said here today.

Thirtysix-year-old Elex, who have shown symptoms of H1NI virus, is, at present, visiting Kota district of Rajasthan.

“Swab samples of Elex have been sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases,” the official said.

Swine flu has claimed one life in Rajasthan while 20 more have tested positive for the virus so far.

Thirty-five are still awaiting lab test reports.

September 1st, 2009 by MWilhelm

September 1, 2009

As of 3:30 pm Tuesday, health officials at the University of Virginia have seen 23 cases of the swine flu so far during the fall semester. Eleven of those cases have been reported in the past four days. Two of those cases happened on Tuesday.

At least one of the students infected is a first year.

Students and professors are taking precautions to make sure they’re not the next to catch the bug.

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August 28, 2009

As of 4:00 p.m. Friday, health officials at the University of Virginia have seen ten cases of the swine flu so far during the fall semester. Four of those were presented Thursday alone. At least one of the students infected is a first year.

Students and professors are taking precautions to make sure they’re not the next to catch the bug.

Read the rest of this entry »