June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Posted on: June 29, 2009 3:08 PM, by Greg Laden

The novel swine flu has affected its one millionth American. The firstdeath in England has been recorded (a 9 year old girl). Yesterday, the first Brazilian death was recorded. When we look at the map of the disease, note that many regions of Africa are totally devoid of cases. Just so you know … this is not some special African immunity. This is simply because the global health network has failed Africa and we have no clue what is going on there, and never have had a clue.

A new wrinkle in the process for North Americans, possibly with parallels elsewhere, is the summer camp phenomenon. This is where we take children from multiple communities, only some of which have some dreaded disease, or perhaps just an annoying meme, and we ship them all to one location either every day for the whole day, or for weeks at a time overnight. In this way, the diseases or annoying memes can spread among them and all the children can bring them home!

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Hawaii has 1st swine flu death, of ailing patient
HONOLULU — Hawaii is reporting its first swine flu death.

The state Department of Health says an adult over 60 years old with an underlying medical condition died June 19 at Oahu’s Tripler Army Medical Center after contracting the H1N1 virus.

Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said Monday the swine flu was not the patient’s primary cause of death, but a secondary cause.

The department isn’t releasing further details, including patient’s gender or medical ailments, because of federal laws and concerns for the patient’s privacy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been 127 swine-flu related deaths in the U.S. as of June 25. More than 27,000 people have contracted the disease across the nation.

June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Experts have reported the first case of swine flu that is resistant to tamiflu – the main drug being used to fight the pandemic.

Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug.

David Reddy, company executive, said it was not unexpected given that common seasonal flu could do the same.

The news comes as a nine-year-old girl has become the third to die in the UK with swine flu.

It is understood from her doctors at Birmingham Children’s Hospital that she had underlying health conditions. It is not yet known whether swine flu contributed to her death.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has announced a big jump in the number of patients in England confirmed with swine flu – up 1,604 since Friday, taking the UK total so far to 5,937.

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: June 29, 2009
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and
Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

ATLANTA, June 29 — Zanamivir (Relenza), a neuraminidase inhibitor, should be the preferred treatment for patients with influenza-like illness, whether infection is caused by a seasonal virus or the pandemic H1N1 virus, an advisory committee to the CDC said.

Even if laboratory tests are negative but flu is still suspected, zanamivir should be used when antiviral treatment is considered, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices agreed here.

Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), another neuraminidase inhibitor, could be used in case of a test that’s positive for seasonal influenza A H3N2 or B, or for pandemic influenza A H1N1, although more than 99% of the seasonal H1N1 viruses were resistant to the drug, the committee noted.

The recommendations were based on testing for antiviral resistance, which found that all strains recently isolated, including the new H1N1, were susceptible to zanamivir.

Researchers found varying levels of resistance to the adamantanes, rimantadine and amantadine.

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

LITTLE FALLS, N.J., June 29 — The new H1N1 flu virus has the ability to cause serious illness and death among young individuals with no preexisting medical conditions, Mexican researchers confirmed.

Of 18 patients hospitalized with pneumonia and laboratory-confirmed infection with the pandemic virus, seven died — all with multi-organ failure, according to Rogelio Perez-Padilla, MD, of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) in Mexico City, and colleagues.

Four of the seven patients who died did not have any comorbidities, they reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers performed a retrospective chart review of patients hospitalized at INER with pneumonia and confirmed infection with the new H1N1 virus.

The median age of the patients was 38 (range 9 months to 61 years).

Only eight of the 18 had preexisting medical conditions, including arterial hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and obstructive sleep apnea.

All had fever, cough, dyspnea or respiratory distress, increased serum lactate dehydrogenase levels, and bilateral patchy pneumonia.

Most had an increased creatine kinase level (62%) and lymphopenia (61%).

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

TRENTON, N.J. – Six people have died from swine flu in New Jersey.

The state Health and Senior Services Department says the latest victim is a woman in her 40s from Bergen County who had underlying health conditions.

The five others in New Jersey who have died from the H1N1 virus include a 79-year-old Hudson County woman, a 36-year-old Union County man, a 15-year-old Somerset County boy, a 10-year-old Sussex County boy and a 49-year-old northern New Jersey man.

There are 609 confirmed cases of swine flu in every New Jersey county but Salem and Cape May.

Information from: The Record of Bergen County, http://www.northjersey.com

June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By Keith Darcé, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. June 30, 2009

Underlying health problems might have played a role in the deaths of two more swine flu patients in San Diego County, local health officials said yesterday.

Alejandra R. Gonzalez, 49, of Spring Valley died June 23 after arriving at the emergency room at Sharp Grossmont Hospital earlier that day. A county medical examiner report said Gonzalez, a homemaker, had suffered from nausea and vomiting for a few days.

A 75-year-old man died Sunday at Sharp Memorial Hospital after being admitted through the emergency room June 21.

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

The influenza virus that wreaked worldwide havoc in 1918-1919 founded a viral dynasty that persists to this day, according to scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. In an article published online on June 29 by the New England Journal of Medicine, authors Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., and David M. Morens, M.D., argue that we have lived in an influenza pandemic era since 1918, and they describe how the novel 2009 H1N1 virus now circling the globe is yet another manifestation of this enduring viral family.

“The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic was a defining event in the history of public health,” says NIAID Director Dr. Fauci. “The legacy of that pandemic lives on in many ways, including the fact that the descendents of the 1918 virus have continued to circulate for nine decades.”

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June 30th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Roche Holding AG said a swine flu patient treated with its Tamiflu drug in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral medicine for the first time.

The patient was given a low dose of Tamiflu preventively after coming in contact with someone infected with the H1N1 pandemic virus, said David Reddy, who heads Roche’s influenza task force. The person developed flu symptoms and was found to have a virus mutation that evaded the drug, Reddy said on a conference call today.

The patient has recovered and doctors have found no other people carrying the resistant strain, Denmark’s National Board of Health said today in a statement on its Web site. Tamiflu studies show that 0.4 percent of adults and 4 percent of children with seasonal influenza develop resistance, according to Reddy.

“We know from seasonal flu that a proportion of patients can develop resistance,” Reddy said. “We fully expect that this also can occur during treatment with a new flu strain.”

The new virus, which has killed more than 300 people worldwide, “remains sensitive to the drug,” Reddy said. “What this does underscore is the continued need for resistance monitoring.”

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June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By Tom Randall

June 26 (Bloomberg) — The vaccine being developed to combat a pandemic of swine flu will require multiple shots to provide immunity from the new virus, and the added immunizations may overwhelm U.S. state agencies, health officials said.

Two injections will be required three weeks apart for swine flu, also known as H1N1, and a third will be needed for seasonal flu, health officials said at a meeting today at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. Children younger than 9 years old will need four shots, the CDC said.

The U.S. government took the unusual step of purchasing all of the swine flu vaccine, and the shots probably will be administered through vaccine clinics set up by state health organizations, the CDC said. The agency estimates that at least 50 million vaccine doses will be available in the U.S. by Oct. 15, and enough vaccine to immunize everyone in the country will be available later in the season.

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June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Wimbledon officials are playing down swine flu fears after four ball boys and girls were asked to stay home with flu symptoms.

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Club, issued a statement Monday about the flu cases and asked all visitors and personnel to stay away from the championships if they develop any symptoms.

All England Club spokesman Henry O’Grady said there were no indications that any of the four staffers had swine flu. He said they were asked to stay home as a “precautionary measure” and would not be tested for the disease.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

Girl aged 9 dies in Birmingham hospital after catching virus on top of existing health problems, becoming third UK victim.

Monday 29 June 2009 16.56 BST

A nine-year-old girl is the third person to have died in the UK after catching swine flu, although it is not yet known if the virus contributed to her death.

The girl, who had other significant health problems, died at Birmingham children’s hospital on Friday evening. Her death is the first in England associated with swine flu.

Two people have died in Scotland – both had other significant health problems. They were an unnamed 73-year-who died on Saturday night after 15 days in intensive care; and Jacqui Fleming, 38, who died after giving birth prematurely two weeks ago.

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June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: June 29, 2009

The first case of swine flu resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu has been found in Denmark, according to Danish health officials

The patient appears to have recovered without infecting anyone else, and experts said the recent history of Tamiflu resistance made it unlikely that the short-lived Danish strain would have been good at spreading to others.

An executive of Roche, the Swiss maker of Tamiflu, held a telephone news conference to describe the progress of the Danish patient, who apparently developed the resistant strain while being protectively treated with a low Tamiflu dose because a close contact had the swine flu. Doctors switched treatment to a different but related drug, Relenza, and the patient recovered.

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June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By Markos N. Kaminis
WallStreetGreek.com

The World Health Organization (WHO) had been warning for weeks that the H1N1 Swine Flu Virus would likely be raised to the scientific level of “pandemic.” Thus, the formal announcement on June 11 brought with it little panic across the world’s financial markets. Furthermore, the virus’ low morbidity rate wore thin with the headline hungry media. Nonetheless, the bug experts rate this disease significant enough to make it the first of its kind in 41 years.

There will be an impact on the global economy, whether the virus mutates or not. As any office rat knows, illness affects productivity. So when the second wave of this very active flu strikes the Northern Hemisphere during this coming influenza season (simultaneously with seasonal flu), economies just coming out of recession will have a sudden speed bump to deal with. Depending on the severity of this disease, the recession could therefore be prolonged.

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June 29th, 2009 by MWilhelm

By MONICA BRADY-MYEROV

BOSTON — There has always been a long list of instructions that parents must follow before sending a child to camp: Label everything, don’t forget bug spray and parents must make sure kids put on sunscreen everyday. Now many camp directors are adding the state’s recommendations to that list: Parents should tell their kids to wash their hands a lot, cough into their elbows and stay home if they have a fever.

“One thing that is a little bit different about this flu is that it’s still happening,” said Bette Bussel, executive director of the American Camp Association New England. “While it’s not really different than many of the other kind of flus, flu usually ends around now and it’s not this year. So it’s something that really none of us have seen.”

What is also not clear is why Massachusetts and New England in general have more cases of swine flu than other regions around the country. And within New England, the commonwealth has the highest number of confirmed cases. That means camps need to remain vigilant, because the same kids who were in school are now going to summer programs.

At Ponkapoag Outdoor Center in the Blue Hills Reservation in Canton, kids play dodge ball under a canopy because it’s raining. Kathy Lazano, who oversees the day camp, is watching the game. She is a little concerned, but she is following the state’s recommendations.

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