Flu Watch News.com

Five patients diagnosed with Tamiflu-resistant swine flu at a Welsh hospital could be the world’s first cases of person-to-person transmission of the strain. A British Department of Health spokeswoman said: “Examples of Tamiflu resistance are very rare, but when this does occur it has often been among these especially vulnerable patients. In other words, because [...]

Several state health departments, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) updated the list of retail stores who may have received contaminated ground beef.

Demand for hand sanitizer has gone through the roof since the first cases of swine flu broke out earlier this year, and some makers of the germ-fighting gels are scrambling to keep up. read more

Story from CNN Video

Imagine you’re a critical care specialist, and you’ve just been paged to the hospital room of a 28-year-old patient with swine flu symptoms and shortness of breath. Donning a gown and gloves is second nature. But should you cover your nose and mouth? If so, what should you use? The best answer that public health experts [...]

San Francisco Chronicle   The CDC characterized this as “very unusual” for September. In Marin, emergency room visits for the week of Sept. 13 at some area hospitals, jumped over 3% … full story  

The H1N1 flu virus could cause up to 90,000 U.S. deaths, mainly among children and young adults, if it resurges this fall as expected, according to a report released Monday by a presidential advisory panel. read more http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/24/us.swine.flu….

Federal officials said Thursday that colleges should consider suspending classes this fall if the H1N1 flu virus begins to cause severe illness in a significantly larger share of students than last spring … full story

New wave of virus expected after it flourishes in Southern HemisphereWhile flu viruses are notoriously capricious, making any firm predictions impossible, a new round could hit the Northern Hemisphere within weeks and lead to … Full Story      

Vaccination efforts are designed to help reduce the impact and spread of novel H1N1. The key populations include those who are at higher risk of disease or complications, those who are likely to come in contact with novel H1N1, and those who could infect young infants. When vaccine is first available, the committee recommended that [...]