Flu Watch News.com

NEW: Questions and Answers: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2009 H1N1 Flu Modules for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Vaccination (source: CDC)

top news / swine flu news stories aggregated by FeedZilla.com — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:25:00 +0000

This page provides a summary of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and how it helps track influenza activity. (source: CDC) – RSS widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com

Drug-Resistant Swine Flu Emerges

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:20:53 +0000

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 their immune systems are compromised, it is more likely for resistant viruses to develop.”
The Welsh cases occurred in patients with haematological problems who had compromised immune systems because of their disorder or because of chemotherapy, the agency added.

H1N1 has killed 3,900 Americans, CDC says (source: Reuters)

top news / swine flu news stories aggregated by FeedZilla.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:37:39 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – H1N1 swine flu killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, including more than 500 children, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. (source: Reuters) – News widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com

E. coli O157:H7 contaminated ground beef recall

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:57:58 +0000

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. On October 31, 2009, FSIS issued a notice about a recall of 545,699 pounds of beef products from Fairbank Farms that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Health officials in several states who were investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, with isolates that match by “DNA fingerprinting” analyses, found that most ill persons had consumed ground beef, with several purchasing the same or similar product from a common retail chain. At least some of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to these recalls. A sample from an opened package of ground beef recovered from a patient’s home was tested by the Massachusetts Department of Health and yielded an E. coli O157:H7 isolate that matched the patient isolates by DNA analysis.

The cluster includes twenty-eight persons from 12 states infected with matching strains of E. coli O157:H7. Of these, the genetic association of 7 human isolates and the product isolate have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test ; secondary tests are pending on others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (4), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (2), Minnesota (1), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Dakota (2), and Vermont (1).

Most of the beef packages in the recall bear the establishment number “Est. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of “091509″ or “091609.” Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after September 15, 2009 and discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund. Customers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the place where they purchased it (e.g., grocery store, club store, or meat market).

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) updated the list of retail stores who may have received contaminated ground beef.
[ See the FSIS update here.]

source:cdc.gov

Hand sanitizer in short supply as swine flu hits

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:32:38 +0000

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.

1 in 5 U.S. kids had flu this month (source: Msn)

top news / swine flu news stories aggregated by FeedZilla.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:34:30 +0000

The latest government survey has found that 1 in 5 U.S. children had a flu-like illness earlier this month, and most of those cases likely were swine flu. (source: Msn) – RSS widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com

H1N1 danger to healthy kids

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:58:00 +0000

How good are those N95 masks anyway?

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:39:02 +0000

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 have come up with so far is to wear an N95 respirator mask.

full story

Swine flu activity jumps

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:35:47 +0000

San Francisco Chronicle

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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

Authorities Urge Flu Masks for Health Workers (source: ABC News)

top news / swine flu news stories aggregated by FeedZilla.com — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:42:35 +0000

Health workers caring for swine flu patients are told to don protective masks. (source: ABC News) – News widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com