Flu Watch News.com

Vietnam Reporting 50 Percent H5N1 Mortality Rate

fluwatchnews.com — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:35:44 +0000

VietNamNet Bridge – is reporting that Vietnam has had 122 patients, 50 percent of them died, since the type A/H5N1 virus appeared in Vietnam for the first time in 2004.

photo credit:VietNamNet Bridge

CDC:New Swine Flu Virus Has The Potential To Cause An Outbreak

fluwatchnews.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:14:31 +0000

The CDC is calling it the A(H3N2)v swine flu strain. A paper published February 21, 2012 by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control suggests a new swine flu virus has the potential to cause an outbreak. From August 17 to December 23, 2011, CDC received reports of 12 human infections spanning five states (Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).
When different influenza viruses simultaneously infect a single host (e.g., a human or swine), exchange of genetic material can occur, resulting in a new influenza virus. In this case, influenza A (H3N2)v viruses that have the matrix (M) gene from the influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 virus (formerly called swine-origin influenza A [H3N2] and pandemic influenza A [H1N1] 2009 viruses.

A footnote from the CDC, “human infections with the influenza viruses currently circulating among swine are rare. Since 2005, only 35 cases have been reported in the United States, but the frequency with which they have been detected increased in 2011.”

Ref:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
Chicago Tribune

“Mystery Disease” Kills Thousands in Central America

fluwatchnews.com — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:06:01 +0000

Dr. Maria Isabel Rodriguez, El Salvador’s health minister, appealed for international help.

AP [Associated Press] is reporting that a South American illness baffles scientists as workers succumb to kidney failure at rates unseen anywhere. The epidemic is said to be devastating the Pacific coast of Central America

Vietnam at Outbreak Risk

fluwatchnews.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:04:52 +0000

Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health has warned that there is a high risk of a large-scale outbreak of bird flu without drastic preventive measures in the near future. Test results confirm that a 26-year-old woman died of the disease Jan. 28 after being hospitalized in southern Soc Trang province, the second human death from bird flu in less than a month, after it went nearly two years with no reported fatalities.

China: 2nd Bird Flu Death in a Month

Flu Watch News — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:52:55 +0000

A 39-year-old man from the Guizhou province in China fell ill with a fever and was admitted into the hospital on January 6th. The Xinhua news agency reported after three days in intensive care, the patient died.
This is the second H5N1 related death following the December 31, 2011 death of from the city of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong. It has been reported that both men had no direct contact with poultry.

Read more: thestatecolumn.com
and:news.ninemsn.com

Taiwan Reports H5N2 bird flu: 1st case in 2012

Flu Watch News — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:35:52 +0000

The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ), began daily inspections at a farm in Changhua County after rumors that a large number of its chickens had died. On Dec 30, 2011 and Jan 4, 2012 the samples collected tested positive of the H5N2 virus, but the chickens of the farm have not shown any obvious pathological symptoms, the BAPHIQ said.
source:news.asiaone.com

New Swine Flu Strain H3N2v: 12 Infected

Flu Watch News — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:16:41 +0000

USNEWS.com is reporting that 12 people living in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control say “an influenza A (H1N1) virus that is known to circulate in U.S. swine but not humans has been detected in an adult in the state of Wisconsin. The patient reported occupational contact with swine prior to illness onset. No human-to-human transmission with this virus has been identified.The virus identified in Wisconsin has genes from avian, swine and human influenza viruses, making it a so-called “triple reassortant” (tr) virus. Triple reassortant viruses have been circulating in U.S. swine since the 1990s. However the virus detected in Wisconsin is different from earlier triple reassortant influenza A H1N1 viruses in swine (tr-H1N1) in that it has acquired the matrix [M] gene) from the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus.”

Bird Flu Death: Indonesia on High Alert

Flu Watch News — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:58:50 +0000

credit:JG Photo/Safir Makki

Indonesia is still struggling not only with the resent earthquake but also the H5N1 virus. A 23-year-old man identified as P.D.Y. died after being treated for six days at Satya Negara Hospital. His blood test came back positive for the H5N1 virus, making him the first victim of bird flu in 2012.
[Read complete story: Jakarta Globe]

Concerns: Labs Create Air-Born H5N1

FluWatchNews — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:14:07 +0000

Two labs, one in Madison, Wis., and one in Rotterdam, made strains of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza that were transmissible in the air. Some in the scientific community have express the option that, if the virus escaped, the result wound be devastating.
The Sunday New York Times published an editorial calling the research, Doomsday Engineering.

Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine

FluWatchNews — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:17:29 +0000

credit:blog.lsc.edu

The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year.

There are two types of vaccines:

The “flu shot” — an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. The flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.

There are three different flu shots available:
a regular flu shot approved for people ages 6 months and older
a high-dose flu shot approved for people 65 and older, and
an intradermal flu shot approved for people 18 to 64 years of age.
The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that is given as a nasal spray (sometimes called LAIV for “Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine”). The viruses in the nasal spray vaccine do not cause the flu. LAIV is approved for use in healthy* people 2 through 49 years of age who are not pregnant.

Seasonal flu vaccines protect against the three influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. The viruses in the vaccine can change each year based on international surveillance and scientists’ estimations about which types and strains of viruses will circulate in a given year. About 2 weeks after vaccination, antibodies that provide protection against the influenza viruses in the vaccine develop in the body.
source:cdc.gov