Tamiflu-resistant swine flu found on US-Mexico border

August 3rd, 2009

A strain of swine flu that is resistant to treatment with the drug Tamiflu has been discovered near the US-Mexican border, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Monday.

"We have found resistance to Tamiflu on the border. We have observed some cases, few to be sure, in El Paso and close to McAllen, Texas," said Maria Teresa Cerqueira, head of the local PAHO office.

Cases of A(H1N1) that were resistant to the anti-viral medicine have now been found in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong and Japan.

Experts gathered in La Jolla, California on Monday to discuss the response to the outbreak, said the resistance was likely due to over-use.

"In the United States Tamiflu is sold with a prescription, but in Mexico and Canada it is sold freely and taken at the first sneeze. Then, when it is really needed, it doesn't work," said Cerqueira.

Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, has said it expects a 0.5 percent rate of case resistance based on clinical trials.

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu found near US-Mexico border

AFP 4 August 2009, 03:49am IST

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA: A strain of swine flu that is resistant to treatment with the drug Tamiflu has been discovered near the US-Mexican border, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Monday.

"We have found resistance to Tamiflu on the border. We have observed some cases, few to be sure, in El Paso and close to McAllen, Texas," said Maria Teresa Cerqueira, head of the local PAHO office.

Israel announced the second death due to avian pigs .. Saudi Arabia and flying the injured to the outcome of 595

02 August 2009

The Israeli Ministry of Health on Sunday, the second death caused by swine flu, and confirmed that the woman in the twenty-fourth year-old died in the town of Nahariya in northern Israel on Sunday.

And was a man of thirty-five years of age residing in the southern city of Eilat last week has died as a result of the same disease, the ministry announced on its website that it made more than a disease in Israel.

For his part, Minister of Health, Saudi Arabia, "Abdullah, Rabia", the total swine flu infection «H1N1» in the UK amounted to 595 cases, made clear that the rate of recovery of cases exceeded 90% so far.

Rabeeah said at a press conference in the Ministry of Health yesterday that the ministry has reserved 4 million doses of anti-retroviral treatment for the disease is expected to arrive the first of October next, and pointed out that Saudi Arabia was given such a large amount, owing to the Hajj and Umrah seasons, and that additional amounts will be reserved in future.

The minister said that «the difficulty of early detection of disease, despite the efforts being made to prevent it by all concerned».

The death toll in the UK by the disease to 4 deaths, and that after the announcement of the Ministry of Health Saudi Arabia, The Saudi Minister of Health and condolences to the families of the deceased, said that despite the deaths that have occurred, the «situation is cause for concern, where the mortality rate within the rate of global between 3 and 7.2% ».

Meanwhile, Dr. Jamil left manager of the Department of Preventive Medicine in the State of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates to receive the relevant health authorities in mid-September, two million doses Ttaimip against swine flu, the third country in the world to receive the vaccine against the disease after the United States and Britain.

He explained that the vaccines currently in the departments of preventive medicine against influenza in general - which is often given to the pilgrims and pilgrims - do not guard against a swine flu virus evolving, and it is not possible to determine the effectiveness of the new vaccine be given only after a period during the next phase.

In the meantime, the cause of the global epidemic of more victims and the Arab world. In Bahrain, the Bahraini authorities announced the discovery of health 7 new cases infected with the virus, after analysis of 22 samples of suspected cases, which raises the total number of cases was announced that swine flu in Bahrain yesterday to up to 112 cases.

According to Bahrain News Agency that 2 of the new infections are the two sisters come from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, also indicated that the Bahraini girl (6 years) were infected to contact one of the injured from Saudi Arabia.

In Kuwait, the Ministry of Health on Saturday, recording 39 new cases of the disease, bringing the number of cases recorded in the country to 211, mostly minor injuries, leaving only 11 cases in the hospital.

A spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Yusuf half the department had started in the application of the treatment at home for light injuries, following the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

At the same time, the Omani National Committee for the follow-up swine flu virus detected 22 new cases infected with the virus, raising the total number of recorded cases since the outbreak of the disease in the Sultanate of Oman to the 95 cases, made with the Jordanian Ministry of Health 6 new HIV infections, bringing the number of casualties in the country 85 injured, while conducting laboratory tests of the Ministry of Health on 16 other suspected case.

In South Korea, the health authorities on the emergence of 44 additional cases infected with bird «H1N1» - including 3 soldiers in the territory of Kionczyky - bringing the total number of patients with this disease in the country to the 1466 case, the news came after injuring 5 soldiers infected in Busan Quang Binh province and won yesterday.

In the meantime, the director general of the Malaysian Ministry of Health, "Mohamed Ismail Merican," the emergence of 19 new cases of the disease, all Malaysians, adding that the total reported cases in the country until the moment arrived in the 1390 case, and pointed out that 98% of the total cases recovered from the disease.

A poll published in the magazine «Focus», that the disease has forced the Germans to change some behaviors, where it has the proportion of 37% of them to wash hands regularly to prevent the spread of the virus to them, the survey also indicated that the rate of 20% of the Germans to avoid public gatherings, while the proportion of developed 16% of Germans for the exchange of a kiss or embrace.

Interestingly, 15% of the Germans surrendered on hand-for-peace exchange rate of 50% expressed fear of the disease, and confirmed not to change the behavior of natural, in that State, which exceeded the number of cases of the disease in which 5 thousand cases.

Egypt: Committee for the Defense of the right to health « .. Accuses » mountain « causing the spread of avian flu and swine

3/8/2009

The Committee for the Defense of the Right to health and the spread of bird flu and swine flu in Egypt . ‬ accused Dr. Hatem el-Gabali Minister of Health to close 270 hospital for fevers out 160 hospital and transfer of patients to departments in public hospitals in the face of bird flu . added report that has been reduced allocation for the Ministry of Health in the face of the epidemic 3.2% rather than 3.4% in the previous year .

The report emphasized the failure of the private sector in the face of the epidemic, which does not have only 120 hospital not only increase the number of the family on 50 beds .

The report of the Committee that the plan of the Ministry of Health to address the epidemic in 2006 estimated needs Egypt Butlaosmaip A bed does not have only half and the number of government hospitals 126 government hospital, including hospital diets, which the ministry tried to rescind the earlier .

The report emphasized that the vulnerability of Egypt to the spread of and B influenza in the coming period are significantly, underestimated and warned of the risk of disease, especially in the possibility of » mutate «. called the Committee for the Defense Health described the need to double the budget of the Ministry and the provision of health service based on good ingredients work to provide the sound and the head amend the salaries of doctors .

The report need the government had backtracked on privatization schemes and compliance with the provisions of the judiciary's decision to halt the establishment of the Egyptian Holding Company for health reform, law and stop the passage of the privatization of health insurance the new ministry is now prepared with » Hot « British, and the Commission's report warned that the project aims to transform the comprehensive package of insurance services at current partially completed package by » insurance policies « especially for the benefit of multiple private insurance companies .

The report emphasized that the opportunities for the involvement of citizens by a quarter and one third of the price of the service, plus their contributions to aimed at preventing citizens from receiving service

Egypt: Health announced 6 new cases of swine flu

Monday, August 3, 2009 - 20:01

Dr. Abdel Rahman Shahin, official spokesman of the Ministry of Health on behalf of the discovery of 6 new cases of swine flu, bringing the cases to 289 cases, referring to the healing of 210 cases, and the death of one case so far and the rest of the cases in good health.

وأضاف أن حالات اليوم من بينهم 5 مصريين الجنسية، منهم حالة قادمة من السعودية وحالتان مرتبطان بحالات إيجابية وحالتان غير مرتبطتان وبائيا بحالات إيجابية، أما الحالة الأخرى فهى كويتية الجنسية وكانت قادمة من إيطاليا، لافتا إلى حجز الحالات بالمستشفيات وإعطائهم العلاج المناسب وحالتهم مستقرة.

He added that the cases today, including 5 of Egyptian nationality, the status of them coming from Saudi Arabia, two are positive and two cases are linked and non-infectious cases of positive, while the other is a Kuwaiti nationality, was arriving from Italy, he said, pointing to the custody cases in hospitals and give them the appropriate treatment and in stable condition.

وذكر عبد الرحمن أنه تم فحص 68 حالة اشتباه لمرض أنفلونزا الخنازير و25 حالة اشتباه لأنفلونزا الطيور وجاءت نتائج التحاليل جميعها سلبية.
Rahman said he had been examined 68 suspected case of bird flu and 25 pigs suspected case of avian influenza and the results of all tests are negative.

Egypt: 3 cases of detention of suspected bird flu GOVERNORATES

Monday, August 3, 2009

تم اليوم احتجاز 3 حالات جديدة للاشتباه فى إصابتهم بمرض أنفلونزا الطيور فى مستشفيات الفيوم والبحيرة وقنا، حيث اشتبه الأطباء فى مستشفى الحميات بالفيوم فى إصابة طفل بمرض أنفلونزا الطيور بالفيوم وتم احتجازه بالمستشفى وأخذ العينات اللازمة منه لإرسالها للمعامل المركزية بوزارة الصحة للتأكد من إصابته بالمرض من عدمه.

Today was the detention of 3 new cases of suspected bird flu patients in hospitals in Fayoum and Qena, and the lake, where doctors suspected fever in Fayoum a child diagnosed with the flu Fayyoum was detained in hospital and take the necessary samples to be sent to labs central Ministry of Health to make sure of his illness or not .

كان محمود حنفى صلاح 6 (سنوات) من منشية بغداد بمركز الفيوم، قد دخل مستشفى الحميات بالفيوم وتظهر عليه أعراض مرض أنفلونزا الطيور اشتبه الأطباء فى إصابته بالمرض وتم أخذ العينات اللازمة منه وإرسالها للمعامل المركزية بوزارة الصحة، للتأكد من إصابته بالمرض من عدمه.

Hanafy Mahmoud Salah was 6 (years) of the capital Baghdad, the status of Fayoum, had entered the hospital in Fayyoum fever and symptoms of bird flu was suspected of being infected with the disease, doctors have been taking the necessary samples, and sent to labs central Ministry of Health, to make sure of his illness or not.

وفى البحيرة صرح الدكتور يسرى مبروك وكيل وزارة الصحة بالبحيرة، أن مستشفى حميات دمنهور قامت باحتجاز شخص للاشتباه فى إصابته بأنفلونزا الطيور بعد ظهور أعراض تتشابة مع المرض عليه، من ارتفاع فى درجة الحرارة وألم فى العظام وإجهاد شديد وصعوبة فى التنفس.

In the lake, said Dr. Yusri Congratulations Deputy Minister of Health the lake, the hospital has admitted Damanhour detain people suspected of having bird flu after an outbreak of similar symptoms with the disease, the rise in temperature and pain in bones, severe stress and difficulty in breathing.

حيث قامت المستشفى باحتجاز مبروك فضل الله عبد الحميد (38 سنة) وتم احتجازه بالمستشفى بعد أخذ عينة دم منه لتحليلها بالمعامل المركزية بالقاهرة.

The hospital where she preferred to hold Congratulations Abdul Hamid (38 years) have been detained in hospital after taking a blood sample for analysis of central labs in Cairo.

وعلى الفور انتقلت لجنة مكافحة المرض لمنزل المريض لتطهيره وتطهير المنازل المجاورة وأخذ عينات من الطيور الموجودة بالمنازل لفحصها

And immediately transferred to the Committee against the disease for the patient's house to purify and cleanse the neighboring houses and the taking of samples of domestic birds to be tested


وبيان مدى إصابتها. And the extent of her statement.

وفى قنا احتجز مستشفى حميات نجع حمادى اليوم سيدة للاشتباه فى إصابتها بمرض أنفلونزا الطيور، حيث دخلت صباح مؤنس (35 سنة) إلى المستشفى فى حالة إعياء شديدة تعانى من ارتفاع فى درجه الحرارة وتبين أنها مخالطة لطيور مصابة نفق عدد منها الفترة الماضية.

In Qena held Naga Hammadi Hospital admitted a woman today on suspicion of being infected with bird flu, which entered the morning Munis (35 years) to the hospital in case of suffering from severe fatigue, fever and found to be contact with the infected birds died from a number of years.

Pneumonic plague kills 3rd man in NW China province

2009-08-04 00:16:21
XINING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua)


Pneumonic plague claimed a third victim in northwest China's Qinghai Province on Monday, local health authorities said.

The victim was a man named Danzhi, 64, from the town of Ziketan, in Xinghai county in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The outbreak, which began July 30 and has caused a further nine people in the town to become ill, has already killed a 32-year-old herdsman and one of his neighbors, a 37-year-old man.

Of the nine patients in quarantined, one is in a serious condition and another has developed symptoms of coughing and chest pain. Most of the affected townspeople are relatives of the first dead man.

There has been no report of new infections.

Medical staff are disinfecting the region and tracking down people who have been in close contact with those affected by the plague

The local government has quarantined the town and its vicinity. The area has adequate essential supplies and the quarantine has not disrupted the locals' lives. Those who have been in Ziketan and its vicinity since July 16 who show symptoms of fever and coughing have been ordered to report to the nearest hospital.

The town covers 3,000 square kilometers and has a population of 10,000.

Pneumonic plague is one of the deadliest infectious diseases; patients can die 24 hours after infection, says the World Health Organization.

Editor: Mu Xuequan
hat-tip Ironorehopper

Decoding The Genomic Sequences Of H1N1 Using Isolates From Outbreak In Argentina

03 Aug 2009

Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health are working with Argentina's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS), and Roche 454 Life Sciences to decode the complete genomic sequences of influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease. The scientists will be comparing sequences of viruses associated with the current outbreak in Argentina with those found in other locations to determine if there are differences that may be linked to higher mortality rates or provide insights into virus evolution.

The Mailman School of Public Health researchers, led by Gustavo Palacios, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology and CII Director W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, and professor of Neurology and Pathology at Columbia University, plan to completely sequence up to 150 virus specimens from nasopharyngeal swabs and cultures over the next 10 days, and will share their findings with the larger scientific community. The complete sequencing of these virus specimens will allow the team to both characterize severe versus mild cases, as well as determine how the virus evolved at different points in time. Swine flu has killed 165 people in Argentina, more than any nation with the exception of the U.S. Any significant changes in the virus might influence the effectiveness of vaccines or drugs used to fight the pandemic.

"No one knows how this pandemic will evolve. Continuous surveillance will be essential to focusing both research and public health response. We are analyzing these isolates in New York and Argentina; nonetheless, we expect that members of the broader scientific community will bring new insights. Thus, our plan is to release sequences in draft form so that the vetting process can begin as soon as possible," said Dr. Lipkin.

"While there is no evidence so far to indicate the emergence of resistance to the oseltamivir vaccine, the antiviral drug that blocks the influenza virus from spreading between cells in the body, we are cautious about the findings until we have more sequences," said Gustavo Palacios, PhD. "The changes already noted in comparing the outbreak in Argentina to the U.S. haven't previously been associated with greater virulence."

Source:
Stephanie Berger
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Vietnam: Public concern growing over influenza A

August 3, 2009 11:36:46
The influenza A (H1N1) has driven many people to protect themselves with medical masks and the demand for H1N1 tests has risen, despite doctors protests not to waste time and money.

When the global pandemic first came in April and was detected in Vietnam at the end of May, medical masks were recommended only at international airports where foreigners came from the early worst-hit countries.

But as the spread of the virus has reached community-level with more schools and office buildings infected, people have started to protect themselves mostly with paper masks.

A resident in District 7 whose son is attending primary school in District 1 said the teacher requires students to wear a mask in class.

Several companies and offices in the city have bought medical masks for their employees, especially for those who receive outside guests every day.

At some places, the masks are selling for more than VND200,000 (US$11) a box of 50, almost seven times the normal price.

-snip-

New York State makes flu shots compulsory despite nurses opposition

Australian Herald
Saturday 1st August, 2009
(EndoNurse)

The New York State Nurses Association has strongly opposed a regulation that would require every healthcare worker in the state to be immunized for influenza.

Despite these objections, the New York State Hospital Planning and Review Council has adopted the proposal as an emergency rule that could go into effect before this winter’s flu season. The rule affects all healthcare personnel, both paid and unpaid, who interact with patients in hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, certified home health agencies, long-term healthcare programs, AIDS home care programs, licensed home care services, and hospices.
In its testimony, the association called the council’s action a “scorched earth” approach. “While we encourage nurses to be immunized for the flu, we do not agree that nurses should be required to get immunizations as a condition of employment,” said Eileen Avery, RN, associate director of the association’s Education, Practice & Research Program.

“The seasonal flu vaccine is not 100 percent effective and sometimes is highly ineffective, as it was in 2005 and 2007,” Avery said. “There is no guarantee that in any given year, the public will benefit from mandatory immunization of healthcare providers.”

The association also is concerned that the state and healthcare facilities might rely upon flu shots to prevent the spread of influenza among workers and patients rather than implementing proven infection control procedures such the use of appropriate respirators and isolation rooms.
The regulation’s impact on the state’s shortage of nurses could be significant, the association says.

“There is no exemption for religious or cultural preferences regarding immunization, effectively blocking individuals who have these beliefs from earning their livelihood,” Avery said. “It’s possible that nurses will leave the profession or choose another career because of this onerous mandate; a serious threat at a time when the shortage of nurses in New York State is expected to reach 20,000 within a decade.”

Malaysia: 11-year-old boy is sixth H1N1 death

Death #6:
11 yo boy
no onset date given
Adm: 7/29
ICU: 7/30
Confirmation: 8/1
DOD: 8/2

Death #5
10 yo girl
Onset: 7/27- no breathing problems. Outpatient treatment @ private clinic.
Treated as outpatient: 7/28
Breathing difficulties. Treated @ Bagan Serai health clinic.
DOD: 7/31, while obtaining treatment at Bagan Serai health clinic.

Monday August 3, 2009

PETALING JAYA: An 11-year-old boy has died of Influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of deaths from the disease to six.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said in a statement that the boy died at 8.30am yesterday at Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johor Baru after having fever.

He was admitted into the hospital on July 29.

Dr Ismail said his condition worsened and he was admitted into the intensive care unit a day later.

He said further checks revealed that he was suffering from inflammation of heart and lungs.

“On Aug 1, he was confirmed to be infected with the virus,” he said.

The boy’s death follows the death of a 10-year-old girl from Bagan Serai.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the girl had been ill since July 27 but she did not suffer from any breathing problems when she received outpatient treatment at a private clinic.

On the night of July 28, the girl complained of breathing difficulties and received treatment at a Bagan Serai health clinic the next day.

While receiving treatment, she was in stable condition and did not complain of breathing difficulties or cyanosis and was given outpatient treatment including antibiotics and cough medicine.

However at 3am on Friday, she complained of breathing difficulties, fever and cough before arriving at the Bagan Serai Health Clinic for treatment.

While receiving treatment, she passed out. She was pronounced dead at 5.30am. The post mortem done at the Alor Setar Hospital on Friday revealed that she died of severe pneumonic changes.

Tests on phlegm taken from the girl by the Institute of Medical Research showed that the girl had the A (H1N1) virus.

Meanwhile, Dr Mohd Ismail said 39 new flu cases were reported yesterday, taking the total number of cases to 1,429.

Thirty-five of 39 were from eight new cluster cases while four were sporadic cases.

Of the 1,429 cases, 60% were local transmission while the rest were imported.

He said 19 cases, eight of which were in ICU, were currently in hospital and were being given anti-viral treatment.

In Ipoh, state Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said SMKA Shamsul Maarif Al-Wataniah in Tanjung Piandang, Kerian, had also been ordered closed after 38 people from the school developed influenza-like illnesses.

“This brings the number of institutions closed since the outbreak to 16,” he said, adding that 18 people are currently in various hospitals in the state for the disease.

Egypt: Map of Confirmed H5N1 Cases

[click on title to go to map]

Egypt: List of Confirmed Cases - 8/2

Listed by Age, Location, Onset Date and # confirmed by Min. of Health

• 34 yo Tanta, [Gharbia Gov.] April 21 #68
• 5 yo Tama [Sohag Gov.] May 7 #69
  
• 4.5 yo Kafr Saqr [Ash Sharqiyah Gov.] May 10 #70
  
• 4 yo Hashim, Mahalla [Gharbia Gov.] May 12 #71
• 4 yo Ghamr [Dakahlia Gov.] May 9 #72
• 4 yo Sherbin Dakahliy [Dakahlia Gov] May 18 #73
• 3 yo Sohag [Sohag Gov] May 17 #74
  
• 4 yo Hehia, [Ash Sharqiyah Gov.] May 24 #75
• 4 yo Abo Hammad (Ash Sharqiyah] May 23 #76
• 14 mos. Dekerness [Dakahlia Gov.] May 25 #77
  
• 4 yo El Sheikh [Ash Shaykh Gov.] May 30 #78
• 1.5 yo Albesartp [Damietta Gov.] June 1 #79
• 4 yo Maniya [Dakahlia Gov] June 5 #80
• 1 yo Kulain [Ash Shaykh Gov.] June 16 #81
• No Age Sidi Ghazi [Ash Shaykh Gov.] July 24 #82
• 1.6 yo Shebin [Menoufia Gov.] July 28 #83
• 2 yo Berket al-Saba [Menoufia Gov.] August 23 #84
• 14 yo Damietta [Damietta Gov.] August 21 #85
  

Egypt: 5 suspected cases of the same family of bird flu in Fayyoum

Sunday, August 2, 2009 - 15:52
Caption: Suspected of contracting the HIV status met Monday were transferred to a hospital diets Fayyoum

Hospital diets Fayyoum detained five people from one family cluster of suspected bird flu had been detained in hospital for treatment, Syed Mohammed Suleiman, 47, and his sons Raghda, 12 years and Rehab, 7 years, and the patient, 5 years, and his wife, Aziza Abdel-Tawab, 70 , from the village of Kafr al-Shukri status met Monday Mahfouz had been transferred to hospital diets Fayyoum and show symptoms of bird flu.


Have been detained in hospital and take samples and send them the necessary factor for the central Ministry of Health to ensure the validity of the illness or not.

The emergence of 22 suspected case of bird flu to maintain

cancelled the party

.. Governor of Kafr El-Sheikh cancel the celebration of the birth of Ibrahim Desouki birth and remain small villages

1 - 8 - 2009 Mohamed Al-Ansari (the Egyptians):: On 1-8 - 2009

أ Canceled, Major General Ahmed Zaki Abidin, Governor of Kafr El-Sheikh, the cancellation of celebrations of the birth of "Ibrahim Desouki" the estimated number of visitors more than 2 million visitors a year, a decision to retain some small birth in the province Kmouldi "Alchamle" and "Ghamiri" Aldepp village is dead, and " Aldmri "village published. The decision was resented poles Sufi province of Kafr el-Sheikh, who demanded the governor cease all birth or keep it all. And Abdel Azim Wazir, Governor of Cairo, has issued instructions to all of the Security Directorate of Religious Endowments and the prevention of the birth celebrations Ms. Zainab, for fear of bird flu among pigs, millions of citizens who attend the birth. . He said the Sheikhs brotherhoods that the decision to the Governor of Cairo a political dimension, and described it as clowning, and a provocation to the feelings of the Sufis who are arbitrarily by the government against them, in particular, they said. To that, Dr. Osama Farid, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Health in Kafr Al-Sheikh, on the 22 suspected cases of bird flu situation of maintaining hospitals, including 14 hospital admitted Kafr El-Sheikh and 6 General Hospital, the only two hospital-Sadr. He pointed to a unique sampling, survey hours of suspected cases, and sent to labs central Ministry of Health in Cairo in order to ascertain the disease or not. A total of bird flu cases in Egypt and arrived in 83 cases.

Egypt: "Health" has launched a crackdown on laboratory GOVERNORATES

Sunday, August 2, 2009 - 18:04

Control Department launched a therapeutic non-governmental organizations, Ministry of Health and Population, a campaign in a number of provinces, including the lake and Qaliubiya, Fayyoum and milk to the provinces in this laboratory and found a lot of waste especially the absence of the Director of the laboratory in the absence of licenses granted, and the absence of a human and the expiry of reagents health.

وأوضحت د.نازج مصطفى بإدارة الرقابة على المؤسسات العلاجية الغير حكومية، أن المعامل تخضع لبعض المعاير لكى يصدر لها الترخيص مثل توافر حد أدنى من الأجهزة تواجد مدير مسئول للمعمل، طبيب بشرى وغيرها من المعاير التى ينص عليها قانون رقم 367 لسنة 1954 فى شأن مزاولة العمل بمعامل التشخيص الطبى.

The d. Nazj Mustafa management control of the therapeutic non-governmental institutions, the laboratories are subject to certain standards have to issue a license, such as the availability of a minimum presence of the Director of the official organs of the plant, a human and other standards provided by the law No. 367 of 1954 in the employment medical diagnostic labs.

وأشارت نازج أن الإدارة شكلت لجنة مكونة من ثلاث أطباء للمرور والتفتيش على معامل التحاليل الشهر الماضى ففى محافظة القليوبية تم تغطية المحافظة بالكامل ووجد عدد كبير من المعامل المخالفة فعلى سبيل المثال قالت الدكتورة إن منطقة الخصوص بالمحافظة تم إصدار قرار غلق لأحد المعامل لعدم وجود ترخيص من الوزارة وفى نفس المنطقة تم إنذار معمل آخر لعدم حيازته لـ"عقد المحرقة" شهادة تداول النافيات، وأضافت أن منطقة الخانكة بنفس المحافظة وجد بها معامل تعمل ليلا فقط فتم إصدار قرار بالغلق نهائيا.

Nazj noted that the Administration formed a committee of three doctors to pass the inspection of the laboratory last month In the province of Qaliubiya cover the entire province has been found a large number of laboratories, for example, the violation Dr particular region to maintain the closure decision had been issued to a laboratory for the lack of a license from the Ministry In the same area were alerted to another laboratory for non-possession of the "contract of the Holocaust" negotiable certificate Naviac, adding that the Khanka maintain the same factor found by working at night was only the issuance of a final closure decision.

وفى محافظة بنها تقول تم إنذار عدد كبير من المعامل بسبب عدم وجود مديرين مسئولين بالمعامل وفى أحد المعامل وجدنا طبيبة كيميائية غير مزاولة للمهنة.

In the province of milk has been warning says a large number of laboratories because of the lack of officials, managers in the labs, a laboratory and a doctor found a chemical non-practicing of the profession.

وفى منطقة طوخ وأبو المطامير بالبحيرة قامت اللجنة المفتشة بإعدام عدد كبير من "الكواشف المعملية" المنتهية الصلاحية والتى تودى إلى نتائج خاطئة فى التحاليل بالإضافة إلى غلق عدد من المعامل الغير مرخصة.

In the Tok area, Abu Almtamir the lake by the Inspector to death a large number of "laboratory reagent" Expired and leading to false results in tests in addition to the closure of a number of non-licensed laboratories.

كما أكدت د.نازج مصطفى أن وزارة الصحة أصدرت قرارا بمنع أى معمل تحاليل بإجراء التحاليل الخاصة بـAH1N1 المعروف بالأنفلونزا الخنازير، وذلك حرصا من الوزارة على أن تكون نتيجة التحاليل صحيحة ويكون المريض تحت سيطرة الوزارة.

As the d. Nazj Mustafa, the Ministry of Health issued a decision to prevent any conduct laboratory tests for influenza b AH1N1 known as pigs, in order from the ministry to be the result of the analysis are correct and the patient is under the control of the ministry.

وأشارت د.نازج إلى أن الإدارة مستمرة فى حملتها حتى تنتهى من التفتيش على جميع المحافظات وعن تضارب نتائج التحاليل من معمل لآخر، قالت إن يرجع ذلك نتيجة أن مهنة التحاليل بها دخلاء ففى بعض المعامل يقوم الفنيون أو العمال بعمل التحاليل للمرضى، وكميائيون وغيرهم، بالإضافة إلى أن هناك بعض المعامل لا تمتلك الحد الأدنى من الأجهزة وتستخدم كواشف طبية منتهية الصلاحية مما يودى إلى نتائج خاطئة.

She d. Nazj that the Department continues to campaign until the end of the inspection of all the provinces and the conflicting results of laboratory tests to another, she said that because of the profession as a result of that analysis by outsiders In some of the technicians or laboratory workers work analysis of patients and Kamiaiion and others, as well as that there are some plants do not have the minimum equipment and reagents used medical expired leading to erroneous results.

H1N1 deaths to be investigated

Mohammed Rasooldeen Arab News



REASSURANCE: Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah addresses a news conference at the ministry in Riyadh on Saturday. (AN photo by Abdullah Ateeq)

RIYADH: The Ministry of Health has arranged four million doses of vaccine to treat swine flu during the Umrah and Haj pilgrimages, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah announced at a news conference at the ministry on Saturday.

The minister said that the news conference was held to keep the public informed of all developments regarding the spread of swine flu in the Kingdom. “We want to be transparent in all our activities regarding the control, spread and treatment of the disease in the Kingdom.”

He assured the families of those who have died of swine flu that full inquiries would be held into the deaths. The minister said that blood samples of the four people who have died in the Kingdom have been sent to Center For Disease Control (CDC) in the US for necessary analysis.

Regarding the forthcoming Haj season, the Foreign Ministry has not yet stipulated quarantine requirements for Haj visas at its overseas missions. The Kingdom’s recommendations include the exclusion of pilgrims above 65, pregnant women and children under five.

The minister said that it was the responsibility of the Saudi government to look after the health of all pilgrims. He added: “It is up to individual countries to decide whether to send pilgrims to the Kingdom. However, we want to assure every pilgrim a safe stay in the holy cities.”

He said his ministry would launch an intensive public health awareness campaign. “Since May 27, we have treated 595 cases of H1N1 in all parts of the Kingdom and we will extend our awareness programs so that every citizen and expatriate can take adequate precautions against the disease,” Al-Rabeeah said.

Besides the four swine flu deaths, the minister indicated that only four other H1N1 patients out of 595 cases are currently being treated in Saudi hospitals. The minister said: “Swine flu is mild and in the Kingdom, it is still in the early stage. People need not get upset over the disease. It is well under control.”

Al-Rabeeah said that teens and young people were disproportionately affected and the elderly the least affected by swine flu in the Kingdom. The minister said that anybody with high fever, breathing difficulties and chest pain for more than three days should seek medical help.

He insisted on facemasks for those in large crowds. Besides washing their hands, he said, people should use tissues when coughing or sneezing and then dispose of the tissues in a rubbish bin.

In a related development, the Bahrain Haj authorities announced plans to reduce the Haj quota for pilgrims. The head of the Haj and Umrah Section at the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Abdulnasser Abdullah said Bahrain had instructed companies to reduce the number of Haj pilgrims this year. The Health Ministry has issued a travel advisory urging the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic diseases not to perform Umrah. The issue remains, however, a matter of personal choice for pilgrims.

Swine flu brochures in Arabic and English explaining about the flu and precautionary measures to be taken are being distributed on the King Fahd Causeway and at the Bahrain International Airport.

Swine flu: batten down the hatches – and wait

Sunday, August 02, 2009 By Tom McGurk
In 1918,as the catastrophe that was World War I was coming to an end, it seemed hardily imaginable that an even greater disaster, which would kill even more people, could begin.

It did, and it was the great 1918 flu pandemic, commonly referred to as the ‘Spanish flu’ which, by the time it ended, had killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people. That figure was equivalent to a third of the then European population - and the accuracy gap in the final death toll is a measure of the paucity of communications in that age.

Exactly like the current threatened swine flu, it too was a virus strain of the subtype H1N1, although the historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin of the virus. Astonishingly, most of its victims were young, healthy people, in contrast to the usual flu casualties of the very young and the very old or infirm.The 1918 pandemic lasted for over two years - from March 1918 until June 1920 - spreading to places as remote as the Arctic and small islands in the Pacific. An estimated one third of the world’s population became infected and it is now believed that 10 to 20 per cent of those infected died, meaning that 3 per cent to 6 per cent of the world’s population perished.

That pandemic was described subsequently as ‘‘the greatest medical holocaust in history’’. It may even have killed more people than the Black Death.

Significantly - in a contrast to the population mobility of our times - in 1918 the huge movement of troops as the war ended may have hastened its spreading. Some historians even argued that the carnage the flu inflicted on the German side in 1918 may have had a significant effect in causing their eventual surrender.

Also significant is the fact that the Spanish flu pandemic swept in two waves across those years with presumably - after it mutated - the second wave becoming even more deadly and virulent than the first. In the end, the final death toll for Britain and Ireland came to 250,000 people.

The disease killed between 2 per cent and 20 per cent of those infected, as opposed to the more usual flu epidemic mortality rate of 0.1 per cent.

One theory as to why it often killed the young as opposed to the old is that older people enjoyed partial protection through exposure to the previous Russian flu pandemic of 1889.

Now, it seems, familiar historical ghosts are beginning to reappear. Our current threatened human swine flu pandemic (as defined by the World Health Organisation) is already under way, particularly in Australia and the United States. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that we are headed into a 1918 scenario, but how are we to know? The blunt truth is that we don’t.

The scientific reality - as opposed to all the speculation - is that all researchers can do is follow the patterns, intensity and global behaviour of the swine flu. This has been ongoing since earlier in the year and some significant patterns have emerged that require careful attention.

In general, swine flu symptoms have mostly been mild and the virus seems to respond to anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu.

However, even to date, it has sprung some surprises. Unlike the common flu, swine flu seems to affect younger people more. Hopefully, this is not a signal that we are facing into a 1918 scenario.

Since the new flu threat emerged early this year, there has been an intense race against time in research labs across the globe to create a vaccine.

Apparently, one potential antidote underwent field trials last week in the US but, as yet, there is no vaccine as such. This is important to remember because vaccination is intended as an important weapon should the pandemic change in character.

Without alarming people, it is important to remember that we are also in another race - to have a vaccine ready and tested before the traditional autumn flu season in Europe.

Careful observation of its behaviour is critical to dealing with any flu pandemic. So what happens in the US is vitally important because the pandemic there is some two months ahead of its emergence in Europe.

The accepted theory is that what happens there will happen to us two months later. But that need not be the case either, as conceivably the flu could suddenly mutate here in Europe differently to elsewhere.

The bottom line is that we do not know where human swine flu will end up, or what its ultimate potential is. It could well continue in its current mildly-infecting state with a consequent and proportional increase when the traditional flu season arrives later in the year. Or it could suddenly become something else.

The bottom-line defence in Ireland is to vaccinate everyone in the country twice - presuming an effective vaccine is developed. Given the current state of our health service, can one imagine the logistics of that scenario? Equally, are we storing sufficient anti-viral drugs?

But there is simply no way of knowing if this bottom-line defence will be adequate to the challenge we face, because we don’t know the size of the challenge.

Of great concern is our modern transport system where hundreds of thousands of people cross the globe in hours. It wasn’t like that in 1918.Consequently, during modern pandemics, health officials pay attention when the virus reaches places with social upheaval, looking for deadlier strains of the virus.

We can only batten down the hatches and wait for the autumn flu season. As yet, human swine flu has given us only limited messages as to its intensity, but significant signals as to its dimensions. The current Frankensteinlike theory doing the rounds on the internet is that somehow recent DNA experimental investigations of preserved corpses from 1918 has unleashed the epidemiological ghosts. And in Britain the corpse of an aristocrat who died of Spanish flu in 1919 is being exhumed to see if it can provide any clues in relation to swine flu.

There’s some thoughts to keep you awake.

Vietnam: Influenza A/H1N1 will thrive in the winter

Appear many cases influenza infection unknown causes. In the South, influenza A/H1N1 has steps to phase 2, wide spread in the community, difficult to determine will last how long

Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, Director Department of Department of Health and Environment (Ministry of Health), says that in 2-8 days, the country recorded more 68 cases of influenza A/H1N1 infection, which are to the south of 57, North: 2 ca, Central: ca 6, Environment: 3 ca.

Thus, up to this time, Vietnam has recorded 936 cases of influenza A/H1N1 infection, no deaths. There are still 478 cases in isolation, treated at hospitals, treatment facilities, supervision in the community.

He that the Russian situation A/H1N1 flu continue to place complex, in the past week and have scattered penetrate some office buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. However, with the level of the current outbreaks, the Ministry of Health has not recommended to stop the activities at work.

Currently, the monitoring, flu A/H1N1 still effective and in control. However, to limit disease spread in the community, those who work in offices, especially the people living and working in the area concentrated if people have the flu or the flu suspected Noting the isolation and notify units and health agencies know to be consulted and timely support.

2-8 days, orders blockade buildings Viettel has been canceled, after 7 months on the implementation of the reasons an employee in the affected buildings flu.

According to Dr. Phan The Hung, Deputy Science Public Health Institute Pasteur, influenza A/H1N1 will thrive in the winter ahead is unavoidable. Also by Dr. Phan The Hung, Vietnam flu A/H1N1 has the steps to phase 2, wide spread in the community to identify and will last for how long. This is a worrying start many cases infected with influenza A/H1N1 unknown reasons, the drag is very difficult to control, treatment. Influenza A/H1N1 virus exist very long in the environment: 24-48 hours on the surface of tables, chairs, railing, doorknobs and hand hygiene; 8-12 hours on clothing, paper and the body. They can live to 5 minutes in the table. In water temperature at 22oC, the virus can live 4 days in water 0oC can live up to 30 days, only "any activity" in 60oC within 30 minutes ...

Vermin hunt as killer plague outbreak hits

2009-8-3

THOUSANDS have been placed under quarantine in a town in northwest China's Qinghai Province after two people died of pneumonic plague and 10 others were confirmed infected with the deadly lung disease, provincial health authorities said yesterday.

One of the dead, a 32-year-old herdsman, was a resident of Ziketan in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in Qinghai, the provincial health department said in a statement posted on its Website on Saturday. It did not say when he died.

The other man died yesterday morning. Xinhua news agency quoted the local government as saying last night that the second victim, Danzin, 37, was a neighbor of the deceased herdsman.

Most of the others infected are relatives of the 32-year-old victim and are in stable condition in a designated hospital, the statement said.

The town of 10,000 people has been placed under quarantine and a team of experts has been sent to the area, it said.

Medical workers have not discovered coughs and fever symptoms in the people under quarantine, it added.

Authorities in the province have started sterilizing the areas where the outbreak was reported and begun work to kill mice and pests including fleas, according to the statement.

Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing, according to the World Health Organization.

It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.

While bubonic plague, which is usually transmitted by flea bite, can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early, pneumonic plague is one of the deadliest infectious diseases.

According to the WHO, people can die within 24 hours of infection.

In September 2008, pneumonic plague killed two people in Nangxian County in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibet borders Qinghai.

The Qinghai health department statement warned that anyone who has visited Ziketan and surrounding areas since July 16 and has developed a fever or a cough should seek hospital treatment.

The area has sufficient supplies and the quarantine has not disrupted the basic needs of locals, the release said.

Ziketan covers about 3,000 square kilometers.

The Qinghai pulmonary plague increases 2 dies

2009-08-02 23:22

The Qinghai Province Hainan state pulmonary plague epidemic situation death case increases today to 2 people, Xinghai County sub-branch beach town yellow Qingcun four society villagers Dainzin, dies invalid after the rescue in today morning. This masculine dead is the first dead's neighbor, 37 years old, after appearing gives off heat, symptoms and so on cough, on July 31 moves in the Xinghai County Tibet Hospital isolation treatment. The sub-branch beach town on July 30 discovers pulmonary plague epidemic situation, altogether diagnosis case 12, at present still had in 10 person of place isolation treatments, the discovery has not given off heat, symptoms and so on cough. The concerned personnel continue in the quarantine area to carry out the disinfection, the insect disinfestation, the rat control, to extinguish work and so on flea.

Vietnam: Total SF Cases 936; Yesterday: 868 cases

2 / 8, Department of Health and Environment (Ministry of Health) confirmed, the country has recorded 68 more cases with positive influenza A (H1N1), in the south have a new infection of 57; Northern records of 2, and 6 in the Central Highlands and the 3 positive cases. Compared with 1 / 8, positive number of new highly increased in 2 / 8 and is concentrated mainly in the south.

Thus, up to 17h00 on 02 / 8, Vietnam has recorded 936 cases positive for influenza A (H1N1), no case of any deaths. At present, the patients were cured and the hospital is 458 cases, 478 cases are currently being re-isolation, treatment at hospitals, treatment facilities, monitoring community health status stability, no serious complication.

* According to the report by the Center and disease control Europe (ECDC), to 2 / 8, the world has recorded 184,435 cases positive for influenza A (H1N1) in 153 countries / regions of rule, including the 1247 deaths. At present, a variable is complicated in some southern hemisphere countries where the current winter is like Australia, Newzeland, Chi Le, Argentina.

In Southeast Asia, the disease continues to place complex, the number of new cases increased rapidly, many countries have recorded deaths such as the Philippines has 8 cases and 3207 deaths of positive; with Singapore in 1217 who have cases and 5 deaths; of Brunei has 786 infected, fatal: 1; Malaysia have had in 1371 of which 4 deaths; Laos are infected and 113 of the 1, death; Indonesia has had 495 of and 1 deaths. Thailand has recorded 8,879 positive cases, 65 deaths.

* On 2 / 8, Director of the Department of Health Ninh Thuan, Le Dinh Minh said, Ninh Thuan province has detected 3 of the patients with positive influenza A (H1N1). This is the first patient in the province, Ninh Thuan infected influenza A (H1N1).

Teenager dies on Disney's flight back to Sao Paulo

02/08 - 13:52, updated at 14:07 02/08 - Writing with State Agency

SÃO PAULO - A teenager Jaqueline Ruas, 15, died in the early hours of Sunday, after going on a bad flight airline's Copa Airlines, which was bound for Miami from Sao Paulo. The girl returned from a trip to the amusement park of Disney in Orlando, USA.

According to Philip Fortunato, director of the agency Aunt Augusta Tourism, responsible for the tour, Jaqueline started going badly in Guarulhos travel between Panama and, after the connection in the country.

The plane that brought the group back to Brazil landed at 5:44 a.m. in the Cumbica International Airport, in Guarulhos.

The tour began on July 19, scheduled to last 12 days. According to Fortunato, on July 30 the teenager was taken to Celebration Hospital in Orlando, showing symptoms such as nausea and pain in the body. "In the hospital was conducted the examination to diagnose if it was with the 'swine flu' and it was negative," said Fortunato.

The teenager spent about six hours in hospiral and then was released for next trip. Still no information on what had caused the death of Jaqueline.

Customer

According to Copa Airlines, the teenager also received first aid within the aircraft.

According to the note of the airline, to understand that the passenger was going badly, "the crew requested the presence of a doctor on board. Two professionals were presented, which applied in passing the first aid, providing medical attention due" .

Another measure was to report on what happened to the airport of Cumbica, so that the passenger receives proper medical care as soon as they happen to land the plane in Sao Paulo, which had priority for landing, according to Fortunato.

Once we landed, the aircraft was received by the staff of the Medical Center from Guarulhos airport, which found the death of the teenager.
hat-tip tropicalgirl

Town Quarantined as Man Dies From Plague (Update1)

Chinese

By Bloomberg News

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A Chinese town and its surrounding areas were quarantined after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were infected, the local health authority said.

A 32-year-old herdsman died in Ziketan in Qinghai province, the provincial health department said in a statement dated yesterday. The other 11 infected people are mostly relatives of the deceased and are in “stable condition” in a designated hospital, according to the statement.

The quarantined area is adequately supplied with the necessities and people’s lives are “normal,” the department said. Ziketan, in the eastern part of Qinghai, has a population of about 10,000, most of whom are Tibetans, according to the information provider Baidu.com.

The local health department warned that anyone who has visited Ziketan and the surrounding areas since July 16 and has developed a fever or a cough should seek treatment at a hospital.

Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing and other contaminated articles, according to the World Health Organization. It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague -- the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages, the group said.

If diagnosed early, bubonic plague can be treated with antibiotics. Pneumonic plague, on the other hand, is one of the most deadly infectious diseases and patients can die 24 hours after infection, according to the WHO.

A married couple in western Tibet died in September last year after contracting pneumonic plague, China’s Ministry of Health said in October.

To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Ying Wang in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 2, 2009 03:40 EDT

Woman with no underlying medical conditions dies in 6th H1N1—related death

Channel NewsAsia - Monday, August 3

Woman with no underlying medical conditions dies in 6th H1N1—related death

SINGAPORE: Singapore has confirmed its sixth H1N1—related death on Sunday.

The 29—year—old Indian woman is the first H1N1 patient in Singapore to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) without underlying medical conditions, apart from being overweight.

The Health Ministry said she died Sunday morning from pneumonia with renal failure, with H1N1 infection as a contributing factor.

The woman was admitted to Changi General Hospital’s Emergency Department last Saturday after she fainted.

She had experienced flu—like symptoms for four days.

She was later transferred to the ICU on July 26 because of low blood oxygen.

As of Friday, there were 111 H1N1 patients in hospitals, with nine in intensive care, according to the Health Ministry’s website

11-YEAR OLD CHILD SIXTH INFLUENZA A(H1N1) DEATH

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia registered its sixth death due to the influenza A(H1N1) virus when a 11-year old boy admitted to hospital for complications due to the infecton died this morning.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said the child was admitted to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johor Baharu on July 29 with symptoms of fever.

"There were no symptoms of cough and other respiratory problems. While at the clinical treatment stage his condition worsened and he was admitted to the intensive care unit on July 30," he said in a media statement today.

Dr Mohd Ismail said examination revealed that the boy had lung infection and myocarditis. He was confirmed to have influenza A(H1N1) infection at 11am on Aug 1. "Due to infection complications the patient was confirmed to have died at 8.30am today while being treated in the intensive care unit," he said

The widespread flu, officials Tebar mask

July 31, 2009 - 7:45
Category News, Regional
PURWAKARTA (Pos Kota) - Public Health Kab Purwakarta menebar 200 masks to be in by the santri Ponpes Al Hikamus Salafiyah, Kp Cipulus, Nagrok Village, Kec Wanayasa, Purwakarta. Division of masks following a bout of flu that is feared hundreds santri carrying H5N1 virus.

Head of Purwakarta Regency Health Office, dr. Anne Hediana, the number of the infected bird flu santri increased 56 to be 455 people. According to him, to prevent the flu is not spread more widely, the santri infected by flu Dinkes given masks cover the nose and mouth.

"On Thursday (30 / 7) the day before, Purwakarta District Health Department distributed 200 masks for santri a flu infection. The goal, so that the virus that causes bird flu does not spread to other santri that is not infected, "he explained.

According to him, in an effort to overcome the flu merebaknya in bulk pontren, the health Wanayasa that made an emergency posko get additional 5 persons who sent Department of Health. Fifth of that consists of 2 doctors and three health workers.

Anne said to lear research taken from the throat to the patient is examined does not require a long time to get the type of virus that attacks these santri. "Later, if there will be development of the information," he said.

As the city made the previous post, the Deputy Bupati Purwakarta, Dudung Supardi, instruct Dinkes that optimize the role of medical teams who are dipuskesmas. This, said Dudung, to protect traffic swine flu virus spreading in Purwakarta.

"Paramedics in the health center has a map of disease-prone diwilayahnya each, so the need to optimize it now oversees citizen flu infecting pigs," he said.

Ready for Swine Flu, Round 2?

Published: August 1, 2009

History suggests that we are likely to experience a much bigger, second wave of H1N1 influenza pandemic in the fall. Four experts discuss different areas that will play a role in the public health response.

E.R.'s May Be the First Victims

By ERIC TONER
We must plan now to prepare emergency rooms to meet the challenge, and educate patients with mild symptoms to seek alternative care.

The ABC's of H1N1

By JAMES C. KING Jr.
Schools are a perfect environment for a virus to spread, so every county should make a concerted effort to monitor and minimize outbreaks.

Fly the Germ-Free Skies

By MARK GENDREAU
Airports and airline personnel should be fully trained in infection control measures, and hand sanitizers should be available throughout airports and aboard aircraft.

Prepare for a Vaccine Controversy

By ARTHUR ALLEN
If a vaccine for the H1N1 flu becomes widely available, the next challenge will be on educating the public on the risks and benefits of vaccination.

Egypt: first the death of b "H1N1" a woman returning from Umrah

August 2, 2009

The health authorities in Egypt on Sunday for the registration of the first death from H1N1 virus, known universally as the "swine flu", the Egyptian woman recently returned to the country from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah.

The Minister of Health, the woman, the woman, a province of the West, died as a result of complications, as it was suffering from heart disease, adding that there were ten new cases of the disease coming from abroad.

The minister said, in remarks to Egyptian television, said that Ms. deceased traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah in the sixth of June last, and the temperature rose in the last days of her kingdom.

He pointed out that the deceased, when I went to Madinah, began to show symptoms of influenza strongly, and had to enter a hospital in the city, but that her husband had asked the doctors to give drugs to enable them to endure, until the return journey to Cairo, which was reached in July 16 ongoing.

Have not been able thermal scanner Cairo International Airport to detect the situation, because of the drugs given to them, which reduced the degree of temperature, where she was sitting in a wheelchair, and when she returns to the province of Menoufiya condition worsened, her family was forced to transfer to a hospital in the western province.

The mountain that the treating physician is in Bonlfonza her pigs, and immediately inform the Directorate of Health Affairs, a sample was taken on Friday, and the analysis has shown that the situation is positive, but the patient died due to the deteriorating situation.

Shortly before the discovery of the first event of the death of swine flu in Egypt, the first also at the level of Arab States, Ministry of Health announced that the high number of confirmed cases to 127 cases, according to MENA.

The ministry, in a statement it had been 106 cases of recovery of the total infected cases, and until Sunday July 19, and the remaining cases, the 21 "enjoys good health."
The statement said that the examination of 25 cases of suspicion of the governorates of Aswan, Suez, and October 6, Damietta and East and West and the lake, in addition to Cairo, and laboratory results were all negative.

He also pointed out that the government's statement was also examined three cases of suspected infected with H5N1 strain of the disease, "avian flu", the three provinces, and laboratory results were all negative.

"The Central Conference of crisis," the status of information and decision support, held its periodic meeting on Sunday, to follow up the position of the disease at the local and global levels.

During the meeting, noted that the symptoms appeared in all cases infected with the disease in Egypt, the symptoms are minor, and all cases that appeared linked to cases coming from outside the country.

It was also asserted that there had been, until now, the spread of the disease internally in Egypt, according to the theories of global standards and internal proliferation of the disease in different communities, followed globally.

2 more Middle East flu deaths

Aug 2, 2009

BEIRUT - TWO more people in the Middle East died from H1N1 flu, authorities reported on Saturday, as the deadly virus continues its spread across on the region.

The latest deaths bring the toll across the region to 8, with half of the deaths being in Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported Saturday that a man suffering from advanced lymph gland cancer, which likely weakened his immune system, succumbed to swine flu.

Local media reported that he actually died on Thursday and subsequent tests revealed swine flu was the cause.

Lebanon has reported 162 cases of swine flu, many of them in expatriates coming to spend the summer vacation in the country.

The Gulf emirate of Qatar also reported is first swine flu death when an obese 36-year-old died after being admitted to the hospital with acute pneumonia, according to a report in the state news agency. The man had just traveled from Dubai where he had visited two other hospitals.

Qatar has reported 43 other cases of the swine flu, but the rest of them have been successfully treated. The worst hit country in the Arab world has been Saudi Arabia, where 595 people have tested positive for the H1N1 virus and four people have died.

Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia said preparations continue for the annual hajj pilgrimage when 3 million Muslims from around the world will descend on the holy city of Mecca in November and the kingdom has already pre-ordered extra doses of any future vaccine.

'We have reserved 4 million doses,' Mr al-Rabia said at a press conference. 'It is not easy to get the vaccine, there is international competition. But this big portion was granted (to the kingdom) because of the importance of the hajj and umra seasons,' he said, also referring to the smaller out-of-season pilgrimages. A vaccination is expected some time in the autumn.

Mr al-Rabia also said that Saudi Arabia has sent samples from those who've died to the US and Europe to be tested in case there has been a mutation in the virus strain. -- AP

Revealed: Priority Groups For Swine Flu Vaccination, UK

02 Aug 2009

NHS staff will be vaccinated first in the Government's swine flu vaccination campaign, followed by pregnant women, young children and adults with chronic illnesses, Pulse can exclusively reveal. Pulse has learned from a senior Government adviser that a 'pecking order' has been drawn up for vaccination.

Everyone in the UK will be vaccinated eventually, but priority is set to be given in the following order:

- Healthcare professionals
- Pregnant women
- All children under five
- Adults aged under 65 with a chronic illness
- All young people aged under 18
- All other patients not in the categories above

The source told Pulse: 'The priorities for vaccination are a big priority for the Department of Health. It's almost certain that GPs and healthcare professionals will be vaccinated first, because you've got to keep your workforce going.

'After that, at-risk groups will be vaccinated. This will mean pregnant women, because there seems to be a suggestion that they are at specific risk.

'The remaining groups will be all children under five, those aged under 65 with a chronic illness, and then under 18s.

'That's the tentative pecking order. Older people are not a priority group for the swine flu vaccination as it seems that everybody born before 1958 might have been already exposed to this H1N1 swine flu virus.'

BMA negotiators are still locked in discussions with the DH over exactly how the vaccination campaign will be run, and how it will be financed.

Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chair of the BMA's GP committee, told Pulse: 'The £7.51 GPs are currently paid [for flu vaccination] is part of a package of financial arrangements to run the practice. Swine flu is completely different, likely to cover different groups than the seasonal flu campaign and will have a completely different order of magnitude, so will require extra resources. That's what we are trying to negotiate.'

Richard Hoey, editor of Pulse, said: 'The priority groups plans planned are almost a mirror image of those for the seasonal flu campaign, and that's going to cause GPs a real headache.

'The big flu vaccine clinics that GPs run are largely aimed at the over-65s, but they are specifically identified as a low-priority group for swine flu vaccination, so it is going to be much more difficult for practices to run the two campaigns side by side.'

Source
PULSE

Thousands quarantined as pneumonic plague hits China

Thousands of people have been quarantined in north-west China after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were infected.
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 1:09PM BST 02 Aug 2009

A 32-year-old herdsman died in Ziketan, a Tibetan area of Qinghai province, according to the province's health authority. It did not specify when he died.

The other 11 victims are relatives of the deceased and are in stable condition in hospital, a statement said.

The other 10,000 inhabitants of Ziketan, which covers an area of over 1,000 sq miles on the Tibetan plateau, have been quarantined. A team of medical experts have been dispatched to monitor the disease.

Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is triggered by the same bacteria as bubonic plague, which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Bubonic plague can now be treated with antibiotics, but pneumonic plague remains highly lethal and infectious. The WHO said humans can die within 24 hours of infection.

The Chinese health ministry announced last September that a married couple in western Tibet had died from pneumonic plague.

23-year-old Australian student died or the death of the first Chinese Influenza

请看博讯热点： 猪流感爆发 Boxun see hot: the outbreak of swine flu
( 博讯北京时间2009年8月02日 转载 ) (Boxun Beijing August 2, 2009 reprint)
悉尼23岁的中国留学生陈旺因感冒，急送韦斯米医院(WESTMEAD HOSPITAL)六小时后不治，成为纽省22名死于猪流感的患者之一，相信也是首位在澳洲死于甲型H1N1流感的华人。 Sydney 23-year-old Chen from Chinese students studying in a cold,韦斯米rushed to the hospital (WESTMEAD HOSPITAL) died six hours later, as a New South Wales 22 patients died of swine flu, I believe is the first in Australia died from H1N1 influenza Chinese influenza.
(博讯boxun.com) (Boxun.com)

Fuqing Association of Australia executive vice president of the Chang-hui on the 1st to the newspaper, said that Australia has a three-year study in Fuqing, Fujian Province town of East Han Chen students, feeling unwell in early July, to show flu symptoms, had to see a family doctor. 医生给他服用抗流感药物特敏福( TAMIFLU)之后仍不见好转。 Doctors gave him anti-influenza drug Tamiflu (TAMIFLU) did not improve after. 7月10日，陈旺又找到同一位家庭医生，告之胸部疼痛。 July 10, Chen found with a family doctor, both of chest pain. 该医生立即转介他到韦斯米医院。 The doctor immediately referred him to the hospital韦斯米. 然而，该医院全力抢救均告无效，患者于入院六小时后宣告不治。 However, rescue of the hospital have been exhausted, the patient was admitted to hospital where he died six hours after the announcement.

陈 Chen's parents had arrived in Sydney to deal with his son's funeral, their remains are cremated on the 1st.

According to Lim Chang-hui said that Chen had intended to study after the end of this year tourist hotel industry professionals to apply for permanent resident after. Chen poor parents borrowing more than 30 million, expect his son to remain in Australia after completion of his studies, and in this marriage, a better life. 感轻而易举夺去生命。 Chen and I am physically fit and did not expect that swine flu was easily killed.

Lim Chang-hui, said Wang Fuqing fellow parents will be very understanding, physical volume of their son's great grief, not only to visit them,韦斯米also met with hospital doctors on duty at the scene that day, the rescue of Wang carried out a detailed understanding of the process . 该同乡会亦决The Association also decided to 8 on day 8 (Saturday) organize memorial activities and contributions, I hope folks Fuqing and donor community benefactor to lend a helping hand for the Chen family, donation Care to meet their urgent needs. 追思会地点：奥本(AUBURN)火车站旁，福清同乡会办公室对面。 Memorial service Location: Auburn (AUBURN) station next to the office opposite the Fuqing Association. 时间：8月8日(星期六)下午两点至六点。 Time: 8 months 8 day (Saturday) from 2:00 to 6:00.
_(网文转载) _ (Network reproduced) (博讯boxun.com) (Boxun.com)

Mideast sees sixfold rise in swine flu deaths in eight days

by Joanne Bladd
on Sunday, 02 August 2009

FLU CHECKS: Less than a fifth of cases in the Middle East have been locally transmitted.

The number of people known to have died after contracting swine flu in the Middle East has increased six-fold in the last eight days, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed on Sunday.

Five people have died after testing positive for the H1N1 virus, bringing the region’s total death toll to six.

According to the health agency’s latest briefing note, the number of confirmed cases of swine flu across the region has leapt to 1,178, more than 470 of which have been diagnosed in the last eight days.

Only 299 of these cases had been locally transmitted, the WHO said.

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a particular hotspot for infections since a pandemic situation was declared, notching up and four H1N1 deaths.

The number of swine flu infections in the Gulf state has more than doubled in the last eight days, from 232 to 595 confirmed diagnoses.

Other badly hit areas include Egypt, which has 274 confirmed H1N1 cases, and Lebanon, which has 156.

Lebanon and Egypt have each registered one confirmed swine flu death. While Qatar has also recorded a swine flu death, this has yet to be confirmed by the WHO.

Within the GCC, Saudi has been the country worst hit, followed by Kuwait with 154 swine flu infections.

Comparatively, other Gulf states have fared well; Bahrain has notched up 83 swine flu cases, while the UAE has diagnosed 79. Both Qatar and Oman have less than 25 cases each. {close your borders}

The latest figures, however, may seriously underestimate the true toll of the diseases because not all swine flu cases are being picked up due to testing limitations.

However, the WHO has warned Middle Eastern residents against taking antivirals as a preventive measure, in a bid to limit the chance of infection.

The sharp increase in cases in Saudi Arabia is likely to reignite fears over the spread of the virus during the annual hajj and umrah pilgrimages.

The Kingdom is expected to receive more than three million people during the annual pilgrimages, potentially fuelling the spread of the deadly disease.

Arab health ministers have already called for a ban on children, the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions attending the pilgrimage in an effort to curb the infection rate.
hat-tip Pixie

Bangkok: Minister proposes Int’l conference on A/H1N1 flu

BANGKOK—China's Health Minister Chen Zhu proposed Friday to convene an international scientific conference on Influenza A/H1N1 in the nearest possible date in China, as he and his counterparts from other ASEAN Plus Three countries meet in Bangkok in the face of the threat of the new flu virus.

China will work closely with and provide necessary technical assistance to ASEAN countries on flu-fighting, the minister said, adding that one possible area for collaboration is capacity building, another being scientific research. "If needed, China is willing to organize training courses for rapid diagnostic technology and provide reagents to ASEAN countries," Chen said.

His proposal came as he is attending the ministerial session of ASEAN Plus Three health ministers' special meeting on A/H1N1 Influenza, which proceeds on Thursday and Friday in Bangkok in a bid to map out cooperation plans and strategies to handle the potential pandemic of the new flu strain in the region.

Chen also extended China's support to the Joint Ministerial Statement on Influenza A/H1N1, which was drafted on Thursday's session and is being discussed and signed by the ministers Friday morning. A World Health Organization (WHO) officer said Wednesday that China has done "quite well" in battling against a possible pandemic of the A/H1N1 influenza.
"Overall, WHO feels that China has handled the situation with influenza A/H1N1 quite well," said Vivian Tan, communications officer with the WHO China, in a written reply to Xinhua. "China's experiences with SARS and avian influenza have prepared it well for the current situation with influenza A/H1N1,"she said.

However, the officer warned that "if it turns into a pandemic, China will probably not be spared." What's important is to mitigate the impact of the pandemic by focusing on early detection, public information, social distancing and treatment, she said. The 1.3 billion-populated country has mobilized several governmental sectors including Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and China Center for Disease Control to be engaged in prevention of the influenza's outbreak.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has added 5 billion yuan (725 million U.S. dollars) for flu prevention and control work to nationwide health education campaigns about the virus.
hat-tip Helblindi

Lifting of the ban on the import of birds from Canada, France,

Saturday, .1-8

Kuwait: A Public Authority of Agriculture and Fisheries resolutions for lifting the ban on the import of birds from Canada, France, and to impose a temporary ban on the import of all species of birds from Russia and Spain.

According to the newspaper "Gazette" of Kuwait said in a press statement Friday: "The decision to lift the ban on Canada, France, including hawks, pigeons and ornamental birds and hatching eggs and day-old Chiassan one chicken egg whites and Lahem."

Her body and that the second resolution imposing a temporary ban on the import from Russia and Spain, which includes all types of live birds and hatching eggs and day-old Chiassan one chicken Lahem.

She reported that within the preventive measures taken to prevent the entry of infectious animal diseases into the country, based on the decision of the President of the Board for application of the regulation of veterinary quarantine system in Kuwait,in cooperation with the World Organization for Animal Health and the reports received, according to which France and Canada free of bird flu emerged in Russia and Spain.

Vietnam: The provinces and cities who have had influenza A/H1N1

EU official warns of drastic hike in swine flu cases

02.08.2009

Several European countries have announced plans for mass vaccinations against the swine flu virus

A leading European Union health official says the number of swine flu infections in the 27-member bloc could jump sharply with up to a million cases expected by the fall.

The head of the health committee of the European Parliament, Jo Leinen, said on Saturday that the figure of one million A(HINI) cases was a "conservative estimate" and warned that no country in the 27-member bloc would be spared by the virus.

In an interview with German newspaper Neuen Osnabruecker Zeitung, Leinen said the bloc was no longer ruling out a sharp hike in the number of swine flu deaths. The virus has so far killed a total of around 40 people in EU nations Belgium, Britain, France, Hungary and Spain.

Brussels is trying to harmonize efforts, to better respond to the A(H1N1) virus which first surfaced in Mexico and has killed more than 800 people around the globe.

Germany and Italy plan to vaccinate roughly a third of their populations while Greece became the first European country to announce it was planning to immunize its entire population of 11 million.

Official slams slow vaccine production

But on Saturday, Leinen, a member of the German Social Democratic Party, criticized the slow pace of vaccine production in Europe. He said around 150 million Europeans needed to be vaccinated against the virus.

Leinen pointed out that only a few pharmaceutical companies in Germany, France and Britain could produce the vaccines. At the same time, poorer EU countries hard hit by the global recession cannot afford to pay for sufficient doses, he said.

"The swine flu virus is going to test solidarity among EU members. We need to show it," Leinen said, adding: "We really need a vaccine as soon as possible."

On Friday, EU health officials said they were working on drawing up a common strategy to confront swine flu before children return to school in September, increasing the risk the illness will spread.

sp/dpa/ap/afp
Editor: Andy Valvur
hat-tip FrenchieGirl