India Tuesday reported one more swine flu death, taking the total toll due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 101, health authorities said here.
The latest death was reported from Goa. While two deaths in Karnataka were suspected to be due to the virus, lab reports were still awaited.
Of the 101 deaths, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of deaths, 55, followed by 27 in Andhra Pradesh.
The union health ministry recommended preventive homeopathy medicine, Arsenicum album 30. The decision to advise people to take the preventive medicine was taken after the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), a state-run research wing, gave the suggestion for curbing the spread of the diseases.
'It has recommended one doze of the medicine daily on empty stomach for three days. The dose should be repeated after one month by following the same schedule in case flu like conditions prevail in the area,' the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, 114 people were tested positive for the influenza A (H1N1) virus Tuesday in the country, taking the total number of cases to 4,101.
Maharashtra continued to top the charts both in terms of deaths and positive cases. On Tuesday, 48 fresh cases were from the state alone. So far, about 1,687 people have been affected due to the virus in the state.
It was followed by Delhi in the number of cases. At least 665 people have been infected with the disease in the capital. On Tuesday, 10 fresh cases were reported in the Indian capital.
Karnataka reported 22 fresh cases, taking the total number of people infected with the virus to 463 - the third highest in the country.
Other fresh cases were reported from West Bengal (18) and Orissa (3). One case each was reported from Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh while Puducherry and Chandigarh reported two swine flu cases each.
Meanwhile, a government study has found that swine flu is killing more young and middle-aged people and those suffering from associated diseases like diabetes and chronic heart ailment.
'We have conducted a study and found that more than 50 percent of those affected by the virus were in the age group of 15-45 years,' R.K. Srivastava, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, told reporters.
'Deaths were also due to late reporting to identified health facilities and delay in initiation of Tamiflu,' he said.
The report, which was presented to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during Monday's stock-taking meeting of the ministry, studied the first 82 deaths that occurred till Aug 31.
Among the dead were 43 men and 39 women including three pregnant women.
Srivastava said that of the 82 deaths, 61 were in urban areas and 19 in rural areas.
He said there were five deaths in the age group of 0-5 years and three from 6-15 age group. Thirteen victims were from the age group of 16 to 25 years, while 18 people died in the age group of 26-35 years.
Srivastava said 24 people died in the age group of 36-45, as compared to 18 in the age group of 46-65. Only one person died in the above 65-year category.
Showing posts with label bio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bio. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Synthetic flu vaccine option?
A company claims it has created a synthetic version of the swine flu vaccine. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
Watch the Videos now .
Watch the Videos now .
China quarantines U.S. school group over flu concerns
A group of students and teachers from a Maryland private school have been quarantined in China because of swine flu concerns, a school spokeswoman said Thursday.
The Chinese government has confined 21 students and three teachers to their hotel rooms in Kaili, China, because a passenger on their plane to China was suspected of having swine flu, or H1N1, said Vicky Temple, director of communications for the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Temple said the students and teachers are occupying two floors of a four-star hotel in the Guizhou province city in southern China.
The quarantine will end Friday, and the students are scheduled to return to the United States on Sunday, Temple said.
Mike Kennedy, the head of Barrie School, said U.S. consular officials have since told the school that the plane passenger does not have swine flu, or H1N1.
"So now our question has been for the last 24 hours, can this quarantine be lifted even sooner than sometime on Friday so these kids can get out and enjoy a little bit of China," he said.
"Since about noon on Monday, they have been in their hotel rooms," he said. "They've missed the lion's share of the itinerary."
China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the Guizhou province's health bureau announced this week that it had discovered two dozen Americans who had been within four rows of the suspected swine flu case on the plane.
The plane had departed Friday from San Francisco, California.
Kennedy said the students and teachers are permitted to speak to one another through the open doors of their hotel rooms, but are not allowed to leave. "They're being well taken care of, but they are in their hotel rooms," he said.
"It's very frustrating," he said, but added, "I understand and I'd like to say that the Chinese officials have been as kind and friendly to our kids and chaperones as they can be."
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a Thursday afternoon briefing that he was aware of the report but said he didn't have any details on the circumstances or what the U.S. officials might be doing about it.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Flu scare reveals strapped local health agencies
The swine flu outbreak fell short of a full-blown international crisis, but revealed the precarious state of local health departments, the community bulwarks against disease and health emergencies in the United States.
A sustained, widespread pandemic would overwhelm many departments that are struggling with cutbacks as well as increased demand from people who have lost jobs and medical insurance.
Stung by the lean economy, 13 states and U.S. territories had smaller health budgets in 2008 than in 2007, and eight more made midyear cuts, according to a survey by an advocacy group, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. With local budgets also in trouble, many health officials fear a serious outbreak.
"We would be in a lot of trouble," said Alameda County's director of public health, Anthony Iton in Oakland. "We weren't tested to push the system to see how it responds when you have to make hard decisions. I worry about that because the resources have been cut."
A review by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department in January noted great strides in preparedness but said many shortfalls remain. They include the ability to maintain public health functions such as food safety and daily needs during a pandemic, and the capacity to meet surges in health care demand and to strategically close schools.
State capabilities vary. But some local departments, strapped by layoffs and working overtime on swine flu, say they could not maintain the pace in a major outbreak. An Associated Press review found troubling signs:
_Twenty-nine public health workers in Sacramento County, Calif., learned just before being called to work on swine flu that they probably will lose their jobs this summer. Senior nurse Carol Tucker, contacting potential flu victims, thought about future epidemics.
"Who will be around to do these things?" she said.
_Nationwide, officials have reported more than more than 6,700 swine flu cases, and 12 deaths.
"We have good plans and we're exercising them," said Matthew A. Stefanak, health commissioner of Mahoning County, Ohio, whose work force dropped 20 percent in two years. "But for the nuts and bolts of an outbreak - contact investigations, probable cases of H1N1 flu - we don't have the manpower, the trained disease investigators the public health nurses who would do it. That's where we're weakest right now."
_Federal investment in local emergency planning since attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has paid off in a smooth response to the limited swine flu outbreak. But the money has dwindled.
Last year at least 10,000 local and state health department jobs were lost to attrition and layoffs, including at laboratories that identify disease strains, according to surveys by the state and territorial group and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
An annual flu-shot clinic no longer comes to town hall in Berlin Center, Ohio. "The real danger is how many just won't get shots," said Ivan Hoyle, 78.
Public health nurses such as Erica Horner won't deliver in-home newborn help in Mahoning County. With the program closed, Horner's duties will change.
_People calling for routine immunizations now reach a recording saying the Worcester, Mass., clinic is closed. With just two of its six public health nurses surviving layoffs, the city is re-evaluating its responsibilities and says it can meet emergencies by working with the University of Massachusetts and local hospitals.
Ann Cappabianca, one of the remaining nurses, scrambles to track communicable disease and tuberculosis cases. "We just can't get it all done. You try to focus on the most important thing at the moment," she said.
Worst is having to make cuts without "enough ability to assess the needs of my community," said Bob England, the health director of Arizona's sprawling Maricopa County, which closed its family planning clinic.
Public health departments will get some help from this year's stimulus spending of $1 billion for prevention and wellness efforts.
But it will take years to bring local health agencies to the point where they can fight a sustained, widespread pandemic, said Richard Hamburg, a lobbyist at the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group supported by private and government grants.
A report from the group in December found emergency planning gaps in areas such as rapid disease detection, food safety and "surge capacity" to quickly scale up equipment, staff and supplies to meet a major outbreak.
Dan Sosin, head of emergency response at the Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness, praised the federal swine flu response, but acknowledged that public health officials face "capacity issues in terms of ongoing resources and funding."
"We could spend more money," he said. "We could use more than we have."
The CDC's acting director, Richard Besser, told Congress last month the government is concerned about states being too short-staffed to conduct required emergency exercises.
The main fund for local health emergency planning after the Sept. 11 attacks, the federal Public Health Emergency Preparedness program, has dropped nearly one-third since a 2006 peak of almost $1 billion, according to CDC figures. The money had included a special three-year congressional allocation for pandemic flu preparation that ran out last year.
President Barack Obama now is asking Congress for $1.5 billion to fight swine flu.
A second fund to help local agencies plan for public health emergencies, the Hospital Preparedness Program, has fallen nearly a quarter from $457 million in the 2006 budget year.
Decreases in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program were most significant in Iowa, Mississippi, Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. After a pair of killer hurricanes hit Louisiana in 2005, Washington sent nearly $15 million in 2006 health emergency help. This year, it's down to $9.8 million.
Louisiana's dollars from the hospital program slid from $7.1 million in 2006 to $5.2 million this year.
Even New York City, site of one of the Sept. 11 attacks, saw its Public Health Emergency Preparedness program funds fall to $20.6 million this year from $28.7 million during the 2006 budget year.
In Orange County, Fla., people were diverted from other duties for swine flu needs in a health department increasingly burdened with a range of demands as people lose jobs, said health director Kevin Sherin.
Sherin, president of the advocacy group American Association of Public Health Physicians, questioned longer-term capabilities for lab and field work in his state and elsewhere.
"In the event of a real emergency, these systems have capacity problems," he said.
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a nonprofit lobbying group, said that after the federal emergency buildup, "We didn't complete the job and we didn't make the system sustainable. Our ability to manage more than one thing, or scale up fast is really worrisome."
---
On the Net:
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials: http://www.astho.org/
Health and Human Services Department: http://www.hhs.gov/
National Association of County and City Health Officials: http://www.naccho.org/
Trust for America's Health: http://healthyamericans.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness: http://cdc.gov/
Public Health Preparedness Program: http://emergency.cdc.gov/cotper/cphp/
Hospital Preparedness Program: http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/hpp/
American Association of Public Health Physicians: http://www.aaphp.org/
American Public Health Association: http://www.apha.org/
A sustained, widespread pandemic would overwhelm many departments that are struggling with cutbacks as well as increased demand from people who have lost jobs and medical insurance.
Stung by the lean economy, 13 states and U.S. territories had smaller health budgets in 2008 than in 2007, and eight more made midyear cuts, according to a survey by an advocacy group, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. With local budgets also in trouble, many health officials fear a serious outbreak.
"We would be in a lot of trouble," said Alameda County's director of public health, Anthony Iton in Oakland. "We weren't tested to push the system to see how it responds when you have to make hard decisions. I worry about that because the resources have been cut."
A review by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department in January noted great strides in preparedness but said many shortfalls remain. They include the ability to maintain public health functions such as food safety and daily needs during a pandemic, and the capacity to meet surges in health care demand and to strategically close schools.
State capabilities vary. But some local departments, strapped by layoffs and working overtime on swine flu, say they could not maintain the pace in a major outbreak. An Associated Press review found troubling signs:
_Twenty-nine public health workers in Sacramento County, Calif., learned just before being called to work on swine flu that they probably will lose their jobs this summer. Senior nurse Carol Tucker, contacting potential flu victims, thought about future epidemics.
"Who will be around to do these things?" she said.
_Nationwide, officials have reported more than more than 6,700 swine flu cases, and 12 deaths.
"We have good plans and we're exercising them," said Matthew A. Stefanak, health commissioner of Mahoning County, Ohio, whose work force dropped 20 percent in two years. "But for the nuts and bolts of an outbreak - contact investigations, probable cases of H1N1 flu - we don't have the manpower, the trained disease investigators the public health nurses who would do it. That's where we're weakest right now."
_Federal investment in local emergency planning since attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has paid off in a smooth response to the limited swine flu outbreak. But the money has dwindled.
Last year at least 10,000 local and state health department jobs were lost to attrition and layoffs, including at laboratories that identify disease strains, according to surveys by the state and territorial group and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
An annual flu-shot clinic no longer comes to town hall in Berlin Center, Ohio. "The real danger is how many just won't get shots," said Ivan Hoyle, 78.
Public health nurses such as Erica Horner won't deliver in-home newborn help in Mahoning County. With the program closed, Horner's duties will change.
_People calling for routine immunizations now reach a recording saying the Worcester, Mass., clinic is closed. With just two of its six public health nurses surviving layoffs, the city is re-evaluating its responsibilities and says it can meet emergencies by working with the University of Massachusetts and local hospitals.
Ann Cappabianca, one of the remaining nurses, scrambles to track communicable disease and tuberculosis cases. "We just can't get it all done. You try to focus on the most important thing at the moment," she said.
Worst is having to make cuts without "enough ability to assess the needs of my community," said Bob England, the health director of Arizona's sprawling Maricopa County, which closed its family planning clinic.
Public health departments will get some help from this year's stimulus spending of $1 billion for prevention and wellness efforts.
But it will take years to bring local health agencies to the point where they can fight a sustained, widespread pandemic, said Richard Hamburg, a lobbyist at the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, an advocacy group supported by private and government grants.
A report from the group in December found emergency planning gaps in areas such as rapid disease detection, food safety and "surge capacity" to quickly scale up equipment, staff and supplies to meet a major outbreak.
Dan Sosin, head of emergency response at the Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness, praised the federal swine flu response, but acknowledged that public health officials face "capacity issues in terms of ongoing resources and funding."
"We could spend more money," he said. "We could use more than we have."
The CDC's acting director, Richard Besser, told Congress last month the government is concerned about states being too short-staffed to conduct required emergency exercises.
The main fund for local health emergency planning after the Sept. 11 attacks, the federal Public Health Emergency Preparedness program, has dropped nearly one-third since a 2006 peak of almost $1 billion, according to CDC figures. The money had included a special three-year congressional allocation for pandemic flu preparation that ran out last year.
President Barack Obama now is asking Congress for $1.5 billion to fight swine flu.
A second fund to help local agencies plan for public health emergencies, the Hospital Preparedness Program, has fallen nearly a quarter from $457 million in the 2006 budget year.
Decreases in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program were most significant in Iowa, Mississippi, Colorado, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. After a pair of killer hurricanes hit Louisiana in 2005, Washington sent nearly $15 million in 2006 health emergency help. This year, it's down to $9.8 million.
Louisiana's dollars from the hospital program slid from $7.1 million in 2006 to $5.2 million this year.
Even New York City, site of one of the Sept. 11 attacks, saw its Public Health Emergency Preparedness program funds fall to $20.6 million this year from $28.7 million during the 2006 budget year.
In Orange County, Fla., people were diverted from other duties for swine flu needs in a health department increasingly burdened with a range of demands as people lose jobs, said health director Kevin Sherin.
Sherin, president of the advocacy group American Association of Public Health Physicians, questioned longer-term capabilities for lab and field work in his state and elsewhere.
"In the event of a real emergency, these systems have capacity problems," he said.
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a nonprofit lobbying group, said that after the federal emergency buildup, "We didn't complete the job and we didn't make the system sustainable. Our ability to manage more than one thing, or scale up fast is really worrisome."
---
On the Net:
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials: http://www.astho.org/
Health and Human Services Department: http://www.hhs.gov/
National Association of County and City Health Officials: http://www.naccho.org/
Trust for America's Health: http://healthyamericans.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness: http://cdc.gov/
Public Health Preparedness Program: http://emergency.cdc.gov/cotper/cphp/
Hospital Preparedness Program: http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/hpp/
American Association of Public Health Physicians: http://www.aaphp.org/
American Public Health Association: http://www.apha.org/
Monday, May 18, 2009
UK had again hit Swin Flu more cases observed
14 further patients under investigation in England have today (Sunday) been confirmed with swine flu bringing the current total number of confirmed UK cases to 101.
There are six adults and eight children among the new confirmed cases in the East of England, London and the South East regions – 11 contacts of previously confirmed cases, 2 returning travellers and one whose source of infection remains under investigation.
155 cases are currently under laboratory investigation in the UK. These cases change on a daily basis. Because of the time-lag between the reporting of symptoms, the testing and the results, the new cases reported daily may have recovered and may now be symptom-free.
Public gatherings
There are no restrictions on public gatherings like music festivals. The Department of Health is advising people to carry on with their daily lives as normal.
For Immediate Help
There are six adults and eight children among the new confirmed cases in the East of England, London and the South East regions – 11 contacts of previously confirmed cases, 2 returning travellers and one whose source of infection remains under investigation.
155 cases are currently under laboratory investigation in the UK. These cases change on a daily basis. Because of the time-lag between the reporting of symptoms, the testing and the results, the new cases reported daily may have recovered and may now be symptom-free.
Public gatherings
There are no restrictions on public gatherings like music festivals. The Department of Health is advising people to carry on with their daily lives as normal.
For Immediate Help
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Agreements have been signed between the UK Government and vaccine manufacturers to secure Swin Flu
Agreements have been signed between the UK Government and vaccine manufacturers to secure supplies of up to 90 million doses of pre-pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine before a pandemic begins, the Department of Health has announced.
The deals signed between Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and Baxter, will enable production of pre-pandemic vaccine to begin as soon as possible.
The agreements could provide enough vaccine to protect the most vulnerable in our population before a pandemic is likely to arrive, without affecting our supply of seasonal flu vaccine.
There are over 101 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK. Most cases are linked to either previously confirmed cases or are returning travellers.
The pandemic flu alert level from the World Health Organization (WHO) remains at Phase Five. Other recent developments include:
The deals signed between Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and Baxter, will enable production of pre-pandemic vaccine to begin as soon as possible.
The agreements could provide enough vaccine to protect the most vulnerable in our population before a pandemic is likely to arrive, without affecting our supply of seasonal flu vaccine.
There are over 101 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK. Most cases are linked to either previously confirmed cases or are returning travellers.
The pandemic flu alert level from the World Health Organization (WHO) remains at Phase Five. Other recent developments include:
Monday, May 11, 2009
I have flu-like symptoms - what should I do?
Stay at home and rest.
Take medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol to relieve the symptoms (following the instructions with the medicines). Children under 16 must not be given aspirin or ready-made flu remedies containing aspirin.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Phone your GP or NHS Direct if you have recently travelled to Mexico or the US or you have been in contact with someone who has confirmed or probable swine flu.
Phone your GP or NHS Direct if you develop complications such as shortness of breath.
Before you call, check your symptoms with this symptom checker.
Take medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol to relieve the symptoms (following the instructions with the medicines). Children under 16 must not be given aspirin or ready-made flu remedies containing aspirin.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Phone your GP or NHS Direct if you have recently travelled to Mexico or the US or you have been in contact with someone who has confirmed or probable swine flu.
Phone your GP or NHS Direct if you develop complications such as shortness of breath.
Before you call, check your symptoms with this symptom checker.
What You Need to Know
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the current level of the influenza pandemic alert from phase four to five. Part of a six-phased approach, phase five is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region.
“Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread to every country in the world,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan in a statement on April 29.
International Medical Corps continues to monitor the spread of A/H1N1 infection. No cases have been reported in any areas of IMC’s international operations, but field staff members are prepared in the event that the disease spreads.
“International Medical Corps staff from Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia attended a three-day meeting in Addis, Ethiopia last week to discuss coordination for Pandemic Flu and review what resources are available in each country if there is an outbreak,” says Stephen Tomlin, Vice President of Program Policy and Planning at International Medical Corps.
According to WHO, 21 countries have officially reported a total of 1,124 cases of A/H1N1 infection. The United States has reported 286 confirmed human cases, including one death. Mexico has reported 590 confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (140), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (54), Switzerland (1), and the United Kingdom (18).
“While the A/H1N1 virus has spread very rapidly, we are better prepared to handle an influenza outbreak than ever before because of efforts that had been taken for taken H5N1 since 2006,” says Tomlin.
International Medical Corps staff members have pandemic plans and will coordinate our response if there is a confirmed outbreak in an IMC country of operation. IMC’s community-level approach to programming has provided opportunities for prevention activities - including at the household level - that will stem the spread of most flu like illnesses.
As is the case with any viral flu, International Medical Corps health workers recommend the following:
1. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
2. Wash your hands frequently
3. Don't run down your ability to fight infection
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
5. Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
“Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread to every country in the world,” said WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan in a statement on April 29.
International Medical Corps continues to monitor the spread of A/H1N1 infection. No cases have been reported in any areas of IMC’s international operations, but field staff members are prepared in the event that the disease spreads.
“International Medical Corps staff from Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia attended a three-day meeting in Addis, Ethiopia last week to discuss coordination for Pandemic Flu and review what resources are available in each country if there is an outbreak,” says Stephen Tomlin, Vice President of Program Policy and Planning at International Medical Corps.
According to WHO, 21 countries have officially reported a total of 1,124 cases of A/H1N1 infection. The United States has reported 286 confirmed human cases, including one death. Mexico has reported 590 confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (140), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (54), Switzerland (1), and the United Kingdom (18).
“While the A/H1N1 virus has spread very rapidly, we are better prepared to handle an influenza outbreak than ever before because of efforts that had been taken for taken H5N1 since 2006,” says Tomlin.
International Medical Corps staff members have pandemic plans and will coordinate our response if there is a confirmed outbreak in an IMC country of operation. IMC’s community-level approach to programming has provided opportunities for prevention activities - including at the household level - that will stem the spread of most flu like illnesses.
As is the case with any viral flu, International Medical Corps health workers recommend the following:
1. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
2. Wash your hands frequently
3. Don't run down your ability to fight infection
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
5. Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Pandemic 'could kill 750,000 in UK'
Up to 1.2 million people could end up in hospital and 750,000 killed if a flu pandemic sweeps the nation, according to draft Government guidance about an outbreak. Skip related content
As hospitals are "rapidly" overwhelmed by patients, doctors may have to begin operating a lottery system for intensive care, the blueprint from last year adds.
It also warns that a worst-case pandemic scenario of "catastrophic severity" could result in the "complete or partial collapse of some or all hospital infrastructures".
Top medics have downplayed the predictions, saying factors like Britain's high state of readiness and high immunity levels will lessen the impact.
The bleak forecasts come in "Pandemic influenza: Surge capacity and prioritisation in health services", which was prepared by the Department of Health (DH) last September.
It says up to half the UK population - or 30 million people - could get influenza if the bug outbreak turns into a pandemic.
In the worst case, there would be 2,000 hospital admissions per 100,000 people - or 1.2 million people. There would also be 1,250 fatalities per 100,000 - or 750,000 people.
The report says: "Over the entire period of a pandemic, up to 50% of the population may show clinical symptoms of influenza.
"This could result in the total healthcare contacts for influenza-like illness increasing from around one million during a 'normal' season up to 30 million."
There are also grim implications for the demand of the nation's estimated 3,450 adult intensive care beds and 320 children's.
As hospitals are "rapidly" overwhelmed by patients, doctors may have to begin operating a lottery system for intensive care, the blueprint from last year adds.
It also warns that a worst-case pandemic scenario of "catastrophic severity" could result in the "complete or partial collapse of some or all hospital infrastructures".
Top medics have downplayed the predictions, saying factors like Britain's high state of readiness and high immunity levels will lessen the impact.
The bleak forecasts come in "Pandemic influenza: Surge capacity and prioritisation in health services", which was prepared by the Department of Health (DH) last September.
It says up to half the UK population - or 30 million people - could get influenza if the bug outbreak turns into a pandemic.
In the worst case, there would be 2,000 hospital admissions per 100,000 people - or 1.2 million people. There would also be 1,250 fatalities per 100,000 - or 750,000 people.
The report says: "Over the entire period of a pandemic, up to 50% of the population may show clinical symptoms of influenza.
"This could result in the total healthcare contacts for influenza-like illness increasing from around one million during a 'normal' season up to 30 million."
There are also grim implications for the demand of the nation's estimated 3,450 adult intensive care beds and 320 children's.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
DON'T FEAR
PREPARE NOW
Twenty Million people died with the last major flu epidemic
Be Prepared
With the world’s rapid transit system and mass movement of people it is only a matter of time before a catastrophic tragedy occurs from the emergence of a new or virulent virus. The most recent flu threat to us is the swine flu which is spreading rapidly.
Everyone is at risk!
Vaccinations are not the answer to prevent a virus.
The AIDS virus is an example of a virus for which a vaccine is of no use. It is presently devastating the population of north and central Africa. Unstoppable.
New and unpredictable viruses, either man-made or mutated, can wreak havoc for you and your family.
How do you prepare?
The human body has its own defense system to remove viruses which is controlled by the thymus gland.
If your immune system is blocked, your chance of survival from a viral attack is reduced considerably. A wide variety of things can block the immune system, such as injuries, childbirth, and anesthetics.
There is something you and your family can do to prevent and survive any viral attack.
The viral attack can be the flu, new viruses and many other known viruses such as SWINE FLU, SARS and BIRD FLU.
It doesn’t matter what age you are.
The detox must be followed.
You must have on standby our special blend of BACK TO HEALTH MINERALS that are 100% effective at “supporting your natural immune system in pushing out” all viruses. Common colds and flu will “be pushed out” in 48 hours if taken as recommended.
WORLD THREATS
The swine flu is a current world threat.
The human swine flu outbreak continues to grow in the United States and internationally. Today,the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports additional cases of confirmed swine influenza and a number of hospitalizations of swine flu patients. Internationally, the situation is more serious , with additional countries reporting confirmed cases of swine flu. In response to the intensifying outbreak, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 4. A Phase 4 alert is characterized by confirmed person-to-person spread of a new influenza virus able to cause “community-level” outbreaks.” The increase in the pandemic alert phase indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased.
CDC has activated its emergency operations center to coordinate the agency’s emergency response. CDC’s goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this swine influenza virus. Yesterday, CDC issued a travel warning recommending that people avoid non-essential travel to Mexico. CDC continues to issue interim guidance daily on the website and through health alert network notices.
Like people, pigs can get influenza (flu), but swine flu viruses aren't the same as human flu viruses. Swine flu doesn't often infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current swine flu outbreak is different. It's caused by a new swine flu virus that has spread from person to person -- and it's happening among people who haven't had any contact with pigs.
Various health department sources estimate that the number of deaths could be in the millions, accompanied by economic collapse and chaos in many countries, if a virulent virus should strike.
There has been obvious concern from businesses, especially those employing essential people to ensure critical services are provided.
Prevention
Prevention of swine influenza has three components: prevention in swine, prevention of transmission to humans, and prevention of its spread among humans.
Prevention in swine
Swine influenza has become a greater problem in recent decades as the evolution of the virus has resulted in inconsistent responses to traditional vaccines. Standard commercial swine flu vaccines are effective in controlling the infection when the virus strains match enough to have significant cross-protection, and custom (autogenous) vaccines made from the specific viruses isolated are created and used in the more difficult cases.[23][24]
Present vaccination strategies for SIV control and prevention in swine farms, typically include the use of one of several bivalent SIV vaccines commercially available in the United States. Of the 97 recent H3N2 isolates examined, only 41 isolates had strong serologic cross-reactions with antiserum to three commercial SIV vaccines. Since the protective ability of influenza vaccines depends primarily on the closeness of the match between the vaccine virus and the epidemic virus, the presence of nonreactive H3N2 SIV variants suggests that current commercial vaccines might not effectively protect pigs from infection with a majority of H3N2 viruses..
Prevention in swine
Swine influenza has become a greater problem in recent decades as the evolution of the virus has resulted in inconsistent responses to traditional vaccines. Standard commercial swine flu vaccines are effective in controlling the infection when the virus strains match enough to have significant cross-protection, and custom (autogenous) vaccines made from the specific viruses isolated are created and used in the more difficult cases.[23][24]
Present vaccination strategies for SIV control and prevention in swine farms, typically include the use of one of several bivalent SIV vaccines commercially available in the United States. Of the 97 recent H3N2 isolates examined, only 41 isolates had strong serologic cross-reactions with antiserum to three commercial SIV vaccines. Since the protective ability of influenza vaccines depends primarily on the closeness of the match between the vaccine virus and the epidemic virus, the presence of nonreactive H3N2 SIV variants suggests that current commercial vaccines might not effectively protect pigs from infection with a majority of H3N2 viruses..
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