World disease

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Sat, 1 Aug 2009 16:06:00 -0700

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noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:42:00 -0700

OTTAWA -- Canada on Tuesday reported four new deaths from the A(H1N1) flu, bringing the total to 11.

Health officials in Manitoba and Quebec are reporting a total of four deaths from the swine flu, with two in each province.

Joel Kettner, Manitoba's medical health officer, said a man in his 40s from Winnipeg did not have any known underlying health conditions when he died in hospital.

But the second victim, a woman from northern Manitoba who was also in her 40s, did have "significant" health problems when she was hospitalized, he said. These are the province's first such deaths.

In Quebec, a man and a woman from Montreal are that province's latest deaths from the virus.

Public health officials say the two were between 30 and 50 years old.

The province had reported three such deaths over the weekend. Now the provincial total stands at six, the most among all provinces.

As of Monday, the total number of confirmed A(H1N1) flu cases in Canada stood at 4,049, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:39:00 -0700

PUTRAJAYA: A 17-year-old girl admitted to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital has been identified as the first locally transmitted A(H1N1) case in Malaysia.

Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said authorities identified the case as due to local transmission after finding out that the teenager had not visited any of the countries where a flu pandemic had been declared.

He said the girl went to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) at about 10am on Monday to seek treatment after developing a fever and was later sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

“Investigations revealed that the girl, who is the 19th confirmed A (H1N1) case in Malaysia, had contact with the 12th case that was confirmed on June 13,” he said in statement issued Wednesday.

Dr Ismail said the girl was not placed under quarantine earlier as she was not one of those identified as having had contact with the 12th patient -- as a result, 20 others have been exposed to the virus.

He said it was vital that all those confirmed as having the A (H1N1) flu give their fullest cooperation by providing complete information on all those who had contact with them as this was the only way to avoid local transmission.

“Action can be taken under the Disease Prevention and Control Act 1988 if they fail to provide complete information to us,” he said.

Dr Ismail said that another four confirmed cases were also reported in the 24 hours up to 9am Wednesday, including a 23-year-old local university student who was part of a group of 12 students and lecturers that went on a seven-day visit to Australia on June 7.

The male student had been on the same flight as the 17th confirmed case reported on June 15, which is AirAsia X flight D7 2723 (seat 37J) that landed at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at 7:15am on June 14, he said.

The student developed a fever about five hours after landing here and sought treatment at a private clinic at 9am the next day before being referred to the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban.

He was confirmed as having the flu at 6pm on Tuesday and the Health Ministry is now tracing 37 contacts including other passengers, members of the travel group, relatives and staff at the private clinic where he first sought treatment.

Dr Ismail said the 21st confirmed case involved a 20-year-old studying in Melbourne who travelled home for the holidays on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH128 (seat 20K) that landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 6am on Tuesday.

The medical student was found to have a fever while at the KLIA and was referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital before being confirmed for having the flu at 6:30am on Wednesday, he said.

The 22nd case, he said, involved a 54-year-old who had returned from Manila on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH 705 (seat 32H) that landed at the KLIA at 8:25am on June 12.

He had complained of cough, fever and headache last Sunday and sought treatment at a private clinic on Monday but was not referred to a hospital.

He went to the UMMC the next day and was sent by ambulance to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he was confirmed as suffering from the flu.

His wife and two children have been placed under home quarantine.

“In reference to the 22nd case, we want to issue a strict reminder all private clinics and hospitals to refer all patients with flu-like symptoms to designated A (H1N1) hospitals if they have recently visited countries where there has been an outbreak of the flu.

“Their failure to refer such patients to hospitals is regrettable as it creates a risk of the flu spreading through local transmission,” he said.

Dr Ismail said the last case involved a 22-year-old who had been on the same flight as the 20th case and who was admitted to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh on Tuesday morning.

He said with this there were currently 13 patients still being treated: Five at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor, three at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, and one each at Penang Hospital, Tunku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu and Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.

All of them are receiving anti-viral treatment and are in stable condition, he said.

As at 9pm on Tuesday, 139 people who had had contact with confirmed cases were under home quarantine but none showed any signs of having the flu.

Dr Ismail said the A (H1N1) Influenza Technical Committee had also issued a directive discouraging people and barring children under 12 from visiting hospitals unless they were seeking treatment.

Each patient would only be allowed to receive two visitors above the age of 12 at any time and visiting hours would also be shortened.

“All visitors to private and government hospitals will also be screened for fever,” he said.

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:04:00 -0700

The United States authority on disease prevention, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommends that persons suffering from influenza infections:

* Stay at home
* Get plenty of rest
* Drink a lot of liquids
* Do not smoke or drink alcohol
* Consider over-the-counter medications to relieve flu symptoms
* Consult a doctor early on for best possible treatment
* Remain alert for emergency warning signs[2]

Warning signs are symptoms that indicate that the disease is becoming serious and needs immediate medical attention. These include:

* Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
* Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
* Dizziness
* Confusion
* Severe or persistent vomiting

In children other warning signs include irritability, failing to wake up and interact, rapid breathing, and a blueish skin color. Another warning sign in children is if the flu symptoms appear to resolve, but then reappear with fever and a bad cough.[2]

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:04:00 -0700

Treatments for influenza include a range of medications and therapies that are used in response to disease influenza. Treatments may either directly target the influenza virus itself; or instead they may just offer relief to symptoms of the disease, while the body's own immune system works to recover from infection.[1]

The two main classes of antiviral drugs used against influenza are neuraminidase inhibitors, such as zanamivir and oseltamivir, or inhibitors of the viral M2 protein, such as amantadine and rimantadine. These drugs can reduce the severity of symptoms if taken soon after infection and can also be taken to decrease the risk of infection. However, viral stains have emerged that show drug resistance to both classes of drug.

noreply@blogger.com (David) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:02:00 -0700

The 2009 flu pandemic[81] is a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, identified in April 2009 and commonly referred to as swine flu, which infects and is transmitted between humans. It is thought to be a mutation—more specifically, a reassortment—of four known strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1: one endemic in humans, one endemic in birds, and two endemic in pigs (swine).[82] A June 15, 2009 update by the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO) states that "76 countries have officially reported 35,928 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 163 deaths".[83]

WHO officially declared the outbreak to be a "pandemic" on June 11, but stressed that the new designation was a result of the global "spread of the virus," not its severity. The WHO stated the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries, however it is prudent to anticipate a bleaker picture as the virus spreads to areas with limited resources, poor health care, and a high prevalence of underlying medical problems.[84] The case fatality rate (CFR) of the pandemic strain is estimated at 0.4% (range 0.3%-1.5%)[85]

The virus typically spreads from coughs and sneezes or by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the nose or mouth.[86] WHO Director-General Margaret Chan says probably it will be September 2009 before the first doses of a vaccine for the 2009 flu pandemic strain will become available and even then, "there will be limited supply of vaccine".[87] There is also concern that the virus could mutate later in the year and become more virulent and less susceptible to any vaccine developed to protect from an earlier strain. This concern is partly due to the memory of the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed approximately 600,000 in the United States alone, and was preceded by a mild "herald" wave of cases in the spring.[88]

As of May 24, 2009 (2009 -05-24)[update], nearly 90% of reported deaths had taken place in Mexico. This has led to speculation that Mexico may have been in the midst of an unrecognized epidemic for months prior to the current outbreak, thereby showing a fatality rate that was much higher than it would have been if earlier cases had been counted.[89] According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fact that the flu's infection activity is now monitored more closely may also help explain why more flu cases than normal are being recorded in many countries.[88]