Swine Flu Update – May 18 – Possibility for Summer Flu Season
Sixth U.S. Death is New York Teacher
From Centers for Disease Control Briefing this afternoon:
Dr. Anne Schuchat: … My first statement to you is the H1N1 is not going away, despite what you may have heard. As you know, the World Health Assembly is convening from Geneva, and the Department of Health and Human Services is at the Assembly. We are expecting the H1N1 issue to dominate the meeting, and I wanted to alert you to Director General Margaret Chan’s statement from the W.H.O. She said that influenza viruses are the ultimate moving target, and I think that really captures that scenario we’re coping with right now. This novel H1N1 virus is still circulating in the United States. People are continuing to get sick, to get hospitalized, and unfortunately, to die. At this point, there are six deaths that have been reported officially. And, you know, we feel for the families that are experiencing those losses. …
Dr. Schuchat was asked if H1N1 has a higher death rate than seasonal influenza:
Dr. Schuchat: … You know, the death rate – are we seeing more fatalities than we would expect with seasonal influenza, or a higher proportion of illness than with seasonal influenza? I think our best estimate right now is that the fatality is likely a little bit higher than seasonal influenza, but not necessarily substantially higher. On the other hand, the hospitalizations that we’re tracking have this disproportionate occurrence among younger persons. That’s very unusual to have, you know, so many people under 20 requiring hospitalization and in some of those intensive care units. We’re trying to actively investigate those and get better characteristics of what the illness looks like. …
- Swine Flu Kills New Yorker, Virus Not Going Away – Bloomberg
- U.S. Health Officials Troubled by New Flu Pattern – Reuters
- Japan Acts to Contain Swine Flu Outbreak – New York Times
CDC: Swine Flu (H1N1) in 19 States, 141 Confirmed Cases
Swine Flu Update – April 30 – Daily Growth of U.S. Cases Slows, Mexico Still Wigging Out
Flu prompts shutdowns in Texas, Mexico – New York Times- Real-Time Swine Flu Blog – The Guardian (U.K.)
This blog has short, informative posts throughout the day on what’s going on around the world with the flu.
- Mexico: Number of new cases stabilizing – Houston Chronicle
Jose Angel Cordova says he hopes that trend will continue and that a vaccine will be available in six months.
He says Mexico has 260 confirmed swine flu cases, including 12 deaths. But he says he’ll stop updating his count of suspected cases and deaths, which had stood at about 2,500 and 168.
- Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild – Los Angeles Times
Flu viruses are known to be notoriously unpredictable, and this strain could mutate at any point — becoming either more benign or dangerously severe. But mounting preliminary evidence from genetics labs, epidemiology models and simple mathematics suggests that the worst-case scenarios are likely to be avoided in the current outbreak.
“This virus doesn’t have anywhere near the capacity to kill like the 1918 virus,” which claimed an estimated 50 million victims worldwide, said Richard Webby, a leading influenza virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Swine Flu – CDC Release for Wednesday Shows U.S. Cases 91 with 1 Death
Swine Flu Update: Saturday – CDC says widespread, cannot be contained
- New flu too widespread to be contained – Reuters
“It is clear that this is widespread. And that is why we have let you know that we cannot contain the spread of this virus,” the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters on a conference call.
- WHO meets but no action on Swine Flue – Reuters
An emergency meeting of influenza experts discussed the swine flu outbreaks in Mexico and the United States but did not take any decisions, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday.
- Mexico City cancels public events – Reuters
Mexico city’s health secretary, Armando Ahued, said no new flu deaths had been reported since Friday, when Mexico gave the death toll as 20 confirmed and 48 other possible deaths. In all, 1,004 suspected cases have been reported nationwide.
Mexico has shut schools, cinemas and museums and canceled public events in its sprawling, overcrowded capital of 20 million people to try to prevent further infections. Weekend soccer matches were played in empty stadiums and people on the street wore face masks.
- Mexico scrambles to contain flu outbreak – Los Angeles Times
- Swine flu could become Pandemic says WHO – CNN
Swine Flu – Friday Night Update – April 24
11:36 p.m.
- CDC says too late to contain – alertnet.org
- California Expects to find new cases – Reuters
California, home to six of the U.S. cases, said it was coordinating with federal and international officials in what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a “rigorous and thorough” response to the still-unfolding health crisis.
“When you start looking more intensely you are likely to find more cases,” said Dr. Gil Chavez, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health and the state’s chief epidemiologist.
- Flu outbreak at NYC school; unknown whether new Swine Flu – WCBS
- Mexico races to stop deadly virus – Wall Street Journal
- CDC: Swine Flu in Mexico and U.S. Match – CNN
U.S. health officials expressed concern Friday that a swine flu virus that has infected eight people in the United States matches samples of a virus that has killed at least 68 people in Mexico.
U.S. health experts also are concerned because more than 1,000 people have fallen ill in Mexico City in a short period of time.
“This situation has been developing quickly,” said acting CDC director Richard Besser. “This is something we are worried about.”
FAQ: Human Cases, Swine Flu – CDC
(Source: Centers for Disease Control) – Swine Flu Pages
Can humans catch swine flu?
Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.
How common is swine flu infection in humans?
In the past, CDC received reports of approximately one human swine influenza virus infection every one to two years in the U.S., but from December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine influenza have been reported.
What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.
How does swine flu spread?
Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
What do we know about human-to-human spread of swine flu?
In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.
In follow-up studies, 76% of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. Additional studies suggest that one to three health care personnel who had contact with the patient developed mild influenza-like illnesses with antibody evidence of swine flu infection.
How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?
To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 10 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.
What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?
There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent seven swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses. More information on treatment recommendations can be found at www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/recommendations.htm.
What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?
Probably the most well known is an outbreak of swine flu among soldiers in Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1976. The virus caused disease with x-ray evidence of pneumonia in at least 4 soldiers and 1 death; all of these patients had previously been healthy. The virus was transmitted to close contacts in a basic training environment, with limited transmission outside the basic training group. The virus is thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix, and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The Fort Dix outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact in crowded facilities during the winter. The swine influenza A virus collected from a Fort Dix soldier was named A/New Jersey/76 (Hsw1N1).
Is the H1N1 swine flu virus the same as human H1N1 viruses?
No. The H1N1 swine flu viruses are antigenically very different from human H1N1 viruses and, therefore, vaccines for human seasonal flu would not provide protection from H1N1 swine flu viruses.
