From the category archives:

Swine Flu Pandemic

Swine flu cases increase with monsoon – India

Health Ministry officials are worried as the number of swine flu cases reported from various parts of the country are increasing with the monsoon. A total of 548 fresh cases were reported last week, the highest for the current year. According to the health ministry, 38 people died of the virus between July 19 and [...]

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Severity should not be part of pandemic criterion

At a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is being criticised for over-reacting and declaring a pandemic of the basis of only geographical spread of a novel flu virus, a leading virologist has argued that severity should not be included as a criterion. Long before WHO’s declaration, there was no doubt that this was [...]

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Severity should not be part of pandemic criterion

At a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is being criticised for over-reacting and declaring a pandemic of the basis of only geographical spread of a novel flu virus, a leading virologist has argued that severity should not be included as a criterion. Long before WHO’s declaration, there was no doubt that this was [...]

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H1N1 – Gathering strength again?

The presence of G158E and D225G in China was anticipated because of the large number of swine H1N1 isolates from Guangdong province with both G158E and D225G. The recent collection of Nanjing/1 raises concerns that these markers may be emerging as the flu season in the southern hemisphere approaches peak activity, as seen in the [...]

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Is Indian up tick in Swine Flu a Pandemic warning?

Of special interest is the fact that by August of 1918, the disease had caused substantial fatality in areas less affected in the first wave including a severe epidemic in India. Does that season parallel 2010? Today, we stand at 2010-07-26 with reports from India indicating a profound upswing in case count and fatality level. [...]

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ASEAN urges WHO to review pandemic alert levels

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to review pandemic alert levels. The call was made here at the one-day retreat at the 10th meeting of the ASEAN Health Ministers. It urged WHO to take into consideration the severity or virulence factor for future pandemics. The ministers [...]

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A pandemic of hindsight? : Nature

Late this week, the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly, a 47-member-state body that promotes democracy and human rights in Strasbourg, France, is scheduled to vote on a resolution expressing alarm over the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) handling of the H1N1 influenza pandemic. The council should think twice. In conversations with more than a dozen flu [...]

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Climate Change and Swine Flu

Climate change has also been implicated in the spread of the virus. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, new strains of avian flu were created when changing weather led to insect population explosions. The wild birds that eat those insects spread the disease to poultry, pigs and to people—which was the case with avian flu [...]

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WHO says H1N1 flu pandemic continues

The WHO emergency committee, composed of 15 external advisers, said it remained critical for countries to maintain vigilance concerning the pandemic, including necessary public health measures for disease control and surveillance, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement. “We’re still in the pandemic,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told Reuters. Chan said that pandemic flu [...]

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WHO responds to the critics

This carefully argued document is worth reading. Here is an extract The pattern of illness and death caused by the H1N1 virus differed in striking ways from that seen during seasonal influenza. During seasonal epidemics, more than 90% of deaths occur in the frail elderly. The H1N1 virus affected a younger age group in all [...]

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