Kate Price a.k.a Jordan may be inflicted with swine flu.
The hottie was supposed to attend a public event to sign copies of her new book Sapphire in Bournemouth, before she had a fever.
It started on way to the venue, when she lost a part of a tooth while chewing gum and her face became bloated.
So [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Flu’
Katie Price battling swine flu?
August 3rd, 2009 |
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Scientists decoding genomic sequences of swine flu virus from Argentina
August 1st, 2009 |
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In a new study, researchers are decoding the complete genomic sequences of Swine flu pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease in Argentina.
For the study, the researchers will be comparing sequences of viruses associated with the current outbreak in Argentina with those found in other locations.
The researchers are aiming to determine whether [...]
Confusion over cruise flu claims
July 31st, 2009 |
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A cruise ship carrying dozens of victims of swine flu among its 5,000 passengers and crew has docked in the south of France, officials have said.
Sixty crew members have so far been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, while 70 of their colleagues were also showing signs of being infected, they added.
They will be treated on board the ship while it docks at Villefranche-sur-Mer.
On Thursday, officials said a 14-year-old girl infected with H1N1 had become France’s first fatality from the virus.
However, they cautioned that it did not appear that her death, at a hospital in the north-western city of Brest, had been directly linked to the virus.
"This young girl suffered from a serious illness, complicated by a severe pulmonary infection," the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) said.
Neighbouring Belgium also reported its first swine flu death on Thursday when a 34-year-old woman passed away after developing "a double viral pneumonia".
Deaths have now been recorded in five European nations – Belgium, France, Hungary, Spain and the UK, where 31 people have died.
The cruise ship docked at Villefranche-sur-Mer – the Voyager of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises – had travelled from the Italian city of Naples as part of a Mediterranean tour.
The ship’s 3,600 passengers have been allowed off to visit the town before the boat leaves on Friday night for Marseille, officials say.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Swine flu ‘hits pregnant harder’
July 29th, 2009 |
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Pregnant women are four times more likely than the general population to be hospitalised by HIN1 swine flu, US research shows.
The findings suggest pregnancy does increase the risk of complications.
It underlines the need to ensure pregnant women get speedy anti-viral treatment, and are made a top priority when a vaccine becomes available.
The study, by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears in The Lancet medical journal.
Scientists studied 34 confirmed or probable cases of swine flu infection among pregnant women.
"We must remember that most pregnant women who catch the disease are likely to make an uncomplicated recovery"
Department of Health
They found 11 were admitted to hospital – a rate four times higher than that seen in the general population.
The women covered a broad range of ages and races and were in various stages of pregnancy. Six subsequently died after developing pneumonia.
None of the women who died had been given anti-viral drugs promptly, within the first 48 hours of symptoms occurring.
Five of these women underwent caesarean deliveries. Four of the babies have now left hospital, and the fifth, born very prematurely, is doing well. None of the babies showed any sign of swine flu infection.
Historical echoes
The researchers accepted that doctors might be more likely to admit pregnant women to hospital than other patients – but said this was unlikely to be the only explanation for the higher hospitalisation rate.
It may be that pregnancy weakens the immune system, making complications more likely.
Writing in The Lancet, the researchers, led by Dr Denise Jamieson, said: "On the basis of our investigation, pregnant women seem to be at increased risk for complications from pandemic H1N1 virus infection, with a higher estimated rate of hospital admission than in the general population.
"Although the decision to admit a pregnant woman is complex and might include considerations beyond simply the severity of disease, that a high proportion of influenza-related deaths in the US have been in pregnant women is concerning."
A similar pattern was seen in the flu pandemics of 1918 and 1957, when death rates for pregnant women were higher than for non-pregnant women.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "This study is a reminder that pregnant women can be at increased risk from swine flu, but we must remember that most pregnant women who catch the disease are likely to make an uncomplicated recovery.
"Pregnant women should make early contact with their GP if they have flu-like symptoms."
The spokesman said the anti-viral drug Relenza was available in an inhaled form which would not reach the foetus, and so pose no risk to it at all.
Pregnant Sharon Pentleton, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, had to be flown to Sweden for specialist care last week after developing a rare complication following infection with swine flu.
Ms Pentleton, who is having her blood circulated through a machine, is described as "stable, but critical".</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Pregnancy likely to be swine flu shot priority
July 29th, 2009 |
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ATLANTA (AP) — Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall.
Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 [...]
First swine flu case in Kosovo
July 28th, 2009 |
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The first case of A/H1N1 flu virus has been confirmed in Kosovo. The patient is a 9-year-old boy who resides in London, and is spending his vacation in Priština.
Saudi Arabian swine flu fatality
July 28th, 2009 |
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Saudi Arabian officials have reported the country’s first death from the swine flu virus.
The victim was a 30-year-old man. He was admitted to hospital last Wednesday suffering from high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.
He died on Saturday despite taking antibiotics and the anti-flu drug Tamiflu, said the health ministry.
It was the second death from swine flu in the Middle East. The first death in the region was in Egypt on 19 July.
There have been more than 300 cases of the disease reported in Saudi Arabia.
KEY LINKS World response to swine flu crisis Correspondents’ round-up Swine flu pandemicThere has been considerable concern over the impact it could have during this year’s Hajj, which draws millions of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday Arab health ministers agreed to prevent vulnerable groups joining the pilgrimage.
People aged over 65 and under 12, and those with chronic diseases, will be excluded from the event, a World Health Orgnization official said.
In June, Saudi Arabia asked elderly and sick Muslims not to visit this year. At least two million people took part in the last Hajj, which falls this year in November.
The decision to keep the vulnerable groups away from the pilgrimage must still be ratified by the health ministers’ governments.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Over-prescription turning swine flu resistant to Tamiflu
July 28th, 2009 |
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A leading doctor has warned that the deadly swine flu could become resistant to Tamiflu, the only drug that can treat the virus.
Dr Holden, the British Medical Association’’s lead authority on pandemic flu, cites over-prescription as the reason, reports The Telegraph.
The expert, based in Matlock, Derbyshire, said that he thought the thresholds for issuing Tamiflu [...]
Saudi Arabia confirms first swine flu death
July 28th, 2009 |
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Saudi Arabia on Monday confirmed that a man had died of swine flu.
The health ministry said this was the first such death and that it had taken place in a private hospital in Dammam in the eastern part of the country.
Health ministry officials said that the dead man was 30 and that he was admitted [...]
Baby born in Thailand infected with H1N1
July 28th, 2009 |
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Thai health officials said on Tuesday that a baby had been born in Thailand with H1N1 flu having contracted the virus while still in the womb. The baby was born prematurely on Saturday, when doctors decided to deliver it by caesarean section seven months into the pregnancy of a 24-year-old
Test case
July 27th, 2009 |
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By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney
Australia is currently living through what the northern hemisphere will soon have to confront: a winter with swine flu.
Public health officials in countries like the UK and US are therefore looking upon Australia as a global case study, and seeing what lessons they can glean from the country’s handling of the pandemic.
Distance offered no protection for this far-flung country, and swine flu reached its shores in early May.
Since then, more than 40 people have died and more than 16,000 have been infected. There has been no sense of public panic, despite the fact that Melbourne for a time was dubbed the "swine flu capital of the world", the city with the highest concentration of cases.
With New Zealand hit first, Australia had a few crucial weeks to refine its response.
It prepared public information adverts, warning people to be careful to wash their hands and quickly rolled out thermal-imaging cameras at international airports to try to identify air travellers arriving with the virus.
If there was a vulnerability, it was at the ports. For a time, cruise passengers set foot in the country without being checked.
Although a swimming meet was cancelled in June, sports fixtures have not been disrupted and neither have other public gatherings.
People are going around wearing protective masks, and the swine flu outbreak has not even dominated the headlines in recent times, although it has received extensive coverage.
Risk to Aborigines
Some affected schools have been shut, because Australia has realised that children are the so-called "super-spreaders" of H1N1.
Therein lies a lesson for the northern hemisphere, according to Professor Raina MacIntyre, from the University of New South Wales.
"Shutting schools is probably the key non-pharmaceuticals intervention and social distancing intervention that can have an impact," he said.
"We’ve had controversy here about things like banning sports fixtures and mass gatherings, and so on. But they have less of an impact than school closures because children are one of the key reservoirs of infection and transmission."
Australia’s indigenous population is at particular risk from swine flu World response to swine flu crisis Correspondents’ round-up
The vulnerable groups in Australia are similar to those elsewhere, she says: the young, pregnant women and the obese.
But indigenous Australians have also been at particular risk, partly because so many Aborigines tend to suffer from underlying medical conditions, and the provision of healthcare is not as good in the Outback communities where many of them live.
Then there is the problem of poor living conditions, which can accelerate the spread of the disease.
Last week, Alf Lacey, the Mayor of Palm Island, off the Queensland coast, described how 15 residents were living in a three-bedroom house.
It is thought 400 Palm Islanders have been infected out of a population of 3,500.
Last week, a pregnant woman suffering from swine flu was airlifted off the island. She lost her unborn child.
Vaccine trials
Elsewhere in Australia, intensive care units have come under a lot of pressure, and there has been a heightened demand for last-resort cardiac bypass machines which oxygenate the blood in cases where the lungs are particularly badly diseased or damaged.
One hospital in Sydney reported that it normally treats about five patients a year using these ECMO machines, as they are called. In the past few weeks alone, it has treated double that number.
Last week, Australia started human trials of a swine flu vaccine in Melbourne and Adelaide, the first in the world.
It is hoped that the vaccine will be available by October, and the Australian government has already ordered 21 million doses. The companies developing the vaccine are also looking to sell it abroad.
By then, it will be springtime in Australia. But one of the lessons this country has learnt from the northern hemisphere is that swine flu can spread even at the height of summer.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Swine flu could fuel rise in litigation
July 27th, 2009 |
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• Experts warn workers who contract virus could sue
• Businesses have been advised on staff welfare
Businesses could face a spate of legal claims from employees hit by swine flu, experts warn, as concerns mount that firms are not prepared to deal with legal issues arising from affected staff.
Personal injury, health and safety, and negligence claims are all likely, according to employment lawyers, as litigation has continued to rise during the recession.
“I can absolutely see claims in personal injury being brought by employees who say they contracted swine flu at work,” said Stephen Robinson, partner in employment law at Davies Arnold Cooper.
Caroline Doran, partner in employment law at Sprecher Grier Halberstam, said: “If employers don’t take some steps to consider what will happen if someone is affected, there are a myriad of health and safety and duty of care regulations that would come into play.”
Employers are already seeing increasing litigation by employees, with almost 190,000 employment tribunal claims last year, an increase of 43%. Lawyers say people most vulnerable from the pandemic – including pregnant women and those suffering disabilities – are particularly likely to sue if they can show adequate precautions, such as flexible working, were not offered by their employers.
“Once an employer knows an employee is pregnant, it has a duty to conduct a risk assessment and make arrangements to protect her safety and the safety of her baby whilst she is at work,” said Claire Dawson, employment lawyer at Russell Jones & Walker.
Last month the Cabinet Office organised a business advisory network for flu, with representatives from 130 business and groups warning of the likely rates of absenteeism as the pandemic spreads.
The news comes as lawyers warn that compared with ordinary seasonal flu outbreaks, the scale of the swine flu pandemic places a high duty of care on employers to take precautions for their staff. The government, however, said it had fully advised businesses about such measures.
“We have certainly done everything we can to provide information to business on what they can do to avoid the pandemic,” a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said. “We have stressed the importance of contingency planning but operational decisions are up to individual businesses.”
The effects of swine flu on businesses have already caused alarm among many, with the chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, John Wright, predicting a 5% fall in GDP this year. The news comes as a campaigning organisation said that new European regulations limiting doctors’ hours should be suspended to help the NHS deal with swine flu.
“Millions have been spent on staff call-centres using non-medical staff to diagnose and prescribe,” said Richard Marks, head of policy at Remedy. “But at the same time they are reducing doctors’ working week by one full day. It’s probably the worst time in living memory to do this.”
The Department of Health said there would be flexibility if necessary. “Healthcare staff can work longer hours when they need to. During national emergencies there are special provisions … for emergency situations,” said a spokesman.
The Conservatives claimed that there is “huge variation” around the country in the number of collection points for antiviral drugs. In 10 primary care trust areas, there are more than 30, they said, while in 47 PCTs, there is just one. The shadow health minister, Stephen O’Brien, said the figures raised questions about the government’s handling of swine flu.
The Department of Health said the number of collection points was increasing rapidly, from 330 when the pandemic flu service opened on Thursday, to 1,149 yesterday. “People in need of antivirals are able to get them quickly and conveniently and it is freeing up GPs to look after patients in risk groups as well as those with other illnesses,” said a statement.
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The cost of swine flu
July 27th, 2009 |
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Swine flu hits public health and the economy in South America
After North America, where the influenza A H1N1 outbreak began, South America is the region worldwide most affected by the virus. This illness—commonly referred to as the swine flu—is taking a particularly high toll in Southern Cone countries (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay), now in their winter season, both in terms of public health and the economy. The magnitude of the impact on growth rates is difficult to discern as the pandemic is still gathering steam. However, estimates of economic losses range from 0.5% to 1.5% of GDP in affected countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the swine flu propagation rate is “without precedents.” It took the A H1N1 virus less than six weeks to spread widely, while previous flu pandemics in 1918, 1957 and 1968 needed more than six months to spread to the same extent. The same organisation admits that “the virus cannot be stopped” and can potentially affect all the planet’s 6.8bn inhabitants. As of late July, approximately 94,500 people have been infected with the virus around the world, and around 500 people have died because of it. …
Fast-tracked flu vaccine ‘will be safe’
July 27th, 2009 |
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• EU accelerates approval process for treatment
• WHO chief warns of dangers of untested jabs
The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about the fast-track production of the swine flu vaccine in Europe, where the treatment is due to be made available at least two months earlier than in the US. Britain is expected to be the first country in Europe to provide the vaccine, with the first of 132 million ordered doses due to be administered next month.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug regulatory body for the EU, is accelerating the approval process for the vaccine, and countries including Britain, Greece, France and Sweden plan to start using it as soon as it is cleared. The most vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and young children, will be given priority.
To ensure the vaccine is available as soon as possible, the EMA is allowing companies to bypass large-scale human trials. Amid concerns about bird flu several years ago, the EMA designed a protocol to fast-track the approval of a vaccine. It let companies submit data for a “mock-up” vaccine, using H5N1 avian flu. The idea was to do most of the testing before a pandemic, so that when it hit, the drug companies could insert the pandemic virus into the vaccine.
When the first doses are ready, the EMA will approve them largely based on data from the bird flu vaccine, since both will have the same basic ingredients. The agency will then require regular reporting of the vaccine’s effects as it is being administered, monitoring that is normally done beforehand.
The US government is taking a more cautious approach, calling for several thousand volunteers to be injected with the vaccine in tests beginning in August to assess its safety. Officials say the results should be ready in time for the vaccination programme to roll out in October.
But some US officials believe the European approach is the best option. “The consequences of not having a vaccine if this virus gets worse are very high,” said Leonard Marcus, a public health expert at Harvard University. “If [regulatory authorities] took all the time that was necessary to make sure there are no side effects, ironically, in the effort to save a few lives, many lives could be lost.”
An EMA spokesman said: “Everybody is doing the best they can in a situation which is far from ideal. With the winter flu season approaching, we need to make sure the vaccine is available.”
Dr Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s flu chief, warned about the potential dangers of untested vaccines. “There are certain areas where you can make economies, perhaps, but certain areas where you simply do not try to make any economies,” he told Associated Press.
The Department of Health said it was “extremely irresponsible” to suggest the UK would use an unsafe vaccine. A spokesman said: “In preparing for a pandemic, appropriate trials to assess safety and the immune responses have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile. Over 40,000 doses of the vaccines which the swine flu vaccines are based on have been given without any safety concerns.”
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, added: “I’m sure the vaccine programme won’t be allowed to commence until adequate safety checks have been carried out.”
Earlier this month the head of the WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, said that while a vaccine might be produced next month the clinical trial data to ensure it was safe would not be available for a further two to three months.
Pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which is producing the vaccine for Britain, insist they will be able to start shipping the first batches of vaccine before then.
Meanwhile the House of Lords science and technology committee is expected to accuse ministers of failing to keep their promise to set up a flu helpline by April and question the conflicting advice given to the public, in particular to vulnerable groups such as expectant mothers.
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US gears for huge swine flu vaccination push
July 27th, 2009 |
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Anxiously eyeing the approach of winter, US health officials are urgently gearing up for a huge vaccine campaign hoping Americans will swing behind efforts to protect them from swine flu . “Ultimately, the number of people that we hope will be vaccinated before the fall winter wave of H1N1
Peers to criticise swine flu response
July 26th, 2009 |
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House of Lords committee expected to accuse ministers of failing to keep promise to set up swine flu helpline by April
A parliamentary committee is expected to criticise the government for the delay in setting up the national pandemic flu helpline and for giving confusing advice to vulnerable groups and NHS staff.
The House of Lords science and technology committee is expected to accuse ministers of failing to keep their promise to set up a flu helpline by April, according to the BBC.
The report will question the confusing and conflicting advice given to the public, in particular to vulnerable groups such as expectant mothers.
The Department of Health was accused of causing confusion after posting a document on its website reiterating previously issued advice to delay conception during the swine flu pandemic.
The DoH said the advice was based on predictions for a pandemic involving bird flu, and denied that its advice to expectant mothers ‑ which says they should not alter their behaviour but should “avoid crowds and unnecessary travel” ‑ was conflicting.
Publication of the critical report comes as ministers attempt to quell swine flu hysteria, amid concerns that the NHS might be overwhelmed by hordes of “unnecessarily anxious” people who could make a full recovery at home.
The health secretary, Andy Burnham, warned that panic itself could push services to breaking point. Health department officials said there was a danger of a “panic pandemic” that could hinder the treatment of serious cases.
The government faced criticism last week when the pandemic flu helpline and website was finally launched. The site was inaccessible minutes after its launch, overwhelmed by demand. It took more than an hour before the technical difficulties were resolved.
Officials said the service was now “working well”, and more than 5,500 people obtained antiviral drugs on the launch day.
The Sunday Telegraph said the NHS would be further strained by European rules limiting the hours doctors can work, which are due to come into force on Saturday. It reported that the changes could leave the NHS short of doctors just as pressure on hospitals caused by the swine flu outbreak intensifies.
The paper said maternity units were planning to cancel home births and planned caesarean sections if the outbreak worsened.
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Europe fast-tracking swine flu vaccine
July 26th, 2009 |
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LONDON (AP) — In a drive to inoculate people against swine flu before winter, many European governments say they will fast-track the testing of a new flu vaccine, arousing concern among some experts about safety issues and proper vaccine doses.
The European Medicines Agency, the EU’s top drug regulatory body, is accelerating the approval process for [...]
Swine flu could hit up to 40 percent in US
July 26th, 2009 |
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ATLANTA (AP) — In a disturbing new projection, health officials say up to 40 percent of Americans could get swine flu this year and next and several hundred thousand could die without a successful vaccine campaign and other measures.
The estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are roughly twice the number of those [...]
Minister: swine flu panic is danger to NHS
July 25th, 2009 |
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• ‘Pandemic’ of fear is worsening crisis
• Worried well will swamp GP surgeries
Ministers moved to quell swine flu hysteria last night, as concerns grew that the National Health Service might be overwhelmed by hordes of “unnecessarily anxious” people who could make a full recovery at home.
Amid rising government worry about how NHS staff will cope as the virus spreads, health secretary Andy Burnham warned that panic itself could push services to breaking point. Health Department officials said there was a danger of a “panic pandemic” that could hinder the treatment of more serious cases.
Calling for calm, Burnham said that although swine flu presented a huge challenge for the country, it was not a life-threatening condition for the vast majority of people.
He told the Observer that it was vital not to over-react and claimed the government had the situation under control. “It is very important for everybody to keep a sense of perspective,” he said. “It has been a mild virus in the vast majority of cases, with relatively mild symptoms from which people recover fully fairly quickly.
“If people are made unnecessarily anxious, it makes the lives of NHS professionals, who are already under enormous pressure, far more difficult as people become unduly worried.”
He added: “People should be assured that we have been planning our response to a pandemic for a long time.”
Health officials are also concerned at rising levels of fear among parents who know that children are particularly susceptible to the H1N1 virus.
Doctors last night tried to reassure families that the vast majority of young people would get better without a visit to their GP’s surgery or a hospital.
Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. said: “Health services struggle when they are overwhelmed by people who don’t need to be there.
“Our first message to parents of young children is to keep this in perspective and keep calm. There are 11 million children in England and 256 of them are in hospital [with swine flu]. For the four families where children have died, it is an absolute tragedy, but if you are talking about a previously healthy child where swine flu has led to their death, there have been none.”
Last Thursday, the Health Protection Agency said that GP consultation rates had risen sharply in the past week, with children under 14 the worst affected group. The over-65s continued to show a much slower rate. The HPA estimated that there had been 100,000 cases in England in the past week. Overall, 26 people have died.
A Department of Health spokesman said that last week’s launch of a helpline for sufferers had already eased pressure on surgeries. Figures released last night showed that the service enabled 5,500 people to receive antivirals on its first day of operation. Some 58,000 people used the service, 89% of whom used the self-assessment scheme on the internet.
Burnham said: “People in need of antivirals are able to get them quickly and conveniently using the new service, and it is freeing up GPs to look after patients in risk groups as well as those with other illnesses.”
He made it clear that he was angry with Andrew Lansley, the Tory health spokesman, for criticising his decision to delay the setting up of the helpline. Lansley described it as “too little, too late”. Burnham said the comment was “unhelpful” and insisted that doctors had urged him to hold back from setting up the line until H1N1 had spread more widely.
Burnham also pointed out that, over the past 12 years, there had been around 8,000 flu deaths a year in England and Wales.
Meanwhile, ministers – afraid of stoking more “crisis” headlines – refused to be drawn on whether Parliament would have to be recalled if the number of cases continued to escalate at the same rate, or on whether the country had sufficient intensive care beds.
Although Stephenson moved to reassure parents, he said contingency plans were in place. These included plans to move children into intensive care beds meant for adults. The NHS has 300 intensive care beds for children and 3,000 for adults.
He also said that hospitals could increase recruitment, while cancelling planned admissions.
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said that too many people who were not unwell were turning up at surgeries: “There’s too much preoccupation with the threat of death. The numbers of people getting influenza are still tiny. The reality is, that for most people it’s a basically mild illness, and we are losing sight of that.”
Field argued that it was crucial for there to be no unnecessary pressure on GPs or hospitals, partly because they needed to prepare for later in the year. “This is almost like the phoney war at the moment,” he said. “The big danger and real threat is that there will be a big spike in the numbers of people with influenza in the autumn.
“People should regard the phase we’re in now as a practice for far more people having it over a sustained period of a few weeks in the autumn. If that happens, we will have learned valuable lessons from what we’re doing now.”
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