China is reporting two people dead, caused by the latest type of bird flu, H7N9. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says the human deaths in China are the first in the world for this type of bird flu. Two men in Shanghai (the same place where thousands of dead pigs were pulled from the river, some reports say as many as 3300) became the first people known to get infected with H7N9 bird flu, and it killed them fast. A third person is infected, a woman, and she in in the hospital in critical condition.
In the recent past health officials were concerned with H5N1 bird flu, but H7N9 looks to be more lethal, now that it’s jumping to humans.
On top of the dead pigs in the Huangpu River, Chinese have also been pulling thousands of dead ducks out of the Pengshan/Nanhe River.
In Australia, two people died at a old folks home in Queensland. There was an outbreak of flu. 14 people were infected with flu A. Seven were hospitalized and 15 employees became sick as well. This is just the beginning of the flu season Down Under.
In Pakistan, flu has made an appearance by killing a doctor. Recently a surgeon at the Holy Family Hospital died. Nurses at the hospital complain that only doctors are given gloves and masks, while they and ward boys go unprotected. Pakistan’s National Institute of Health said the doctor’s death was the result of his being treated for allergies with steroids which weakened his immune system. There have been five deaths related to other types of flus as well.
In the country of Georgia, health officials reporting 22 deaths connected to both versions of H1N1 bird and swine flu.
In India, more deaths being reported. A woman just died from H1N1 swine flu in the state of Gujarat. Gujarat and Rajasthan are dealing with the most cases of swine flu. In all of India, from 01 January to 24 March there have been at least 445 human deaths caused by swine flu! But wait, there’s more! Gujarat is expecting thousands of religious pilgrims for two days of religious celebrations, and the fear is swine flu will spread like wildfire. They’ve even called up 2500 law enforcement/health personnel: “Following the alert we have in all set up 16 stalls of which 6 will be in Dakor while 10 will be on the routes leading to the holy place. We will keep an eye on people who may have swine flu like symptoms and will convince them to return.”–HF Patel, district health officer of Kheda
Despite the obvious epidemic in India, the Indian Council of Medical Research actually ordered state health officials to treat swine flu as a normal seasonal flu. This brought condemnation and accusations of government cover up from the High Court in Gurjarat, the hardest hit state. The Gurjarat High Court is basing their case on the number of prisoner requests to visit sick and dying relatives, which has skyrocketed, and the fact that even doctors are dying. The court gave local health officials until 09 April to present a detailed report of cases. A judge blasted the poor conditions of government run hospitals: “Even for patients there are no beds in hospitals, what rain basera [guest beds?] for their relatives? This is an eye-wash! They are sleeping outside the Civil Hospital. And health and hygiene are worst in government hospitals.”
In United Kingdom, reports say swine flu is resistant to treatment with Tamiflu. A study done in collaboration with UN WHO and Australian researchers, shows a small increase in swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu. But the big worry is that most of the patients in the study had never been treated with Tamiflu before, which means they caught a swine flu that had become resistant to Tamiflu on its own.
In Sweden, researchers confirmed that the swine flu vaccine, Pandemrix, causes narcolepsy. The government ordered the Swedish Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket) to do the study, when more than a hundred people developed the sleeping disorder after getting the flu shot. The study found that the younger you are the more chance of getting narcolepsy from Pandemrix.
In Republic of Ireland, people are protesting the Health Minister, because of increased cases of narcolepsy in children. Last April the Minister issued the results of their own study which showed swine flu vaccine causes narcolepsy. Some Irish families are now suing GlaxoSmith-Kline, the maker of Pandemrix.
Speaking of vaccines, in Texas U.S.A., A&M University announced it’s joining with pharmaceutical companies to help prepare for a influenza pandemic. They are helping to create and run a $91 million USD vaccine factory. The goal is to be able to produce 50 million doses within four months of a pandemic outbreak!
In Belgium, health officials announced the worst of their flu season has past. They said the epidemic lasted 12 weeks, compared to only six weeks last year. At the peak of the epidemic 1083 people sought medical help.
The U.S. Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention says the dominate strain of influenza is now flu B.