Reports that Ellen Degeneres canceled a weeks worth of TV shows, and her trip to Australia, because she’s sick: “People of Australia! I’m down, but I’m not out. I’ll be in Sydney next weekend, and Melbourne after that. More details soon!”
Speaking of Australia, a new bird flu is popping up, as the flu season is starting early Down Under. Ducks and chickens in Western Australia were confirmed to have a H5 type flu. At least 95 poultry were euthanized. Health officials say from January to February 2013, more than 700 human cases of flu were reported. That’s significantly higher than usual, and much earlier than usual.
Researchers from multiple U.S. schools of medicine and public health say simple breathing can spread flu faster than sneezing. They analyzed droplets from infected people’s relaxed breath and found that it contained far more amount of virus, than if they had sneezed!!!
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said flu activity in the States is still active, but decreasing in some areas. So far 90 children have died. The CDC tracks only child deaths caused by influenza, they do not keep tabs on adult flu related deaths.
In New York U.S.A., health officials are reporting a surprise resurgence in flu cases. Several counties are reporting more flu cases, along with norovirus, sinusitis and strep bacterial infections.
In California U.S.A., University of California Los Angeles researchers are preparing to track a possible pandemic: “Using surveillance of influenza cases in humans and birds, we’ve come up with a technique to predict sites where these viruses could mix and generate a future pandemic.”-Trevon Fuller, Predicting Hotspots for Influenza Virus Reassortment
Also in California, San Diego County has now seen 51 deaths. There have been 5046 lab confirmed cases so far this season. San Diego saw a record setting 58 flu related deaths back in the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic.
In Oklahoma U.S.A., 33 deaths including one last week. At least 1036 people have been hospitalized.
In Pennsylvania U.S.A., so far 174 people have died from flu complications.
In South Dakota U.S.A., a 35th person has died.
Health officials in Racine County, Wisconsin U.S.A., are calling it one of their worst seasons for flu cases: “We had two really mild seasons, and this last year was regular. We haven’t even had a second peak yet.”-Dottie-Kay Bowersox, City of Racine Health Department
In the Fertile Crescent country of Jordan, four people have died from H1N1 (a type of swine flu).
An experiment on vaccinated pigs, who were then infected with a version of H1N1 from Thailand, suggests that a vaccine for H1N1 does not work: “The present study demonstrated that both the pH1N1 and rH1N1 influenza viruses, isolated from naturally infected pigs, induced acute respiratory disease in experimentally inoculated nursery pigs.”-Virology Journal 2013
More bad news for anyone who got a H1N1 shot. It concerns vaccines given in 2009-10, in the United States. A new U.S. Department of Health & Human Services study suggests that some people could be paralyzed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. It’s already been shown that the vaccine used in the 1976 swine flu epidemic caused Guillain-Barré syndrome. During the six weeks after the 2009 vaccine was first given, 54 cases of the paralyzing syndrome were reported. Researchers still don’t know why the vaccine causes some people’s immune systems to attack their nervous systems.
Despite all the studies showing how ineffective flu vaccines really are, Iran has decided to start making their own. Iranian officials say their motivation is to save money, as the imported flu shots are very expensive for their government health system.
Another U.S. Department of Health & Human Services NIH study says weather has more effect on infections, and it has nothing to do with people staying indoors during cold/rainy weather: “One hypothesis that is often used to explain tropical influenza activity is that people congregate indoors more frequently during the rainy season, increasing contact rates and disease transmission. There is little data to confirm this…..The predictions of our climate-based models compared favorably to epidemiological information collected independently…”-Cecile Viboud, researcher
Another study says your body’s ability to repair and recover from a flu infection could determine your risk for future infections. The study looked at immune system cells called cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22), used in the repair of lungs of children sick with flu: “With the increasing prevalence of more infective and/or virulent strains of influenza, understanding the impact of virus on the host epithelium and the processes involved in lung repair are of great importance. A key finding is that even after the resolution of infection, influenza results in lung parenchymal remodeling that may be critical to susceptibility to further injury.”-John F. Alcorn, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
In Vermont U.S.A., more cases of dogs getting sick with the relatively new canine flu (it mutated from horse flu). Dogs are going down fast as this is a new disease for them.
In Florida U.S.A., several horses have been quarantined at the Horse Shows in the Sun facility in Ocala: “The biosecurity measures we’ve put in place for EHV-1 should assist with reduction of the transmission of the flu virus. We’re being as proactive as we can.”-Mark Fagan, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
New Jersey U.S.A., reporting a blood shortage and is importing 30% of their blood supply from other states. This is because local blood donations are way down due to too many people being infected.
Health officials in Austria are reporting that case numbers are more than 10000 per week! They say H1N1 is the top flu, followed by H3N2 and a mild form of flu B.
In Hong Kong, health officials reporting an outbreak in the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. The flu has been identified only as a type A flu.
India continues to see increased cases of swine flu. Health officials are blaming humidity and warmer temps. Flu cases, and deaths, are reported at state levels in India, and they are growing rapidly.
In Shanghai, China, people are concerned about the ongoing case of dead pigs in a local river. The number of dead pigs found in the river has now hit 12000! The pigs are coming from farming areas upstream. Officials are looking at the possibility of a new more deadly swine flu. The Huangpu river is the main source of drinking water for tens of millions of people.