03 April 2013/22 Jumada l-Ula 1434/14 Farvardin 1391/23 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711
Japanese media sources say the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced efforts to create a vaccine for the new H7N9 bird flu.
The U.S. CDC says this is routine any time a new virus is found in humans.
03 April 2013/22 Jumada l-Ula 1434/14 Farvardin 1391/23 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711
Japanese researchers at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) have been studying the H7N9 virus, they’ve concluded it is possible for it to jump human to human!
Chinese health officials supplied H7N9 samples from the two people that died, and one woman in critical condition.
NIID researchers concluded that all three samples had mutated to infect humans. The samples came from two different areas, but researchers say they were identical indicating the same strain of H7N9 had rapidly spread over a large area.
They also point out that normally H7 strains are not considered deadly, but humans have no immunity to the new H7N9, and there is no vaccine, so they believe health warnings should be issued.
02 April 2013/21 Jumada l-Ula 1434/13 Farvardin 1391/22 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711
Health officials in Jiangsu Province reporting one man and three women now infected with H7N9.
Jiangsu Province borders Shanghai, where two men died from the new bird flu. Anhui Province, where a women infected with H7N9 is in critical condition, also borders Jiangsu Province.
Chinese national health officials have now ordered emergency monitoring. Of concern is a growing number of pneumonia cases that seem to have no cause. The city of Shanghai has ordered that all unexplainable pneumonia cases be reported!
To show you how big this could be, Jiangsu Province has designated 16 hospitals as H7N9 hospitals. The four people who are sick are all in critical condition. They all live in different areas of the province. Health officials suspect they got infected sometime in the middle of March. They were hospitalized by the end of March. Test results were in by 01 and 02 April, confirming H7N9.
One woman is known to be a poultry culler. Health officials are also monitoring people who’ve been in recent contact with the four new cases.
02 April 2013/21 Jumada l-Ula 1434/13 Farvardin 1391/22 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711
After two people in Shanghai died from a new H7N9 bird flu, the Shanghai Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center tested 34 of the thousands of dead pigs that filled the Huangpu River. No bird flu was found in the tested pigs.
Of more concern is that the three human cases of H7N9 are not related. The two men that died in Shanghai were not connected. One was 87 years old, the other was 27.
The third person, a 35 years old woman now in critical condition, lives in a different province (Chuzhou city of Anhui Province). This means the H7N9 jumped from birds to humans in different locations at about the same time. The fear is that it will start jumping human to human.
Back in Shanghai city, 100 monitoring operations are located in hospitals and clinics, to report any new SARS or human bird flu cases. Since November last year the only cases have been the two H7N9 deaths.
H7N9 in humans is so new that little is known about how it works.
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.
The U.S. CDC says 105 children have died so far this flu season. They also claim that 90% did not get vaccinated.
In Minnesota U.S.A., deaths have hit 180! Four in the past week. compare that to last last flu season when 33 Minnesotans died.
In Pennsylvania U.S.A., doctors are concerned about increasing cases of flu B: “I think the reason it surprises me in March is that it was an early season too. So this season has been going on a long time. This has been a bad flu season.”-Scott Tyson, Pediatrics South Mount Lebanon
In Licking County, Ohio U.S.A., health officials report 2378 flu cases as of 09 March. They expect more.
In South Dakota U.S.A., the state Department of Health says 36 people have died so far. 11% of deaths are Native Americans.
In the world of professional baseball and basketball several players are out sick with flu.
In New Hampshire U.S.A., pet owners are being warned about the new H3N8 dog flu. The new to dogs disease has hit Vermont and Massachusetts.
North Dakota U.S.A. reporting cases of dog flu.
In New Zealand, doctors are urging people to get flu shots. There have already been some flu cases in Kiwiland, but the official flu season hasn’t started yet. Kiwi docs say it takes two weeks after getting a flu vaccine before it’s effective.
In Canada, health officials in the Province of Alberta are whining about the lack of people getting flu shots. The provinces have mandated vaccination goals, and Alberta has reached only half its goal. Health officials are also complaining about the lack of infants being vaccinated, but one family that got their baby vaccinated says it did no good: “Even with the vaccination, he has been sick every month. So whether the vaccination worked or not, I’m not sure, but we did it as a precaution.”-Binod Pouyal, father of 19 months old who’s been sick ever since getting the shot
A Canadian company says tobacco protein can be used to grow cultures for flu vaccines. Currently vaccines are made using chicken eggs, and some people are allergic. Then there’s the recently approved way using bug guts. Medicago says their new tobacco based system can grow more cultures in less time.
Researchers in France say naproxen is showing promise as an anti-flu viral medication. The study was published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Apparently naproxen interferes with flu A viruses’ ability to bind with your cells.
In the state of Gurjurat, India, as of 23 March 149 people have died from swine flu! Local media reporting that the swine flu epidemic is so bad that the state government refuses to release anymore health data to the public. Public officials are currently debating how to handle the release of health data.
In the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Indore district, six new H1N1 swine flu cases were reported, four are in critical condition. So far 31 people are confirmed infected and 12 have died. And in the state of Maharashtra, Pune district, health officials say 25 people got infected with H1N1, and six of them died, all in the past two and a half months!
In Netherlands, bird flu hit poultry farms in Flevoland province. 24000 chickens were destroyed.
Vietnam reporting bird flu outbreaks across the country.
Bird flu is infecting poultry farms in Bangladesh, and some of the thousands of infected chickens were sold to the public: “We came to know that a large number of poultry farms have been affected by bird flu virus in the northern districts include Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha…..we fear the authorities have allowed the farmers to market the sick chickens.”-Khandokar Mohsin, Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association
At the University of California Los Angeles, researchers have discovered that if you combine bird flu and human flu you’ll get killer “super” flus. This is based on research in Bangladesh, China and Egypt: “The mixing of genetic material between the seasonal human flu virus and bird flu can create novel virus strains that are more lethal than either of the original viruses.”-Thomas Smith, UCLA
26 March 2013/14 Jumada l-Ula 1434/06 Farvardin 1391/15 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711
In Sichuan Province, China, locals have been pulling dead ducks from the Pengshan River. At least 1000 so far.
Health officials are not able to determine what killed the ducks, as most were too decomposed. Officials say there is no concern over the water in the Pengshan as it’s not used for drinking.
However, over in Zhejiang and Shanghai provinces the Huangpu River is used for drinking, and that’s where the number of dead pigs has hit 16000!
A week ago health officials blamed weather, government cuts and the economy for the pig deaths.
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.
02 March 2013/19 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/12 Esfand 1391
While the main streamers have been reporting a decline in flu cases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said cases of flu B are increasing.
A nursing student became the fifth person to die from flu in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
Iowa U.S.A. records its first infant death due to the flu.
Indiana U.S.A. reporting 61 deaths.
In Ohio U.S.A., ProMedica lifted visitor restrictions at its hospitals.
Oklahoma U.S.A. reporting 30 deaths.
In Minnesota U.S.A., 17 more people died in past two weeks. Health officials say five times as many have died, so far, as did in the 2011-12 season.
In Montana U.S.A., visitor restrictions have been lifted at Billings hospitals, except for neo-natal intensive care units.
San Diego County, in California U.S.A., reporting near record deaths, now at 43.
In Nova Scotia, Canada, the South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgwater is considering restricting visitation to its forth floor. This is because of an apparent flu outbreak.
A new study says that getting vaccinated two years in a row actually makes it easier for you to get sick! Researchers looked at case histories of the 2010-11 flu season in Michigan U.S.A., and found that vaccines did nothing to prevent people from getting sick, unless it was the first time they got vaccinated. Basically the data suggests that people who get vaccinated year after year are wasting their time, and it has health researchers puzzled because it blows away the official mantra that you should get flu shots every year!
In the United Kingdom, a study shows that there is a link between swine flu vaccines and narcolepsy in children: “The increased risk of narcolepsy after vaccination with ASO3 adjuvanted pandemic A/H1N1 2009 vaccine indicates a causal association, consistent with findings from Finland.”-Elizabeth Miller, Health Protection Agency
This comes as India reports thousands of new swine flu cases. The territory of Delhi is dealing with more than one thousand cases in the past two months, 11 people have died. India’s Health Ministry says 275 people have died since 01 January 2013. The state of Rajasthan has the most deaths, at 112 so far.
Also in India, the Animal Diseases Research Institute has been testing birds for the new version of H5N1. So far many healthy birds with no symptoms are testing positive: “Some of the wild ducks are carriers of the virus which may have led to the positive flu report by Bhopal-based High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory. Even the Northern Pintail, which tested positive, was healthy.”-unnamed Animal Diseases Research Institute source
In Cambodia, the newest H5N1 bird flu has become so rampant that the government is ordering health officials, and even police, to stop it. At least eight people, mainly children, have died in the past six weeks! To put that in perspective, in the previous ten years only 19 Cambodians have died from H5N1. The most recent victim was a 35 years old man who ate an infected duck. Health officials say this year’s bird flu is jumping to humans more easily: “We conducted investigations and found that all the cases were transmission from the poultry. There is no evidence of transmission from human to human at this stage.”-Ly Sovann, Ministry of Health’s deputy director for communicable diseases control
Hong Kong reports two people dead from H5N1 in the past two weeks.
Note that India, Cambodia and Hong Kong are places that are considered humid (like most of South Asia and South East Asia), and they have relatively higher influenza cases. Now the CDC issued a report saying flu viruses become weaker in humid conditions. One CDC official said “The virus just falls apart” at higher humidity levels. Yeah right, try telling that to the people living in humid South East Asia!
21 February 2013/10 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/03 Esfand 1391
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the results of their own vaccine study, and it has them shocked!
First off, for overall effectiveness this year’s vaccine is 56% effective, not 62% effective as has been claimed since the beginning of the season. Secondly, when you break it down by flu strain and the age of the victim, things get worse.
The vaccine is only 9% effective in preventing influenza strain A in people 65 years of age or older!
So far this season almost 9,000 people have been hospitalized because of the flu, the majority are old people and includes those who got flu shots!
To help support my previous claims against vaccines (that the virus mutates too fast for vaccines to be effective), the University of Louisville recently released preliminary results of their ongoing study of the H1N1 pandemic of 2009-10. They found that each person’s immune system reacted differently to H1N1 (a type of flu A): “This study underscores the potential variability in the virulence of 2009 H1N1 influenza A strains circulating in Kentucky during the pandemic. These data suggest the hypothesis that the high severity of disease seen in certain hospitalized patients may be related to infection with H1N1pdm viral variants that, due to cell tropism and replication levels, may exacerbate certain types of disease associated with comorbidity.”
Minnesota Department of Health reporting 12 new flu deaths. The total for the North Star State is now 148 deaths. Last week five nursing homes, and nine schools reported outbreaks.
In South Dakota, a 6th grader was the latest person to die. He died from flu A, the type of flu the vaccine has proven to not work on.
The maker of Tamiflu, the anti-flu medicine, says get the children’s version (Tamiflu OS) while you can, ’cause they ain’t makin’ anymore: “…we have shipped all quantities of Tamiflu OS to distributors, some retail pharmacies may still have it…….Given the amount of time it takes to manufacture Tamiflu OS, we don’t plan to make more for the 2012/13 flu season, as it wouldn’t be ready in time.”-Tara Iannuccillo, Genentech
Canadian scientists claim they have a new drug against flu: “Our drug agent uses the same approach as current flu treatments, by preventing neuraminidase from cutting its ties with the infected cell. But our agent latches onto this enzyme like a broken key, stuck in a lock, rendering it useless.”-Steve Withers, University of British Columbia
Oklahoma State Department of Health reporting 26 flu deaths.
In Michigan, Ottawa County reporting double the number of lab confirmed flu cases compared to 2010-11, and five times higher than last year. So far 20,000 people in the County have complained of flu related illnesses.
Pennsylvania Department of Health reporting that flu related visits to doctors and hospitals are going down. At this point 154 people died.
New Jersey officials say flu is alive and well in their state: “We still do have high influenza-like illness activity throughout our state.”-Tina Tan, State Epidemiologist
The New York State Health Department is reporting fewer cases of flu. That is, there were fewer cases of people going to the hospital because of the flu, but, the number of people making flu related doctor visits is unchanged. Also, the number of kids dying from flu has gone up, now eight children have died in New York. Pediatric deaths make up 38% of lab confirmed flu cases in the Empire State. There have been 484 outbreaks. Health officials do not track adult flu related deaths.
Health officials in Colorado are warning that March could be a bad month for flu cases: “March historically is an active time for the flu locally, so we can’t say for sure that the flu season is over.”-Tamara Capp, Mesa County Health Department
In San Diego, California, County health officials are reporting decreased cases. San Diego got hit hard, with 4,175 lab confirmed cases and 40 deaths. The flu season isn’t over. For some reason State officials are still reporting far fewer deaths, for the entire state, than whats being reporting in San Diego County.
The next time you hear an “official” telling you not to go to work if you’re sick, tell them its time they take their own medicine! In Virginia there have been a number of cases of elected officials ending up in the hospital, because they continue to go to work when they are sick: “Almost no matter what, you’ve got to try to be here every day. This time of year, we’ve got all these bills coming across, and some of them are 20-20 votes.”-Jeffrey L. McWaters, State Senator
The Wall Street Journal reported that flu season is good for OJ. Orange Juice that is. The WSJ reported that not only is OJ sales up, but that it’s the older people who’re gulping the citrus juice down.
In Oregon, veterinarians are warning horse owners after a horse came down with equine influenza. It’s being treated at Oregon State University, the horse originally came from Texas. This time of year is not good for horses and flu: “Equine influenza is especially dangerous to foals and the foaling season just started.”-Keith Poulsen, OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Flu season recently began in Europe, and the United Kingdom is reporting a doubling of cases in the past two weeks (fortnight).
In Mexico, nine new outbreaks of H7N3 being reported, this time in the state of Guanajuato. So far 34,889 chickens have died and 53,553 are infected in these latest outbreaks. Get ready for chicken and egg prices to go up, as this new H7N3 has killed hundreds of thousands of poultry in Mexico since last year.
In Cambodia, a seventh person has died because of bird flu. The 20 months old boy was the eighth Cambodian to be infected with the H5N1 version of bird flu, so far this year.
Bird flus rarely infect humans, but when they do they have an extremely high kill rate.