Tag Archives: virus

Influenza

H7N9 / Bird Flu update: Another death! Tibet child killed!

16 May 2013 (13:46 UTC-07 Tango)/06 Rajab 1434/26 Ordibehest 1392/07 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

A 64 years old woman in Hunan Province died.  The death toll is now 36.  It appears the spread of H7N9 is slowing, as no new cases have been reported.

Zhejiang Province has ended its Level 4 Emergency status.  Health officials say they’ve had no new cases.

Singapore reporting that 11 people were tested for H7N9, they all tested negative.

Nick Honhold, a doctor in Scotland, is concerned about the fact that only birds in live poultry markets are testing positive for H7N9.  He’s posted on the ProMED Mail that investigations should focus on why that is.  He suspects the origin of H7N9 is the live markets (as I’ve suggested in past postings).

In Tibet, Guangxi autonomous region, another ‘bird’ flu is spreading and killing.  H5N1 has infected 65 children, and killed one of them.  Chinese health officials think the kids got sick by eating infected chickens bought in a live poultry market.  Other villages are reporting cases, and elementary schools have been closed.

 

 

International

Coronavirus MERS update: More cases, more deaths!

15 May 2013 (12:34 UTC-07 Tango)/05 Rajab 1434/25 Ordibehest 1391/06 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health reports six more people infected (four announced Monday, two on Tuesday).  The new cases include nurses who got infected while treating patients.   One of the new human cases died.  Another person died a couple of days ago.

What’s interesting is that the Saudi Ministry of Health announced on 13 May that the infections were no longer spreading.

The situation has become so worrisome that a veterinary clinic in Dubai has been set up to treat humans!

There are now 40 cases, and 20 deaths globally.

There is no vaccine for MERS.

 

 

Influenza

H7N9 update: 132 cases, 35 deaths! Spreads to Singapore? Your chicken dinner to cost more?

13 May 2013 (08:53 UTC-07 Tango)/03 Rajab 1434/23 Ordibehest 1392/04 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

The latest reports out of China say 35 people have died out of 132 cases.  The National Health and Family Planning Commission says another person got infected in Jiangxi Province.  The report did not give any info about the new deaths.

In Singapore, the Health Ministry revealed that 11 people were suspected of having H7N9, as well as 24 people suspected of having coronavirus/MERS.  The ministry told Parliament that testing of birds was underway, and so far no sign of H7N9.  Singapore does not import live poultry.  The testing on the people suspected of being infected with the new viruses were negative.

Taiwan is reporting that their only human case is recovering.  They say there is no sign of the virus in his system, but his organs have been weakened so much that he must remain hospitalized, until they regain full strength.

At this point, China’s live poultry market ban has lost their economy $6.5 billion USD!

Commodity market analysts are expecting poultry prices to shoot up next month, because of the ongoing H7N9 infections.  Not only has China shut down live poultry markets, and culled tens of thousands of chickens and ducks, but many Asian countries have imposed poultry import bans.  The result is a shortage of poultry products in those Asian countries.

Those bans might help poultry prices come down in the countries of origin.  Example; Malaysia recently banned imports from Mexico and South Africa.  This should result in a glut of poultry in those countries.

 

International

Norovirus / Tummy Bug update, 12 May 2013: Baby diaper changing stations spreading the disease!

In Oregon U.S.A., health investigators are blaming a 2012 outbreak on a baby diaper changing station in a car dealership.  It happened during an employee meeting, where catered sandwiches were served.  State health officials immediately suspected the restaurant that provided the sandwiches, because of their poor health inspection record. However, inspectors got a surprise.  It turns out that one woman/customer at the dealership brought her child, who was sick.  Employees said she took the toddler to the restroom and then left immediately after.  One employee inspected the restroom and found diaper changing station a “mess” and tried to clean it up with a paper towels.  She did not wear gloves and did not use bleach.  She then opened the door for employees bringing in the sandwiches, and she was the first employee to take a sandwich from the tray.  Bingo, bamo, 16 employees sick and wishing they’d never attended the meeting.

But wait, there’s more.  The owner of the car dealership had the restroom professionally cleaned, twice, after the incident, yet Oregon health inspectors found that the diaper changing station still had baby crap on it!!!  Officials said think twice about using that diaper changing station: “I’d really think twice about using them unprotected.”-Kimberly Repp, Washington County epidemiologist

In Washington U.S.A., Grant County Health District quarantining the Longview Elementary school, after at least 100 students were out sick.  The school in the Moses Lake School District is being scrubbed top to bottom.

In sparsely populated Montana U.S.A., record number of cases continue.  Flat Head County reporting spikes in cases in schools and assisted living facilities.

Another cruise ship hit. According to the U.S. CDC, a Crystal Cruises’ ship out of Los Angeles, California U.S.A., got hit causing 125 passengers and 22 crew to get sick.

It was revealed that the Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado U.S.A., is cleaning up after an outbreak.  The outbreak shut down one entire building, after patients and employees got sick.

In Worchester, Massachusetts U.S.A., many people reported getting sick after eating at Ziti’s Restaurant.  However, health inspectors said they could not find any evidence of infection in the restaurant.   It turns out that many food items in the restaurant are actually provided by outside sources.

In Victor, New York U.S.A., several Victor Senior High School students became sick.  The Ontario County Health Department is investigating, but is trying to correct the public’s conception that norovirus and ‘food poisoning’ are the same thing.  Many people have been reporting food poisoning, when in fact what health officials are finding is infections of norovirus.

In Canada, it turns out that norovirus is common in the York area.  A report says many restaurants are sites of outbreaks, due to improper handling and cooking of food, however the outbreaks are not made public.  Before you eat out, call the York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 or TTY 1-866-252-9933 or visit the YorkSafe site.

In Barnstaple,  England U.K., the North Devon District hospital on visitor restrictions due to an outbreak.

The Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, Scotland U.K., closes ward 3C to visitors due to an outbreak.  Also, the Gilbert Bain Hospital’s ward 1 in Shetland, on visitor restriction.

A report says United Kingdom‘s health care Accident & Emergency services “…performance has deteriorated significantly over the last six months.”  By the end of 2012 one third of hospitals failed to meet standards for A&E services. National Health Services England wants to form special boards to figure out how to fix the problem.  One media source said “…many patients were left lying in their own urine and excrement for days, forced to drink water from vases or given the wrong medication.”  The U.K. Health Minister, Anna Soubry, blamed it on the tax paying public: “If you look at the number of people presenting at A&E it’s grown by one million in just the last year.”

Reports saying a deadly superbug (created by overuse of antibiotics), C.Diff, is now the fastest growing hospital borne disease.  Another report says being depressed makes you more susceptible to infection.  A study published in BMC Medicine says depression directly affects your tummy, making it easier for bugs like Clostridium difficile to take over: “Our finding of a link between depression and C.diff should help us better identify those at risk of infection and perhaps encourage exploration of the underlying brain-gut mechanisms involved.”-Mary Rogers, University of Michigan

But wait, there’s more.  It turns out that treatment for depression, specifically taking anti-depressants, actually makes you even more susceptible to being taken out by the deadly C.Diff!

 

International

Dogs being taken down by mystery World War 2 disease!

12 May 2013 (23:11 UTC-07 Tango 11 May 2013)/02 Rajab 1434/22 Ordibehest 1391/03 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

In the United Kingdom dogs are dying from a mystery illness.  At least 12 dogs have died after being walked in the New Forest National Park.

In Worcestershire, two more dogs have just died.  They got sick after the Worcestershire Gun Dog Society sporting event.

All the dogs died from kidney failure (renal failure).

Samples were set to labs in Texas U.S.A., where tests suggested a type of E.Coli bacteria known as Alabama Rot.  (results were not conclusive)

According to British reports, almost all the dogs were walked in an area of the New Forest, an area known as Latchmore Brook.  That area was used as a testing range for experimental weapons during the Second World War.  The area is also near a factory used to make weapons during the war.

However, there are reports of similar dog cases in other parts of U.K.

So far only one dog who became sick, survived.

Influenza

H7N9 update: More cases & deaths! Possible spread to Texas? More proof you can’t blame the birds!

12 May 2013 (22:46 UTC-07 Tango 11 May 2013)/02 Rajab 1434/22 Ordibehest 1392/03 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

A Texas U.S.A. TV station reporting two unexplained deaths.  KHOU reporting that two teenagers, from different counties, died from unknown causes.  They had symptoms similar to H7N9: Fever, cough, respiratory failure, pneumonia.  At least 30 tests were conducted, all testing came back negative.

The first Texas teen to die actually got sick in February, and he died in March.  A teen girl died at the end of April.  The parents of the deceased teenagers are demanding answers.

At the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, a 17 years old boy is in critical condition with the above symptoms, plus his liver and spleen have enlarged.

In Shanghai, China, an 83 years old woman died from H7N9, just one day after city health officials downgraded the city’s health alert status.  She had been sick for one month.

Malaysia’s Veterinary Services has reported no H7N9 in the 41882 live market poultry tested.  Also, 41 shipping containers of processed chicken were tested, and were negative.  However, Malaysia is imposing a ban on chicken products from other Asian countries, Mexico and South Africa.

A recent report says any H7N9 vaccine will likely not work. That’s according to three doctors commenting in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).   The concern is that even if an effective vaccine was created, it would be too late if a pandemic happened now, because it would take to long to mass produce.

A study by U.S. and Chinese researchers found that there is little evidence of ‘mild’ H7N9 infections.  It suggests that when H7N9 compromises a persons immune system, it hits them hard. Results published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

So far, 131 confirmed human cases, 33 deaths.

International

Coronavirus MERS update: More cases in France & Saudi Arabia! Proof of airborne transmission!

12 May 2013 (22:03 UTC-07 Tango 11 May 2013)/02 Rajab 1434/22 Ordibehest 1391/03 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

On 11 May 2013, France reported that three people tested for the new MERS were negative. What many reports didn’t tell you is that there are at least two more possible cases.

Beside the man who came back from United Arab Emirates (UAE) sick, two people connected to him are also sick.  Testing has confirmed one to be positive for MERS, medical personnel are waiting for the test results on the other person.

The second French man who is infected with MERS, got infected while in the same hospital room as the first MERS infected man.  Benoit Guery, the head of the Lille hospital’s infectious diseases service, says it proves “The airborne transmission of the virus was possible.”

Health officials in Thailand have issued a warning.  Anyone returning from trips to West Asia (Middle East) should report to a doctor for examination, especially if they have symptoms of the flu or colds.

The UN World Health Organization issued a warning, they want all health officials to be on the lookout for people with SARS like symptoms as well as pneumonia.  The UNWHO is also sending a two man team to Saudi Arabia, where at least two more cases have been confirmed.  The new two man team is independent of the UNWHO team that was invited by the government of Saudi Arabia.

The latest cases in Saudi Arabia are people who got sick last month, but no doctor recognized their infections as MERS until now. There are now 33 confirmed cases, and 18 deaths.

Influenza

H7N9 update: Shanghai downgrades, Canada holds back!

10 May 2013 (11:51 UTC-07 Tango)/29 Jumada t-Tania 1434/20 Ordibehest 1392/01 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

Health officials in the city of Shanghai have terminated the Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan (Level III).  They claim there have been no new human cases of H7N9 in the past 20 days.

While there are newer cases in Shanghai hospitals, they actually got infected in neighboring provinces.  Shanghai health officials have also stopped monitoring the 458 people connected to those Shanghaians who were infected.

At this point 33 Shanghai residents got sick, 13 died and 15 have recovered.  The live poultry markets will remain closed.

Canada has decided not to take part in H7N9 vaccine studies. Officially the Public Health Agency (PHA) of Canada has decided to just sit back and watch what happens with the H7N9 trials in the United States. However, one official slipped up and revealed they already have a vaccine: “So this step of doing some early clinical trials looking at immunogenicity is really going to be critical for the U.S. go-forward process. Whereas here in Canada, we’ve already made a decision on what kind of vaccine we’re going to use.”-John Spika, PHA

According to a report in Clinical Chemistry, a new test has been developed to detect H7 viruses early on.  This would be a good thing, as recent studies showed the H7N9 is a killer because it somehow remains undetected, even by your own body’s immune system, until it overwhelms you.  Also, by that point anti-viral treatments don’t work well, so the key is early detection and treatment.

 

 

International

More reasons to avoid vaccines: Vietnam bans vaccine after children die!

09 May 2013 (13:14 UTC-07 Tango)/28 Jumada t-Tania 1434/19 Ordibehest 1391/30 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has temporarily banned the vaccine Quinvaxem.   Since Novmeber 2012 nine infants have died from the vaccine.

The vaccine is made by a capitalist South Korean company, and is marketed as a preventative for diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), pertussis (P, whooping cough), hepatitis B (HepB) and Type B flu (Hib).

The UN World Health Organization is investigating.  According to Vietnamese news media, all the babies that died were healthy before getting the vaccine. They died violently less than 24 hours after getting the shot: “…they began wailing loudly, convulsed, and had serious trouble breathing, before passing away…”-Tuoitrenews

Of interest, the Hanoi Preventive Health Center stopped using Quinvaxem early in 2012, because they were concerned about the high death rate of children getting the shot.  The only investigation done, back then, was to make sure the vaccine ingredients were not compromised and that it was being stored properly, not if the vaccine itself was the cause of death.  So far, there has not been evidence established of allergic reaction to the vaccine.

In March 2013 health officials in Lam Dong Province stopped the use of Quinvaxem, after a four months old boy died.  He developed fever, then was found dead the next morning.

While Quinvaxem is made in South Korea, it was pushed into use by the Netherlands based pharmaceutical company Crucell, in 2006.

Since 2010, Quinvaxem has been distributed in Vietnam for free by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, through UNICEF.  It’s starting to look like the people of Vietnam are being used as guinea pigs for new vaccines.

 

Influenza

H7N9 update: 131 cases, 32 deaths! Spreads to Indonesia?

09 May 2013 (12:44 UTC-07 Tango)/28 Jumada t-Tania 1434/19 Ordibehest 1392/30 Ding-Si (3rd month) 4711

The UN World Heath Organization reporting 131 cases, and 32 deaths.

A 79 years old woman in Jiangxi Province is the latest case, and a 56 years old man died in China’s Henan Province, three weeks after symptoms began.  He claimed not to have had any contact with birds, but health officials said there were empty bird cages in the hallway of the apartment he was living in.

In Fujian Province, another bird from a poultry market tested positive for the new H7N9.  That makes 52 birds testing positive compared to the 131 humans who’ve tested positive.

The Indonesian province of North Kalimantan has banned the importation of ducks.  That’s because local health officials claim the new bird flu has been found in neighboring provinces: “We reject ducks that come from East Java, both frozen and live. This is because there have been indications of the new bird flu variant in Surabaya.”– Elang Buana, Tarakan Husbandry and Crops Agency

The result of the duck ban in North Kalimantan is a 70% drop in supplies of ducks, forcing markets and restaurants to make drastic changes.  I have not found any reports to specify which “new” bird flu the official is talking about.  Last year Indonesia’s duck markets were hit hard by a new H5N1 bird flu.