Posted on 06/24/2009 8:04:24 AM PDT by metmom
Within minutes, six-year-old Rubjit Thindal went from happily chatting in the back seat of the car to collapsing and dying in her father's arms.
"If we had known it was so serious, we would have called 911,'' Kuldip Thindal, Rubjit's distraught mother, said in Punjabi yesterday. "She just had a stomach ache -- she wasn't even crying.''
Rubjit was pronounced dead at hospital barely 24 hours after showing signs of a fever. Later, doctors told her parents she had the H1N1 influenza virus. She is believed to be the youngest person in Canada with the virus to have died.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.guelphmercury.com ...
That’s a different virus. Interesting comments on the story though. Thanks for posting that.
Well there are going to be plenty of children left un-vaccinated. Not to worry. There is far from enough to go around.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Plymouth-UK-swine-flu-10/article-1310945-detail/article.html
Friday, September 04, 2009, 06:54
PLYMOUTH is in the top 10 of hotspots nationwide for swine flu.
The city’s position was revealed by the Government’s chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson at his weekly briefing into the pandemic.
It showed that Plymouth had the ninth highest rate of swine flu-related consultations, at 26.7 per 100,000 people – ahead of Manchester at 26.1 per 100,000.
And Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – a new entry – was ranked even higher, being placed second highest with 34.2 consultations per 100,000. Southampton topped the league with 36.5 for every 100,000 people.
Health officials are still urging people to keep away from hospital and their GP surgeries if they think they have swine flu. Instead they should contact the national pandemic flu helpline on 0800 1 513 100.
It came as estimates of the number of people in the UK who could die in the flu pandemic were revised downwards to 19,000, from 65,000 reported in July.
Other figures showed there were an estimated 4,500 people newly diagnosed with swine flu in England in the last week.
This is a slight drop on the 5,000 cases reported in the previous week and down from a high of around 100,000 cases more than a month ago.
The number of deaths in England linked to the virus stands at 61, up from 57 last week.
US Pediatric Deaths Raise Pandemic Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 02:07
September 4, 2009
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/09040901/US_Pediatric_Deaths.html
Arizona (six cases), California (three), Connecticut (one), Florida (one) , Illinois (two), Massachusetts (one), Minnesota (two), New Jersey (three), New York (four), New York City (four), Oregon (one), Rhode Island (one), Texas (two), Utah (three), and Wisconsin (two).
The above list of locations of the 36 pediatric deaths in the United States described in tomorrows MMWR highlight the differences between these earlier cases and those12 who have died in the past 2 weeks, which were largely in the south where school began in early August. Many of the earlier cases had severe underlying conditions, but the number of infections in children during that time period was relatively low because the levels of H1N1 began to rise near the end of the school year. Although there were reports of outbreaks in summer camps, the number of cases have exploded among students returning to school for the current season.
These outbreaks were most dramatic in the south (see map) and schools with absentee rates above 10% were common. Moreover, several school districts (see map) have closed when rates rose to 20-40%. Additional schools remaned open, and now similar rates are being seen further north, like the 44% of 6th graders at a school in suburban Pittsburgh (see map).
The student fatalities are at public schools and there is no indication of underlying conditions. One student began feeling ill on Friday, played soccer of Saturday, and died on Monday. This short interval between disease onset and death has been described for several students.
Thus, these cases make tomorrow’s report obsolete prior to publication. A similar analysis of students dying during the current school year should be underway.
Results from that report are eagerly anticipated.
WHO Admits to Releasing Pandemic Virus into Population via 'Mock-Up' Vaccines
The document on the WHO website linked below states that it is common procedure to release pandemic viruses into the population in order to get a jump ahead of the real pandemic, so as to fast track the vaccine for when it is needed.Let me get this straight: So the World Health Organization admits to releasing H1N1 flu virus into the population to conduct 'a study.' At least that is their cover story. Thus far. Next year they will probably admit to even more flagrant medical errors. Including hastening the mutation of H1N1 into a more deadly killer virus.In Europe, some manufacturers have conducted advance studies using a so-called "mock-up" vaccine. Mock-up vaccines contain an active ingredient for an influenza virus that has not circulated recently in human populations and thus mimics the novelty of a pandemic virus. According to the website, “Such advance studies can greatly expedite regulatory approval.” * * *
To all swine flu victims in Europe and, by next year, the U.S. --
Get Ready to suffer and quite possibly, to die. Tell your relatives to sue WHO for $ Billions
ALCOA (WATE) — While many people don’t have confirmation they have H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, there’s certainly evidence that swarms of people are getting sick across East Tennessee.
On Thursday at the Park Med Urgent Care Center in Alcoa, the staff saw one sick person after another.
“It’s been very busy. We’ve been seeing about 100 a day,” said Valerie Millsapps, with Park Med.
“I’ve been having chills, fevers, pains, headaches,” said one patient, Megan Peoples.
She hopes she doesn’t have swine flu. “I feel like I do, but it will be scary. I know that.”
As Alcoa Middle Schooler Dylan Kelley left Park Med, he said he learned he most likely does have the flu.
The phones in the clinic were ringing off the hook. The staff says they’ve never seen anything like this, especially in September.
Usually around this time of year, they have no patients coming in with flu-like symptoms.
“It’s quite unusual. A couple of years ago, we were busy around February with the flu,” Millsapps said.
That was the seasonal flu, something that many people can fight by taking Tylenol or Advil.
“I tried Tylenol and stuff for my headaches,” Megan Peoples said, but added nothing is working.
That’s why she went to Park Med, hoping something stronger will cure her misery.
Most urgent care centers are open Monday through Sunday and you don’t need an appointment.
Park Med says a visit usually lasts up to half an hour.
Clinics and hospitals can’t determine whether someone definitely has swine flu. However, the tests can tell if the symptoms are different from the seasonal flu.
http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=11043274
Posted: Sep 03, 2009 3:22 PM CST
Updated: 9:04 PM Sep 3, 2009
School closes due to illness
Another Eastern Kentucky school closes due to an unknown illness affecting one student. Knott County school officials told parents of children attending Cordia School to keep them home as a precaution.
Posted: 6:31 PM Sep 3, 2009
Reporter: Angela Beavin
Email Address: angela.beavin@wymtnews.com
School closes due to illness
Another Eastern Kentucky school closes due to an unknown illness affecting one student. Knott County school officials told parents of children attending Cordia School to keep them home as a precaution.
Cordia School was empty Thursday and will be for the rest of the week. A student was taken to UK Hospital in Lexington Wednesday with possible swelling in his head. Officials say they wanted to be safe and closed the school in order to take appropriate measures.
While the student is being treated, Knott County School officials are waiting to hear any information. Superintendent Kimberly King says, “They’re doing tests. There’s no confirmation of any infectious disease, but they’re running tests and said it would be 48 hours before we receive the results of the test.”
In the meantime, Cordia Principal Dwight Creech says they’re preparing for anything, in light of the recent illnesses schools are dealing with. Creech says, “With the Swine Flu and those type of things, since the beginning of school and before school we took extra precautions as far as disinfectants; cleaning the door knobs, you know, trying to go the extra mile.”
Creech and Knott County school officials say all of the cleaning and measures they’re taking are to make sure the school is safe. They say they’d rather be safe than sorry. “We would tend to close down if we have any level of concern. We would close down,” Creech says.
King says other Cordia kids and parents should understand that this is most likely not a contagious case. “The doctor said they were almost positive there was nothing infectious,” she says. Officials say they will keep students out of the building until they hear the final word from doctors.
Principal Creech says the cleaning crews will work through the entire weekend. He says school should resume on Tuesday, after the holiday.
Find this article at:
http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/57038267.html
More inside info:
Several cases of swine flu at Orlando Children’s Hospital. Staff told to keep quiet about it.
Why do they cover it up?
I imagine it’s like this at hospitals all over the country.
Nice. But all the disinfecting of doorknobs, etc. is futile against an airborne viral disease!
Yes , you are 100% correct !
Does anyone have a list of symptoms and how this flu presents itself. My neighbor woke up with a sore throat but feels ok otherwise.
I have dosed her with Esberitox, Vitamin D3 & C, olive leaf, and my drops of Virattack and Lomatium.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks for the information , your 1st hand reports are very appreciated !
Here is a nursing Pandemic Forum Link you might be interested in ....
http://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/
I heard that as soon as you start feeling run-down or have other flu-like symptoms, take Oscillococcinum.
I know that it is a best seller In France ...
Oscillo® is regulated as a drug by the FDA and is supported by published clinical studies as well as more than 65 years of use throughout the world.
Clinical studies show that Oscillo reduces the severity and duration of flu symptoms
Great taste and convenient to take
No side effects or interactions with other medications
Good for everyone 2 years of age and older
Thank you - appreciate the info.
I’ve read news articles where a patient has died & the family has spoke in the article . Also the family name is given & it is easy to verify by looking at Obituaries .
Also on other forums nurses & doctors have given personal accounts ....
If an article claims that over 200+ children were absent from flu-like symptoms from school in a town . That is easy to find out ...
I believe this article is most - telling as to WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE DYING from the H1N1 .....
Lungs of fatal swine flu patients badly damaged
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090903/h1n1_lungs_090903/20090903
Sep. 3 2009
The lungs of people who have died from swine flu look more like those of the victims of H5N1 avian influenza than those of people who succumb to regular flu, the chief of infectious diseases pathology at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says.
Study of about 70 fatal H1N1 cases so far also reveals there may be more incidences of co-infections with bacteria than was earlier thought, Dr. Sherif Zaki told The Canadian Press in an interview.
The damage to lung tissue is consistent with that inflicted by ARDS or acute respiratory distress symptom, Zaki says, referring to an often-fatal, difficult-to-treat syndrome that can have a number of causes. The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates about 30 per cent of people who develop ARDS die.
“In terms of the disease, yes, it (H1N1) is remarkably different than seasonal flu,” Zaki says. “The pathology looks very similar to H5(N1).”
The dangerous avian flu virus has killed 60 per cent of the 440 people known to have been infected with it. To date, though, the virus hasn’t acquired the capacity to spread easily from person to person.
The swine flu patients who went on to die suffered lung damage and changes in the lungs that would have made it difficult to deliver enough oxygen into their bloodstreams, Zaki says.
That reflects the observation of intensive care doctors who’ve struggled to save these profoundly ill patients.
“That’s what they saw in Winnipeg,” Dr. Paul Hebert, an intensive care physician and editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, said recently of how hard it is to oxygenate swine flu patients who become gravely ill.
“They have everybody on experimental ventilators and techniques. They can barely keep them alive.”
A number of doctors who have treated novel H1N1 patients — and colleagues who haven’t yet — were meeting in Winnipeg this week discussing what steps hospitals and ICUs need to take to get ready for an expected increase in pandemic flu cases this fall and winter.
Zaki says finding ways to prevent cases from progressing to severe illness should be the goal, “because once it happens in these patients . . . it’s very difficult to treat.”
Strikingly high levels of virus were spotted in the lungs of people who died rapidly from swine flu, he says, though less is seen in those who die after a longer battle with the virus.
“Some people die very quickly of it, within days. And some have more protracted illness, maybe two, three weeks,” he says.
“It’s surprising the amounts (of virus) that you see.... But it’s not unheard of,” he adds, pointing to what was seen with SARS.
Earlier studies conducted in tissue culture and in ferrets — the best animal model for human flu — found the new virus is drawn to tissue found deep in the lung. That’s a penchant it shares with H5N1. Seasonal flu viruses attack the upper airways.
Zaki says about a third of the fatal cases his team has reviewed involved co-infection with a bacterium, though the culprit varies.
Sometimes it is Staphylococcus aureus — the drug-resistant kind, known by the nickname MRSA and antibiotic-sensitive varieties as well. Some cases have involved group A Streptococcus. And some have been co-infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae.
“Those are the main three that we found.”
“It was not very clear initially,” Zaki adds of the frequency with which co-infection seems to occur in these cases. “But the more we studied, the more we realized that these do happen.”
He suggests pneumococcal vaccine, used in the elderly to lower the risk of pneumonia, could be a useful tool if given to younger people. The highest numbers of deaths so far have been in people in their late 30s and 40s.
Some of the cases of co-infection have been in people who were hospitalized for an extended period, which wouldn’t be all that surprising. But some were seen in people who weren’t hospitalized.
With the new virus causing severe disease in only a small portion of cases, public health authorities have been criticized for overreacting and overhyping the threat swine flu poses. Some critics have suggested the new flu isn’t really much worse than seasonal influenza.
From Zaki’s vantage point, however, this is not regular flu.
“This is a new virus. It causes a different disease than what we’re used to,” he says. “So I don’t think anybody can predict exactly, but it would be foolish not to be trying to study the disease more.”
2,000-plus sick at WSU
University hands out kits to treat swine flu
John Stucke
More than 2,000 Washington State University students have been sickened by swine flu during the first two weeks of classes, school health officials said.
The outbreak of H1N1 influenza prompted concerns about Saturday’s football matchup against Stanford at Martin Stadium.
While school and health officials stressed that attending the game poses little risk of infection, {time will tell!} they urged people sick with the flu to stay home and encouraged fans to wash their hands, to avoid sharing food and drink, and to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing. Pregnant women and people with underlying health risks such as diabetics, asthma or heart or lung disease should consider skipping the game, health officials said.
Far more than 2,000 students could be ill, said Dr. Dennis Garcia, although the number of students seeking care and calling nurses at WSU’s Health and Wellness Services fell for the first time Thursday since classes started.
Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, more students have called or gone into Pullman Regional Hospital seeking treatment. There have been no deaths and no students have developed severe symptoms requiring hospitalization.
Rather, Garcia said, most students suffer through three to five days of discomfort. The school is handing out free flu kits including a thermometer, painkillers, throat lozenges, sport drinks, hand sanitizer and tissues.
While WSU wrestles with H1N1, Spokane-area schools have avoided outbreaks so far.
“There’s nothing that unusual about our absent students or what parents are telling us,” said Kathe Reed-McKay, director of health services for Spokane Public Schools. “But that could change in an instant.”
There has been just one student case of H1N1 at Gonzaga University in the first week of classes, and a few at Eastern Washington University, though classes there haven’t yet started.
Public health officials long ago gave up trying to ascertain an accurate number of people sickened with H1N1 influenza. Only the most serious cases – including hospitalizations and deaths – are confirmed by the Washington State Public Health Laboratory.
The vast majority of people with flu symptoms – and likely infected with H1N1 – are encouraged to take fever-reducing medicine such as over-the-counter acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), and rest. Only if symptoms worsen or people have underlying health problems should they seek medical attention. Otherwise, they should stay home.
“That’s what has to happen to control the spread,” said Julie Graham, spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Health District.
Garcia said he believes many students have gotten the message, and rather than seeking medical help they are resting and being cared for by roommates.
Garcia said the symptoms of H1N1 are a giveaway. Sick WSU students have reported sore and scratchy throats, chest pain reminiscent of heartburn, and headaches that come and go. Many students also have chills, body aches and nausea and run a fever upward of 103 degrees for two days. {Great analysis!!}
Preparations for an H1N1 flu outbreak in Spokane continue to jell. The health district has asked clinics, hospitals and other providers to help provide H1N1 vaccines when they arrive in mid-October.
If providers’ response is not large enough to quickly vaccinate the most vulnerable people – including pregnant women, children and health care workers – the district will consider revamping its normal distribution methods.
Hospitals have been putting plans in place in case the H1N1 infections grow in number and severity.
Nurses, doctors and employee health coordinators have been preparing areas of Deaconess Medical Center for additional triage and screening, hospital spokeswoman Christine Varela said.
Employees have been asked to get vaccinated, not only for their own health but also for the safety of already-sick hospital patients who could be endangered if they get H1N1.
“We take this seriously and are ready to be there for people,” Varela said.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/04/2000-plus-sick-at-wsu/
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