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 ...
Something like 30% of the cases do not have any fever...but some still die.
Pregnant women fall into the category of “underlying health issues” with this H1N1.
Washington DC:
Maine Native Dies Of Swine Flu
Posted By: Maureen O’Brien, News Director
http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=106607
(NEWS CENTER) — A man who grew up in Cumberland has died of swine flu.
David Twomey, 27, was living and working in Washington, DC. His parents say he was diagnosed with H1N1 last week, and died Tuesday night in a Washington hospital.
Twomey was a graduate of Cheverus High School and Gannon University.
Two Newburgh women die from swine flu
July 1, 2009
NEWBURGH — Two Newburgh women have died from swine flu, the Orange County Department of Health announced Wednesday.
[b]The first death occurred on June 23 and involved a 32-year-old woman. The second death involved a 37-year-old woman who showed symptoms June 16 and was hospitalized on June 22.
These are the first deaths in Orange County that have been attributed to swine flu, which is also known as the H1N1 influenza virus, according to Dr. Jean M. Hudson, the Orange County health commissioner.
There have been 2,213 cases of swine confirmed in the state as of Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health. Of those cases, 41 have been reported in Dutchess County, 6 have been reported in Ulster County and 20 have been reported in Orange County.
People are reminded to wash their hands frequently. Residents should also remain at home and contact a physician if any symptoms are suspected.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20090701/NEWS01/90701055
17 new deaths from H1N1 was announced today . :(
Swine flu panic spreads in Argentina
By Richard Reynolds
Posted 22 minutes ago
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/02/2614325.htm?section=justin
People in Argentina are starting to panic about the spread of swine flu, with at least nine more people dying from the virus overnight.
Just three weeks ago, swine flu was something that Argentines thought Mexicans and perhaps Americans had to worry about.
Officially 44 have now died from the virus, but unofficially, the tally may be as high as 150, giving Argentina a death rate higher than any other country.
Surgical masks appeared on the streets of downtown Buenos Aires today, but business still appears to be continuing as normal.
The two-week extension of the usual winter school holidays has many concerned that the government is not telling them the whole truth.
ping
http://www.canadianmedicinenews.com
Dr David Butler-Jones, the government’s Chief Public Health Officer (above right), said that although the vast majority of the 7,775 cases detected in Canada so far (see the map below for a breakdown by province or visit the Public Health Agency’s surveillance website) have been mild and have resulted in full recoveries, the anticipated “second wave” of infections this fall has been preceded already by the mysterious appearance in recent weeks of a small number of “severe” infections.
...the reason or reasons for the emergence of this new set of “severe” cases in Canada has not been determined, though epidemiologists with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have been dispatched to study the matter. Possible explanations, he explained, could include: genetic variations that result in either too little or too great an immune response in infected patients, a mutation in the H1N1 virus (which would augur potentially very serious consequences in the general population over the months to come, it would seem), or some combination of factors. He warned that we should expect to see more cases in Canada over the coming months, including more severe cases, and more deaths.
At the top of the news lately have been accusations that the federal government’s response to the rapid spread of the H1N1 flu virus in aboriginal communities, particularly in Manitoba, has been insufficient. Health Canada’s regional director of First Nations and Inuit Health, Valerie Gideon, endeavored to convince reporters that was not the case. The shipments of hand sanitizer, which had been delayed because of concerns that the alcohol-based gels might be abused by First Nations patients, have now been delivered, she said, and nursing stations are open on the reserves 24 hours per day and are stocked with necessary medical supplies.
One interesting item to note about Monday’s news conference was the tone that Dr Butler-Jones employed when discussing recommended precautionary measures for pregnant women and people with preexisting health conditions, both of which groups of patients may be at higher risk of experiencing dangerous complications if they are infected with the H1N1 flu. Whereas US Vice-President Joe Biden was mocked not long ago for warning people to avoid crowded places like buses and trains for fear of catching the virus, Dr Butler-Jones said very seriously that pregnant women in Canada should consider staying out of crowds. He refused, however, to cite specific crowded places pregnant women should avoid; he demurred when asked by one reporter if he meant women should avoid shopping malls and public transportation, only mentioning for certain (and this is where things took a brief turn for the surreal) that pregnant women should avoid mosh pits.
Swine flu hitting young, healthy adults hardest (Canada)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/swine-flu-hitting-young-healthy-adults-hardest/article1203826/
The young and healthy who feel invincible from the H1N1 “swine flu” influenza pandemic may not be as bulletproof as they think, warn public health experts.
Nearly two-thirds of Canadians hospitalized due to swine flu, and half of those who have died, had no underlying health conditions.
Experts do not yet understand why the new strain affects some healthy people so severely, ravaging their lungs with an aggressive pneumonia and forcing them to spend weeks in hospital, attached to breathing machines.
“They are ending up on ventilators and it can last from weeks to months,” said Michael Gardam, director of infectious diseases at the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. “I would like people to be concerned about H1N1, without panicking. More concerned than they are about seasonal flu.”
A new study tracking the epidemic in Mexico also found the flu strain hits those between the ages of 20 and 50 the hardest, with a higher death rate than other age groups.
In recent weeks, as swine flu has faded from the world’s radar, infectious disease specialists worry that people have become complacent about the pandemic, which is expected to infect one third of the population, or about 10 million Canadians. (In contrast, seasonal flu affects about one in 10 people.)
“You should not be worried that your child will suddenly die of H1N1,” Dr. Gardam said. “But you should be prepared that a family member will get sick.”
[snip]
The Grade 1 student from Brampton, Ont. died in her father’s arms June 15 en route to the hospital, a day after first complaining of achy arms and legs, and a slight fever. Doctors await autopsy results to find out whether she had an underlying health condition that contributed to her death.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, two-thirds of 94 hospitalized cases where information was available showed the patients were perfectly healthy before being admitted.
Of the 25 Canadians who died with H1N1, 13 had other health problems. These can range from obesity, diabetes and mild asthma to chronic lung or heart disease. Also at risk are smokers, those who are immune-compromised, and pregnant women, who have a greater chance of developing complications.
“By the time you add up all these underlying health conditions, you end up with a large chunk of the population,” Dr. Gardam observes.
Epidemiologists are studying cases of healthy people who have become severely ill after contracting the virus, to gain insight into why they are vulnerable.
“[We are] trying to understand from a medical standpoint why they would be affected this way by the virus, and whether this is a signal that the virus is changing and becoming more virulent,” David Butler-Jones, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a statement. “It is because of these severe cases, although a minority, that we must remain vigilant, both at the government level by continuing to investigate these cases, and at the individual level, by taking personal action to prevent infection.”
The other troubling characteristic of the swine pandemic is that, unlike other flus, it is not tapering off in the summer months.
Instead, Canada is experiencing five times the rate of flu activity it normally does at this time of year, all of it H1N1. “The other flu bugs have vanished. But not H1N1,” Dr. Gardam says.
The other key difference is the age of those infected: most are aged 20 to 50. With seasonal flu, one quarter of those infected are over the age of 65, Dr. Butler-Jones says.
In Mexico, 87 per cent of the deaths, and 71 per cent of the cases of severe pneumonia due to H1N1 occurred in people between the ages of 5 and 59. With seasonal flu, usually one third of those affected are in this age group.
Doctors speculate that this could be because the H1N1 virus resembles a strain of flu that circulated before 1957, to which older people have been exposed, says Colin Lee, associate medical officer of health in Ontario’s Simcoe-Muskoka region.
The first detailed study of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, H1N1’s original epicentre, was published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The features of the H1N1 epidemic are somewhat similar to past influenza pandemics in that circulation of a new influenza virus is associated with an unseasonal wave of disease affecting a younger population,” wrote authors Gerardo Chowell-Puente, an epidemiologist at Arizona State University, and Stefano Bertozzi of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico
India’s first suspected swine flu death in Kerala
First Published : 02 Jul 2009 04:58:04 PM ISTLast Updated : 02 Jul 2009 05:06:39 PM IST
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Indias+first+suspected+swine+flu+death+in+Kerala&artid=lq0vc/F68Q4=
KOCHI: A 52-year-old NRI, who was suspected to have contracted swine flu, died shortly after he was admitted to a hospital in Kerala’s Kollam district on Wednesday night, a health official said.
The throat swabs of Stanley Pelis, who arrived in Kerala two weeks ago from UK, have been sent to the National Institute of Communicable diseases, New Delhi, this morning. If confirmed, he would be the first victim of the flu in the country.
Pelis, hailing from Kollam, was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital at Kottiyam in the district with high fever and breathlessness at around 7 p.m. last night and passed away at 9 p.m., Dr K Shylaja, Medical Director, said.
Meanwhile, two passengers who arrived at the Kochi airport from US and Ireland this morning have been quarantined with suspected symptoms of the flu.
The two passengers are - a 33-year-old man from Pathnamthitta, who arrived from Ireland and a 20-year-old Keralite woman from US.
They have been admitted to the Aluva taluk hospital, hospital sources said.
Till now, four persons have tested positive for the flu in Kerala, she said.
UK:
Caught swine flu? Don’t see your doctor
Government shifts H1N1 policy as virus spread becomes out of control
Thursday, July 2, 2009
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Caught_swine_flu?_Dont_see_your_doctor&in_article_id=696142&in_page_id=34&ito=newsnow
Swine flu is spreading fast in Britain. Britons who think they might have swine flu are to be told not to visit their doctors as the government prepares to admit the virus’ spread can no longer be controlled.
The government is preparing to change the way it deals with H1N1 flu by concentrating on individual cases rather than wider community action like shutting schools, officials said.
The number of confirmed cases in Britain has more than doubled in a week to over 7,000.
UK:
Caught swine flu? Don’t see your doctor
Government shifts H1N1 policy as virus spread becomes out of control
Thursday, July 2, 2009
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Caught_swine_flu?_Dont_see_your_doctor&in_article_id=696142&in_page_id=34&ito=newsnow
Swine flu is spreading fast in Britain. Britons who think they might have swine flu are to be told not to visit their doctors as the government prepares to admit the virus’ spread can no longer be controlled.
The government is preparing to change the way it deals with H1N1 flu by concentrating on individual cases rather than wider community action like shutting schools, officials said.
The number of confirmed cases in Britain has more than doubled in a week to over 7,000.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham is due to make a statement in the House of Commons later. In Edinburgh, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon will make a similar announcement.
It is expected that patients who develop flu-like symptoms will now be told to stay at home, take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids.
Those that require antiviral drugs like Tamiflu will be asked to get a friend or family member to pick it up for them as ministers seek to take the pressure off GPs.
Three patients with the infection have died in Britain. The Department of Health says most cases have been mild but are proving to be severe in a “small minority” of cases.
Some 6,929 cases of the infection have been confirmed across Britain by Wednesday, compared with just under 2,905 a week earlier.
Cases are spreading fastest in the south-west, the east, East Midlands and in London, which all saw more than a three-fold increase.
Medical staff want Tamiflu protection (Australia)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/02/2614975.htm
South Australia’s Riverland Division of General Practice (SARDGP) says it was hoping its staff would have been supplied with the anti-viral medication Tamiflu.
The union covering nurses in South Australia has already called for all front-line health workers in the state to be given the medication.
Concerns were raised when two nurses in Adelaide tested positive to swine flu.
The SARDGP’s immunisation adviser, Dr Elizabeth Parsimei, says contracting the virus is a concern for local GPs.
“It is something that we think about every year, we always try and do the flu clinics to try and minimise any flu pandemics,” she said.
“But as we have had this year H1N1, which is swine flu, has been something which is new to everyone so that was a bit of a big worry to everyone.”
UK:
Carlisle hotel staff refused to clean room of swine flu victim
By Thom Kennedy
Last updated 11:49, Thursday, 02 July 2009
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carlisle_hotel_staff_refused_to_clean_room_of_swine_flu_victim_1_576958?referrerPath=/news_round-up_1_50001
Staff at a Carlisle hotel refused to clean the room of an American visitor confirmed as Cumbria’s first case of swine flu for fear of contracting the disease.
The Texan holiday-maker arrived at the Cumbria Park Hotel in Scotland Road, Stanwix, displaying flu-like symptoms.
After undergoing tests with out-of-hours medical service Cuedoc, his case has been confirmed as the first incident of the pandemic in the county. But health chiefs in the county have reassured the public that they are prepared if swine flu becomes a real problem.
The hotel’s general manager Mark Lowther said: “Before he arrived he started to feel unwell, and he brought it with him and got checked out on Saturday morning.
“He asked reception if he could speak to a doctor, and he had normal flu symptoms. We had it confirmed on Monday, but the gentleman had already checked out.”
Mr Lowther, 24, added: “The gentleman stayed on Friday, and checked out on Sunday, but in the meantime we didn’t service the rooms as the housekeepers didn’t want to go inside.
“They weren’t 100 per cent as we hadn’t been told it was completely okay by the health board. Nobody is off ill, everybody feels fine, and the gentleman’s room is back on today.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/02/content_11641660.htm
China:
Relatives of dead A/H1N1 flu patient smash hospital
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-02 20:28:30 Print
HANGZHOU, July 2 (Xinhua) — Angry relatives of an A/H1N1 flu patient who died “accidentally” Wednesday in east China’s Zhejiang Province stormed the hospital where she died as they suspected electric shock caused her death.
More than 20 of the patient’s relatives rushed into the No. 1 People’s Hospital of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou city, where the patient had been staying, and smashed the hall next to the gate and an ambulance with rocks. Glasses from the hall and flower terrace in front of the hospital were destroyed and the ambulance damaged.
The 34-year-old woman was found dead at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday in her ward lavatory at the No. 1 People’s Hospital of Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, according to the Hangzhou municipal health bureau.
Local police and health authorities are still investigating the cause.
The patient was recovering as her temperature had been normal for a week. She coughed occasionally, but other flu symptoms had disappeared.
She was admitted to the hospital on June 23.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/02/swine-flu-uk
UK swine flu can no longer be contained
Government moves to ‘treatment phase’ as health secretary says infection rate could reach 100,000 a day by end of August
David Batty guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 July 2009 13.19 BST
Swine flu is spreading so rapidly across Britain that there could be 100,000 new cases a day by the end of next month, the health secretary, Andy Burnham, said today.
The UK would immediately move to the “treatment phase” of its plan to combat swine flu, meaning doctors would no longer test for the H1N1 virus and urge anyone with symptoms to stay at home, Burnham told the House of Commons.
The first swine flu vaccine would be made available from August, with 60m doses available by the end of the year, he added.
“We have reached the next stage in management of the disease,” Burnham said. “The national focus will be on treating the increasing numbers affected by swine flu. We will move to this treatment phase across the UK with immediate effect.”
The move does not mean the H1N1 virus, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation last month, is becoming more deadly, just that it can no longer be contained.
Burnham said there was a “considerable rise” in swine flu cases last week.
“We have always known it would be impossible to contain the virus indefinitely and at some point we would need to move away from containment to treatment.
“Cases are doubling every week and on this trend we could see over 100,000 cases per day by the end of August.
“The pressure on the system is such that it is the right time to take this step. Scientists can expect to see rapid rises in the number of cases.”
The Health Protection Agency today announced that a further 518 patients in England had been confirmed with swine flu, while the figure for the UK as a whole rose to 7,447.
Efforts to trace people who had been in contact with swine flu cases would now stop and schools no longer needed to close when hit by the virus, unless particular circumstances made it necessary.
The government has said that not everybody with swine flu would receive anti-viral drugs, which may be reserved for at-risk groups.
The daily collation of swine flu cases would also end because it was proving time-consuming. Instead, “more general” estimates of numbers would be given. Other affected countries already update their swine flu numbers less frequently, such as weekly or every other day.
The official statistics on the virus were likely to underestimate the true scale of infection in the UK because now only a sample of patients in the hotspots had a diagnosis of swine flu confirmed by lab tests. Many people were thought to have such mild symptoms that they were not bothering to contact their doctors while others were being treated in surgeries without being regarded as suspected swine flu cases.
In swine flu hotspots such as London, the West Midlands and parts of Scotland diagnosis of the virus was already being done by doctors rather than laboratory testing, and tracing the contacts of people with swine flu and the use of preventative anti-viral drugs had stopped. Anti-viral drugs were still being offered to all people with symptoms.
Although a bout of swine flu was currently causing less serious illness than traditional seasonal flu, three people with other serious health conditions in the UK have died after catching the virus and there are concerns it could mutate into a more virulent form.
The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has warned that there may be tens of thousands of cases each week this autumn, because the virus is more likely to thrive in a colder climate.
Japan finds first case of H1N1 resistant to Tamiflu 02 Jul 2009 15:19:15 GMT
Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T254922.htm
TOKYO, July 2 (Reuters) - Japan has confirmed its first case of a genetic mutation of the new H1N1 influenza that shows resistance to antiviral drug Tamiflu, a health ministry official said on Thursday.[/b]
Takeshi Enami, an official at the health ministry, said that the patient’s sensitivity to Tamiflu had yet to be tested.
[b]The patient, who was confirmed in May with the H1N1 strain of the flu in the Osaka prefecture of western Japan, has recovered since then and that no cases of the new flu have been confirmed around the patient, Enami said.
He could not confirm the age or the sex of the patient. (Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Alex Richardson)
DoH urges GPs to make phone swine flu diagnoses
02-Jul-09
GPs should look to make a diagnosis of swine flu over the phone because the UK is moving to the treatment phase.
The move comes after the number of cases of swine flu doubled in a week. Currently, there are 7,447 confirmed cases of the virus in the UK.
If a GP decides a patient is presenting with symptoms of swine flu, they should now issue the patient with a voucher for antivirals. A family member or a ‘flu friend’ should then collect the antivirals from the collection point, such as a pharmacy.
Speaking at a briefing in central London today, health secretary Andy Burnham said that GPs should prioritise antivirals for at-risk patients, such as pregnant women, children under five and elderly patients over the age of 65.
Mr Burnham added that GPs were coping extremely well with the outbreak, and that the flu hotline was very close to launching.
‘This will help to take some of the pressure off GPs, he said.
Swine Flu Monitor: CDC Will Report Only Relenza Effective Against H1N1 Virus
Cheree Cleghorn
July 2, 2009
More than 99 percent of the seasonal H1N1 viruses have shown resistance to Tamiflu, which has been considered one of the first-line drugs for this strain in prior years.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee has found drug resistance in all but one of the anti-viral drugs used for influenza-like illness, “whether the infection is caused by a seasonal virus or the pandemic H1N1 virus.” (Emphasis added)
Since spring, SmithGlaxoKline, manufacturer of Relenza, has reported “ample” supplies of the drug through company statements and news stories.
Medpage Today
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ACIP/14896
“Zanamivir (Relenza), a neuraminidase inhibitor, should be the preferred treatment for patients with influenza-like illness, whether infection is caused by a seasonal virus or the pandemic H1N1 virus, an advisory committee to the CDC said. (Emphasis added)
“Even if laboratory tests are negative but flu is still suspected, zanamivir should be used when antiviral treatment is considered, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices agreed here.
“Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), another neuraminidase inhibitor, could be used in case of a test that’s positive for seasonal influenza A H3N2 or B, or for pandemic influenza A H1N1, although more than 99% of the seasonal H1N1 viruses were resistant to the drug, the committee noted.
“The recommendations were based on testing for antiviral resistance, which found that all strains recently isolated, including the new H1N1, were susceptible to zanamivir.
“Researchers found varying levels of resistance to the adamantanes, rimantadine and amantadine.”
“The recommendations, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, stressed that treatment should start as soon as possible for patients needing treatment.” ( Emphasis added)
Source: Medpage Today, June 29, 2009
Citation: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Publication Pending.
Here's a thought. Since it seems the powers that be and media make it such a point to stress that so many of those infected that died have underlying conditions (in an attempt to calm the public IMO), I wonder what percentage of the general population has an existing "underlying condition"?
From what I've read, these "underlying conditions" seem to span everything from pregnancies to lung and heart conditions to diabetes, to hypertension, etc. etc. Methinks if all the "underlying conditions" were added up in the general population we'd find that it amounts to a rather huge number of people, which then means that that portion of the population runs a much higher risk of dying from H1N1. I'm betting that statistic would open up some eyes.
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