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 ...
PE risk highlighted in severely ill swine flu patientsBy Lynda Williams15 October 2009Am J Roentgenol 2009; Advance online publicationMedWire News: Computed tomography (CT) scanning should be performed in patients severely affected by the swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus, say US researchers, who found such patients have an increased risk for pulmonary embolism (PE).
“CT scans proved valuable in identifying those patients at risk of developing more serious complications as a possible result of the H1N1 virus, and for identifying a greater extent of disease than is appreciated on chest radiographs,” said lead author Prachi Agarwal (University of Michigan Health Service, Ann Arbor).
Agarwal and co-workers examined chest radiographs of 66 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of the disease between May and July 2009.
Fourteen of the patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and required mechanical ventilation while the remaining 52 patients did not. ICU patients were more likely to be male and were older (43.5 vs 22.1 years) than those who did not require ICU admission.
Overall, 42% of patients had abnormalities in their initial chest radiograph. The most common finding was patchy consolidation (50%), usually in the lower (71%) and central (71%) lung zones.
All ICU patients had abnormal initial radiographs and 13 (93%) had extensive disease, defined as affecting three or more lung zones, compared with just 9.6% of non-ICU patients. Furthermore, 13 (93%) of ICU patients had more than 20% of their lungs affected compared with none of the non-ICU patients.
Chest CT was performed in 10 ICU and five non-ICU patients using intravenous contrast. PE was diagnosed in five (36%) of the ICU group. One patient developed a saddle embolus at the bifurcation of the main pulmonary artery, and another had lobular emboli, while two were diagnosed with segmental and one with subsegmental PE. A further two patients were diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis.
“Although sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome are known to represent hypercoagulable states, acute PE is not a common complication of influenza infection,” Agarwal et al Nevertheless, they write: “Knowledge of this complication, which presumably is secondary to a hypercoagulable state in these patients, is important not only for the clinicians taking care of the patient but also for the radiologist so as to avoid missing emboli on contrast-enhanced CTs performed for other reasons.”
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2009
Free full text [PDF]
More on the 5 year old in Otay Mesa reported yesterday...
Swine flu death stuns Otay Mesa school
By Karen Kucher
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
10:34 a.m. October 15, 2009
OTAY MESA — Stunned by the news that a 5-year-old student at the campus died from swine flu, parents dropping their children off at Howard Pence Elementary School on Thursday talked of making sure their children were immunized and reminding them to wash their hands frequently.
A kindergartner at the school who has not been identified died early Saturday at Rady Children’s Hospital. The girl had suffered from flu symptoms for two days and collapsed in the hospital waiting room. Doctors later determined that the H1N1 flu virus had infected her heart muscle.
Parents learned Monday that a child who attended the Otay Mesa school had died but didn’t know the cause until Wednesday, when county health officials held a news conference. Many said they planned to inquire about flu vaccinations for their children immediately.
“I was terrified,” said Brandi Ware, as she walked her kindergartener, Mikalia, and her first-grader, Mikiah, to school. “I’m planning to go get the vaccinations as soon as possible.”
Ware said she didn’t know the child who died or whether she was in the same classroom as her youngest daughter. She said she was concerned because “they play on the same playground” and said she planned to monitor her own children’s health closely.
“She’s a 5-year-old; her life is just beginning,” she said of the girl who died. “She was just a baby.”
Larry Norvell, who was walking his grandniece, Dnajn Zackie, to school, said he was shocked by the news. Dnajn, who is in kindergarten, said her class made a card for the parents of the child who died. “We made a card for her parents so they could feel a little better,” the 5-year-old said.
Norvell said he didn’t think about keeping his grandniece out of school. “Things like this happen. We can’t prevent them sometimes,” he said.
Richard Inzunza, a father of three boys, said he and his wife plan to make sure their children get flu shots this week if possible. “I told my wife, ‘I would rather see them cry for a few hours than not cry for the rest of their lives,’ ” he said.
He said his son Christian is a kindergartner, but the boy doesn’t know if the girl who died was in his class or not. He said he may take his son to the doctor to be checked out, just to be safe.
The elementary school had just concluded a two-week break when parents learned of the child’s death. Inzunza and other parents said they think that the girl was possibly infected during the break, rather than when she was at school.
“It is tough. I wouldn’t want to be in the parents’ footsteps — it’s devastating,” he said. “It is hitting close to home now.”
Laura Garcia, who has a second-grader at the school, said she planned to buy hand sanitizer to put in her daughter’s backpack. “I just told her, ‘Try to wash your hands as much as you can,’ ” she said.
Russell Coronado, director of student services for the South Bay Union School District, said there haven’t been any unusual spikes in absences reported at the school, which has about 600 students ranging from kindergarten through sixth grade. He said staff members are trying to make sure students have “a normal day for our kids.”
Several letters have been sent home to parents, telling them of the student’s death and reviewing the importance of washing hands and using hand sanitizers. The latest letter reminded parents to keep sick children who have a fever home for at least 24 hours after the fever disappears.
“We come to think of each student as a member of our school family, and any loss affects us all deeply,” Superintendent Carol Parish wrote in the letter.
Union-Tribune
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/15/san-diego-8212-stunned-news/?health&zIndex=183256
H1N1 flu causes unusual damage to lungs - studies
Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:28pm IST
WASHINGTON Reuters) - The new pandemic H1N1 flu may cause blood clots and other unusual damage in the lungs and doctors need to be on the lookout, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Two studies published in the American Journal of Roentgenology show the need to check X-rays and CT scans for unusual features, and also point out swine flu can be tricky to diagnose in some of the sickest patients.
H1N1 flu is causing a pandemic, and while it is not particularly deadly, it is sickening many younger adults and older children who usually escape the worst effects of seasonal flu.
“It is therefore essential that clinicians be able to recognize possible cases of pandemic H1N1 influenza in high-risk groups so that they order the appropriate diagnostic tests, begin specific antiviral therapy, and prepare to provide intensive supportive measures as needed,” Dr. Daniel Mollura of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Maryland and colleagues wrote.
One middle-aged man who died was not diagnosed until after death, but unusual findings on his X-rays may be able to help doctors save other, similar patients.
Mollura’s team found irregularities called ground-glass opacities in the patient’s lungs using a CT scan. Although the patient was severely ill and had a fever, he tested negative for flu and doctors did not treat him for it.
The man died five days after he went into the hospital and the autopsy confirmed he had swine flu. The lung lesions seen on his CT scan matched lung damage done by the virus, Mollura and colleagues said.
In another study in the same journal, CT scans of patients with severe cases of swine flu showed many had pulmonary emboli, which block the arteries in the lungs, a team at the University of Michigan found.
Anticoagulant drugs can break up these clots and save lives.
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-43194320091015
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/study-h1n1-flu-transmission-varies-type-exposure/2009-09-16
Study: H1N1 flu transmission varies by type of exposure
September 16, 2009 — 12:02pm ET | By Anne Zieger
Folks, we don’t mean for FierceHealthcare to become The Swine Flu Journal, but the following seemed like it would be of interest to any health professional charged with helping to contain the spread of the bug, so here goes. According to a new study, swine flu infection rates vary meaningfully depending on which exposure pathway is involved, be it touching, coughing, inhaling air or other vector of transmission.
The study, which appears in the journal Risk Analysis, concluded that 52 percent of swine flu infections were acquired when a person came into close contact with an infected person spraying cough droplets another person’s into eyes, nostrils or lips.
It also concludes, meanwhile, that 31 percent of those diagnosed with H1N1 flu were most likely infected through hand contact with contaminated surfaces. Another 17 percent probably became infected by inhaling small particles carrying the virus when in the room with a previously-infected person.
Researchers say the study supports the notion that caregivers should wear gloves and a filtering face piece respirator when in a confined room with a swine flu victim.
To learn more about this issue:
http://aitoolkit.org/Home/News/StudiesNovelH1N1affectsdeeplungtissuetransmitsfairlywell.aspx
Studies: Novel H1N1 affects deep lung tissue, transmits fairly well
/ Return to News PageBy: Maryn McKenna and Lisa Schnirring, Staff Writers
Jul 2, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – The novel H1N1 (swine) influenza now circling the globe causes more serious lung disease than seasonal flu strains and sheds from the lung and throat tissue where it reproduces at higher rates, according to two animal studies published today—findings that could explain autopsies and case reports of severe pneumonia as well as the virus’s rapid spread.
And while the studies, conducted in ferrets and mice, agree that the new flu passes fairly well between individuals, they disagree over the effectiveness of different modes of transmission.
A team from Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the virus transmits easily between ferrets housed in cages whose walls are 4 inches apart. But a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the novel virus only transmitted well when the ferrets shared direct contact—a sign, that team said, that the new virus has not yet fully adapted to mammals.
The European team, though, warned that the new H1N1 is adapted enough to compete with seasonal flu strains for turf in humans. It “has the ability to persist in the human population, potentially with more severe clinical consequences,” they wrote. Both studies were published online today by the journal Science.
CDC/MIT: Deeper infections with novel H1N1
In the study from the CDC and MIT group, investigators tested the ability of three different novel H1N1 isolates to cause disease in ferrets and mice and assessed the transmissibility of the new virus in ferrets by comparing it to a seasonal H1N1 virus. Ferrets groups were inoculated intranasally with one of the four viruses, then 24 hours later were either placed in the same cage with flu-naive ferrets to gauge contact transmission or were placed in a cage adjacent to naive animals to test droplet transmission. Researchers monitored ferrets’ clinical signs for 14 days. Investigators measured transmission by assessing viral titers in nasal washes and by detecting viral antibodies in the blood of recovering animals.
The animals that received the novel flu viruses lost more weight than the ones that were infected with the seasonal flu strain. Viral shedding patterns were similar for the novel flu groups and the seasonal flu group. Investigators, however, detected high titers of viruses in the lower respiratory tracts of animals infected with two of the three novel H1N1 viruses but not the seasonal flu virus. The group also found the novel flu virus in the intestinal tracts of the novel-H1N1–infected animals, consistent with gastrointestinal symptoms that have been reported in humans infected with the new virus.
Direct contact vs droplet spread
In the transmission comparison arm of the study, the researchers found that the seasonal H1N1 virus transmitted quickly and completely by droplet transmission and direct contact among the ferrets. However, the novel H1N1 viruses did not spread by droplets to all ferrets, and transmission was delayed by 5 or more days in two of six infected pairs.
The group wrote that their findings suggest the morbidity and lung viral titers are higher in ferrets infected with the novel H1N1 virus and that, while the virus spread completely among contact group, it did not always spread to the ferrets in the droplet transmission group. “This lack of efficient respiratory droplet transmission suggests that additional virus adaptation in mammals may be required to reach the high-transmissible phenotypes observed with seasonal H1N1 or the 1918 pandemic virus,” the group wrote.
In just one of the puzzles presented by the new virus, the CDC-MIT team found that the novel H1N1 lacks two genetic characteristics that normally encourage flu viruses to bind to the respiratory tract and replicate: an affinity for alpha-2,6 receptors in the lungs, and an amino acid substitution in a gene known as PB2 (for polymerase basic protein 2) that allows the virus to replicate at airway temperatures. The lack of those two features suggests that the new flu has not completed its adaptation to humans, and “should be closely monitored as markers for enhanced virus transmission,” the authors wrote.
Terrence Tumpey, PhD, the study’s corresponding author and senior microbiologist in the CDC’s influenza division, told CIDRAP News that the study shows that the new virus is transmitting, but not quite as well as seasonal strains. “Seasonal strains transmit like clockwork as soon as we push the cages together,” he added. Researchers who have worked with ferrets during influenza studies can readily tell the difference when they stand outside the cages and listen for sneezes, he said. Ferrets infected with seasonal strains sneeze frequently, those inoculated with avian influenza strains sneeze hardly at all, and those who are sick with the new H1N1 virus sneeze somewhere in between those two levels, Tumpey said. “We think it [the new virus] could still make additional changes to become more transmissible,” Tumpey said. “We need to keep a close eye on the virus and monitor for changes.”
Dutch study: High transmission with droplets and aerosol
In the Dutch study, ferrets were inoculated with a novel H1N1 from the first known case in the Netherlands, a 3-year-old child who had developed a fever and respiratory symptoms and recovered. (Genomic analysis showed that the virus from the Dutch child was only minimally different from the California isolate used in the CDC study.)
The virus was administered to ferrets, and their course was compared to that of ferrets given a seasonal flu virus isolated in the Netherlands in the 2006-2007 season. Across the board, the ferrets that received the novel H1N1 shed 1.5 times more virus from their respiratory tracts than ferrets infected with seasonal flu. Virus was present in their lungs and trachea, rather than just in their noses, and they also experienced more tissue damage that went deeper into their lungs.
In the most striking difference from the CDC group, the ferrets in the Dutch study caught the H1N1 flu from one another “via aerosol or respiratory droplets.” In another difference, the Dutch study did not find any viral replication outside the animals’ respiratory tracts; livers, spleens, kidneys and brains were free of H1N1 on necropsy. (There was no indication the Dutch team did pathology on their ferrets’ intestinal tracts.)
Though the ferrets in the Dutch study were moderately ill at most, the authors warned that the novel H1N1’s ability to transmit easily and replicate throughout the respiratory tract could make it a serious health threat in humans. Because seasonal flu strains replicate high in the nose and throat, and avian flu replicates deep in the airways, co-infection with either could product a reassorted virus that causes more serious human disease or picks up drug-resistance factors from currently circulating seasonal strains, they said.
Transmission around globe not slowing
Lending anecdotal credence to the transmissibility of novel H1N1 has been its continued spread among people worldwide. As community spread of the virus takes hold in more parts of the world, the virus is showing up anywhere that groups of people gather, such as:
· Summer camps. Officials from the Muscular Dystrophy Association shuttered the group’s summer camps after the virus was detected at several locations, prompting the CDC to issue new guidance.
· Prisons. The virus struck a women’s prison near Miami, sickening at least six women, with more than a dozen other suspected cases, and the virus is suspected at a facility in Queensland, Australia
· Athletic events. Members of a women’s basketball team returning to Iraq were confirmed as the country’s first cases, an Australian athlete was infected with the virus at the World University Games in Belgrade, and flu fears surfaced this week as some Wimbledon players became ill.
· Cruise ships. Three crew members on a Seattle-Alaska cruise were isolated in their rooms after testing positive for the virus, and a Dutch boat based in Aruba was turned away from different ports in the Caribbean after some crew and passengers began showing symptoms.
In addition, earlier this week, health authorities from Saudi Arabia warned high-risk groups to avoid the hajj pilgrimage that starts in late November because the crowded setting could post a flu-transmission risk. And a study that appeared this week in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that of 20 countries that had the highest travel volume to Mexico in 2007 and 2008, 16 had experienced recent novel H1N1 importations from the country.
Commenting on this community spread during the summer months, influenza expert William C. Schaffner, MD, told CIDRAP News, “This transmission in summer camps reminds us that not all summer camps are rural, with kids living in open cabins. There are many summer camps that resemble school—my grandchildren just went to theater summer camp; other kids go to computer or music summer camps.
“That plus the fact that this is a new virus, in a completely susceptible population, namely children and young adults, is clearly contributing to this ongoing transmission. I don’t mind saying the degree of transmission has surprised me and frankly most of my colleagues also.”
Schaffner, professor and chair in the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, added “I think the ongoing transmission this summer and what we know is happening in the southern hemisphere—in Argentina and in Australia and New Zealand—is going to be a harbinger of what is going to happen this next influenza season in the United States. “We all anticipate that H1N1 will be a dominant if not the dominant influenza strain.”
Maines TR, Jayaraman A, Belser J, et al. Transmission and pathogenesis of swine-origin 2009 A(H1N1) influenza viruses in ferrets and mice. Science 2009 Jul 2; early online edition
[Abstract: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1177238]
Munster VJ, de Wit E, van den Brand JM, et al. Pathogenesis and transmission of swine-origin 2009 A(H1N1) influenza virus in ferrets Science 2009 Jul 2; early online edition
[Abstract: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1177127]
Khan K, Arino J, Hu W, et al. Spread of a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus via global airline transportation. (Letter) N Engl J Med 2009 (published online Jun 29)
[Full text: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/NEJMc0904559v1.pdf]
CIDRAP News, Wednesday 2 July 2009
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/jul0209h1n1.html
On a lighter note: my college-age granddaughter had the swine flu last week. She is over it already, and ready to go back to class tomorrow.
This is my first close family member to be diagnosed with it. She goes to a PA. State Univ. branch near Philly. Lots of her classmates are out with the flu.
I’m glad your grandaughter is doing good .
You know how there is all those report’s of people getting the flu from school . I wonder how many people who were exposed that didn’t get it ?
Del. swine flu cases jump
By HIRAN RATNAYAKE • The News Journal • October 15, 2009
Delaware’s Division of Public Health announced Thursday that the cases of swine flu in the state have leaped since its last count.
For Oct. 4-10, the most recent week for which data is available, Delaware had 179 new confirmed cases of swine (or H1N1) flu and 131 reports of influenza-like illnesses from its sentinel providers.
By comparison, during the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3, there were 69 confirmed cases of swine flu and 31 new reports of influenza-like illnesses.
The public health division said it has been receiving reports of influenza-like illnesses from an expanded list of providers under its surveillance system, so those figures were expected to be higher.
“Although this number should not be directly compared to what was released last week, it showed a marked increase in confirmed cases, and the influenza-like illness (number) suggests that we are seeing a surge of influenza activity,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the public health division.
Rattay also said that state health officials have been told to expect 32,900 doses of injectable swine flu vaccine and 5,769 doses of swine flu nasal spray, known as FluMist, to arrive next week that can be used at schools.
Last week, the division announced that 17,000 doses were expected to arrive this week. Many of those doses were intended for pregnant women. But the state reported Wednesday that some of those doses won’t come until next week. The division said it did not know the reason for the delay
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091015/HEALTH/91015036/Del.+swine+flu+cases+jump
What is the Swine Flu Incubation Period?Cape woman dies from H1N1 - FL
Report no pre-existing condition
By MCKENZIE CASSIDY, mcassidy@breezenewspapers.com
POSTED: October 15, 2009
Cape Coral had its first fatality from the H1N1 virus Wednesday.
The Lee County Health Department reported that a 30-year-old woman with no other medical conditions died after contracting the flu strain.
Recent debate on H1N1 has focused on the deadliness of the strain and whether getting the vaccine is necessary. So far 112 deaths have been reported in Florida with 20 of them under the age of 24.
There have been four H1N1-related deaths in Lee County.
“We offer our sincere condolences to this woman’s family and friends for their loss,” said Dr. Judith Hartner, director of the Lee County Health Department.
Many of the other deaths statewide have involved people not much older than 50, and while many cases of the flu strain are mild, the health department is still recommending that everyone gets the vaccine.
“While most cases of H1N1 swine flu are mild, there are exceptions,” Hartner said. “This is why the Lee County Health Department urges our community to get vaccinations against H1N1, a virus to which we have no immunity.”
In Lee County, a 57-year-old woman died from the virus in August and a 51-year-old man died in July. Neither had any pre-existing conditions.
The seasonal flu vaccine is currently available in Lee County, but doctors and drug stores have stated that supplies are running short because more people are getting the shots to stop from getting the regular flu.
Each year 36,000 people nationwide die from seasonal influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
A shipment of the H1N1 vaccine arrived in the first week of October to immunize health workers and emergency medical personnel, but the rest has been late in coming.
Original estimates had more supplies coming in mid-October, when the vaccine would first be given to children, pregnant women and those with pre-existing conditions.
Health department clinics and 12 area high schools will begin offering the vaccine countywide starting Oct. 26, one week later than originally planned, according to a prepared statement from the department.
“We are delaying the start of the public vaccination clinics by one week to increase our confidence that we will be able to meet the demand,” Hartner said.
Most people want the H1N1 vaccine, but there is some fear over its safety. A vaccine for a similar strain of swine flu in 1976 resulted in 30 people dying from a nerve disorder called Guillain-Barr syndrome they allegedly contracted from the shot.
One report from the Associated Press stated that children under the age of 10 may need two of the vaccines to be fully immunized, according to licensed children’s vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur.
VA: H1N1 Vaccination Sites Announced
The VA Dept of Health website has been updated to provide a list of the locations that will be providing the H1N1 vax. The site states that the vax will not be available until mid-November.
Looking at the categories it looks like:
> health departments
> pharmacies (CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc.)
> pharmacies in grocery stores
> Federally Qualified Health Centers (??)
> School Districts (it does not indicate if this is a site open to the public, or if they will only be vaccinating students)
NO doctors offices or hospitals are on the list.
See http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DiseasePrevention/H1N1/VaccinationSites.htm
Swine-flu related deaths confirmed in Polk and Seminole countiesNumber of fatalities rises to 121 statewide
Sentinel Staff Writer
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A 56-year-old Polk County woman and a 58-year-old Volusia County man are among the latest confirmed deaths due to complications from H1N1 (swine) flu, state health officials said today.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-swine-update-101509,0,5132721.story
First H1N1 death reported in Tippecanoe Co. - IN
By TAYA FLORES • tflores@jconline.com • October 15, 2009
A 40-year-old woman died Thursday in Tippecanoe County from H1N1 influenza, according to health officials.
This is the first reported death from H1N1 in Tippecanoe County.
The woman died Thursday morning from overwhelming respiratory failure at a local hospital. She had a previous medical condition that caused her to have complications from the H1N1 virus, said Dr. Michael Bohlin, health officer for the Tippecanoe County Health Department.
Bohlin would not release the woman’s name or the name of the medical condition. He did not provide information about where the woman lived.
Bohlin said to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, Tippecanoe County residents should become vaccinated as soon as the vaccine becomes available to them.
He also advised local residents to take the same precautions health officials have been touting since the beginning of the H1N1 outbreak, such as washing one’s hands and coughing into one’s sleeve.
For more on this story, check back with jconline.com and read Friday’s J&C.
http://www.jconline.com/article/20091015/NEWS09/91015021
40-Year-Old Naturita Man Dies From Swine Flu - CO
by Beverly CorbellOct 15, 2009
MONTROSE – A 40-year-old Naturita man died Wednesday from swine flu at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, according to Karen Connor of the Montrose County Health Department.
Connor said the man, whose name has not been released, had no previous health conditions that she’s aware of. She said the man’s death does not mean the disease is spreading any faster, but that it should be taken seriously and people in high risk categories should get a swine flu vaccination.
“It should not raise an alarm, but should indicate it can be a serious illness and people do need to get a vaccination,” she said.
The free flu shots are being offered at the Montrose Health Department today and tomorrow at 1845 South Townsend Avenue. Medical personnel up to age 49 and children ages 2 to 4 can receive the nasal mist vaccination, Connor said. Those giving direct patient care over the age of 49 can receive the injection. Pregnant women can receive the injection, but not the nasal mist, and anyone providing care for children under 6 should be immunized. Whether they get the mist or the shot depends on their age.
There is no charge for the flu vaccination, Connor said, but private practitioners may charge an administrative fee that can be billed to insurance.
http://www.telluridewatch.com/pages/contact_us/?
Swine flu deaths rise to 219 in Calif.
The Associated Press
Posted: 10/15/2009 12:34:20 PM PDT
Updated: 10/15/2009 12:34:20 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES—State health officials say there have been 219 swine flu deaths in California, up from 188 last month.
California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Mark Horton said Thursday in Sacramento that the number of deaths is expected to rise.
Horton says a sample of doctors from across the state are reporting that about 5 percent of their patients are presenting with symptoms of flu. About 2 percent is normal for this time of year.
Horton says about 95 percent of those presenting with flu symptoms this season have swine flu.
Swine flu vaccines continues to arrive in California, with 600,000 doses of the nasal spray and 150,000 doses of the injectable vaccine distributed to date.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13569102
Student With H1N1 Dies - Saskatchewan
Health officials not sure he died from the virus
By David Kirton
Posted October 15, 2009 - 1:35pm
The Horizon School Division confirms that a boy who went to Wynyard Composite High School, and who had contracted the H1N1 flu virus, has died.
Director of Education Marc Danylchuk says this is not the same student that prompted the division’s flu pandemic plan to be launched last week, “We only became aware of this situation late Monday.”
The school division also says health officials aren’t yet sure if it was the virus that caused the death. If confirmed, it would be Saskatchewan’s 5th H1 N1 death.
A facebook group has been set up as family and friends mourn the Wynyard teen.
The division has cancelled a number of events in Wynyard as a result of the death. A weekend Cross Country track meet has been moved to Regina.
http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20091015/23901
DeKalb quarantines inmates with flu symptoms
By Larry Hartstein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The DeKalb County Jail has quarantined 30 of its 3,500 inmates amid concern about a flu outbreak
Eleven inmates have shown flu syptoms. They and about 20 others who might have had contact with them have been isolated from the general population. One inmate is in the infirmary.
Jail officials have restricted visitation, and staff members are wearing masks when working in the quarantined area.
Officials believe the problem began with an inmate who entered the jail Tuesday.
The jail’s medical staff has instructed inmates and staff members on protective measures they should be taking.
“Jail officials remind the public that precautionary measures will also be taken should an isolated inmate reach the date for release from jail,” the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb-quarantines-inmates-with-163764.html
Kudoe & HatTip To Poster get a grippe who posted the below at PFI
I have updated the list of children’s H1N1 deaths through Oct. 14. The current total stands at 142. The link:
http://www.singtomeohmuse.com/viewtopic.php?p=249344&highlight=#249344
I have abandoned the attempt to track the number of total H1N1 deaths. (Sorry, Eccles.) I tried to copy howmanydays’ google spreadsheet and update the total to the present, but I found that I was unable to do a computer “page search” on the result, rendering it useless. Without a reliable database, it becomes impossible to separate the new deaths from the old. (I am afraid my voluminous paper notes are no longer up to the task. And they certainly don’t do anybody else any good.) Additionally, the reports we are getting now are so spotty and contradictory as to be rendered utterly meaningless. And we have no real baseline for comparison anyway. (36,000 anyone?)
Despite my obsessive/compulsive nature, I am forced to fall back on pseudo-philosopher Jack Handey: “If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let ‘em go, because man, they’re gone.”
Although the reports are partial for children as well, the numbers are still manageable, and we do have some real numbers for comparison:
US Annual Pediatric Influenza Deaths, 2003-2009:
2003-2004: 152 (a bad flu season, which prompted the separate reporting of pediatric deaths)
2004-2005: 39
2005-2006: 41
2006-2007: 68
2007-2008: 83
2008-2009: 68 (seasonal flu only)
According to CDC numbers, an average of 75 children have died from seasonal flu every year since the 2003-2004 flu season.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivity.htm
While the CDC may have revised these numbers upward slightly, they still give us a basis for comparison. Even with only partial reporting we are already approaching the total for the most deadly year for children since the CDC began compiling records.
So instead of dipping into the molten lava, I will henceforth confine myself to searching under the streetlight.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/swine-flu-infiltrates-tmz/#
Swine Flu Infiltrates TMZ
Posted Oct 15th 2009 2:38PM by TMZ Staff
E.I.E.I.Oh no! A TMZ employee is down with the swine, and we think there’s a connection to a boy band and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Chad Weiser just called with the bad news. He’s got the H1N1. And here’s where the plot thickens. Chad works in the production of TMZ TV and handled the tapes we got of Brian Littrell and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, both swine flu survivors.
No one gets out of the office all day, so it’s like a petri dish in here.
HELP!!!! And pass the Purell.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/swine-flu-infiltrates-tmz/##ixzz0U2qlQ0I7
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/swine-flu-infiltrates-tmz/##ixzz0U2qfct2X
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s1190477.shtml?cat=504
Hospital sees record number of flu patients
Posted at: 10/13/2009 9:12 PM | Updated at: 10/13/2009 9:23 PM
By: Erisa Nakano, Eyewitness News 4; Matthew Kappus, KOB.com
San Juan Regional Medical Center
A big jump in the number of confirmed H1N1 cases in the Four Corners area is forcing hospital staff to be extra careful with their health.
The San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington saw a record number of patients in the ER Monday. In the last month, six people have been hospitalized with H1N1.
Doctors can’t stress it enough—if you think you have the flu, don’t go to the hospital unless your symptoms are severe.
“These are all things that are so important not only in protecting other patients who are ill or sick or injured with other things while they’re in the hospital, but as well as preventing staff and family members from getting ill,” said emergency physician Eric Ketcham.
The medical center implemented new rules this week to prevent the spread of the flu.
“You may see a lot of people in the waiting areas with masks on. We want to minimize exposure to people that come in with a broken leg or a sprained ankle that don’t have the flu,” the medical center’s Penny Hill said.
The state health department doesn’t want children under the age of 14 visiting the hospital. Doctors say the flu virus stays with children longer than adults. They also don’t want people who are already sick visiting.
On Tuesday, the hospital received its first batch of 100 H1N1 nasal spray vaccine. It will go to medical staff who have direct contact with patients.
The medical center expects a shipment of the H1N1 flu vaccine to arrive later in October that will be available to the public.
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