Posted on 06/24/2009 8:04:24 AM PDT by metmom
CA:
Swine flu victim’s family to sue WHC
By MELODY STONE/mstone@dailydemocrat.com
Created: 08/11/2009 03:00:35 AM PDT
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_13036188
Yolo County’s first H1N1 related death occurred over the weekend, and now the parents of the swine flu victim are taking legal action against Woodland Healthcare.
Stacey Speegle Hernandez, 30, of Esparto, fell sick with H1N1 and died at Woodland Memorial Hospital on Aug. 7. WHCruns the hospital.
Hernandez’s mother, Tamara Brooks, and her stepfather, Sam, said they felt Hernandez’s death could have been avoided with the administration of anti-viral medicine and sooner admittance into the hospital.
“We just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Sam said.
Brooks took Hernandez to Woodland Healthcare on July 24 when she started complaining for flu symptoms. Hospital staff administered a rapid test to verify the strain of flu. They identified the strain as type A influenza, and later confirmed H1N1 (swine flu).
H1N1 is a combination of flu strains and originated in Mexico last winter, since then the strain has spread through out the world.
When Hernandez’s condition got worst, Brooks brought Hernandez back to Woodland Healthcare. The doctors said Hernandez had pneumonia and gave her antibiotics and sent her home.
Brooks said at this point Hernandez could barely talk and was very weak. She continued to get worst, so Brooks called the hospital again.
Brooks said the hospital staff said Hernandez should see her primary care physician. Brooks took Hernandez to the Esparto CommuniCare Clinic to see a primary care physician, where the doctor said she should be admitted to a hospital immediately. Hernandez was admitted to Woodland Healthcare and passed away several days later.
“We never thought (swine flu) would hit any of us,” Brooks said. Hernandez was an EMT, volunteer firefighter, and in good physical condition.
Hernandez leaves behind a 10-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.
“On June 11, 2009 the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert level to six, indicating a global pandemic is underway,” said a release from the County of Yolo Health Department. “Novel H1N1 accounts for 98 percent of Influenza A nationwide and almost all Influenza A in California at this time.”
Woodland Healthcare could not speak to Hernandez’s specific case, because of patient privacy laws. In an e-mail statement, Woodland Healthcare said it follows the Center for Disease Control guidelines as it pertains to treating persons with symptoms of the flu.
Hernandez was not considered a high-risk patient and was treated as such, Brooks said. Her descriptions of the treatment match CDC’s guidelines.
High risk patients include children less than five years of age, adults 65 or older; those with chronic pulmonary, cardiovascular, renal, hepatic, hematological, neurologic, neuromuscular, or metabolic disorders (including diabetes); immunosuppressed, pregnant women; patients younger than 19 receiving long-term aspirin therapy; residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities; and obese patients (body mass index greater than 35).
_________________
UK:
Family devastated at loss of soldier from swine flu
Published Date: 11 August 2009
By David Rankin
http://www.colerainetimes.co.uk/news/Family-devastated-at-loss-of.5541906.jp
THE Coleraine family of swine flu victim, Lee Porter, have described him as their “rock”.
Hundreds of mourners gathered last Saturday morning to pay their respects to the popular and much loved Coleraine soldier.
Tributes were paid to Bombardier Porter, a member of the Royal Artillery, who was in the south of England at a training camp when he contracted the bug and died.
The 30-year-old, who was with the Territorial Army, is thought to be the first UK serviceman to have fallen victim with to swine flu.
Bombardier Porter’s heartbroken parents Ross and Esther and younger brother Jason were supported by close family members during a private religious service in their family home. His burial took place at Portstewart Cemetery.
A statement from the family said:
“Lee was a fit, healthy and active young man, who tragically died on July 31, 2009 from respiratory failure and pneumonia, caused by the H1N1 virus. He had no underlying health problem and completed a full Army medical in May of this year.
“Lee joined the Army Cadet Force at the age of 13. He was a very enthusiastic Cadet who was interested in all aspects of Cadet activities.
“He especially had a passion for target rifle shooting. He was honoured to be the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet. At the age of 18 Lee furthered his career in the ACF by becoming an Adult Instructor, where he became a role model to so many young Cadets. He progressed to the rank of Company Sergeant Major (CSMI).
Also at the age of 18 Lee joined the Territorial Army (206 Battery Royal Artillery Volunteers) where he rose to the rank of Bombardier. He was a member of this Regiment for a considerable time and such was very much part of the family.
“Lee’s full time occupation was with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. He was very much a man who understood the meaning of the word “service” and contributed so much to the nation.
“The devastation of losing Lee has greatly affected the entire family circle and friends. Lee had time for everyone around him and took great interest in all of us. He was big hearted and witty with a caring nature.
“He was very sensitive to the needs of others, was compassionate, generous and a true friend to all. We have not only lost a son, a brother and a friend but the rock of our family.
East Londonderry MLA David McClarty extended his deepest condolences to the family.
He said: “Lee was a young man of only 30 years old, and had his whole life ahead of him. He was someone who was deeply involved in his local community, and his willingness to serve and help others was evident in his work in the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service and his service in the Royal Artillery.
“There is no doubt that this is a young man who touched the lives of many people far beyond his home town, and I know that their thoughts and prayers will be with Lee’s family and friends at this terrible time.”
THE Ministry of Defence has apologised to the family of Northern Ireland’s first swine flu fatality.
Initially the MoD said the 30-year-old bombadier from Coleraine had suffered underlying medical conditions which were exacerbated after he contracted the H1N1 virus.
But last Thursday the MoD was forced to withdraw this assessment after concerns were raised by Mr Porter’s grieving family. His parents had become distressed by media speculation, fearing important information may have been kept from them.
A spokesman from the MoD said:”The MoD has apologised unreservedly to the family and for anything we said that we indicated caused concern at that tragic time.”
Family and friends gathered at the Porter family home on Saturday to pay their last respects to the 30-year-old.
Swine Flu Vaccine: What The Heck Is an Adjuvant, Anyway?
Booster May Extend Vaccine Supplies; Some Have Safety Concerns
By JOSEPH BROWNSTEIN
ABC News Medical Unit
Aug. 11, 2009—
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/Story?id=8296948&page=2
While drug makers prepare a swine flu vaccine in anticipation of a possible outbreak this fall, one of the issues yet to be resolved is whether the shots will contain an adjuvant.
“It’s something that allows the immune system to respond with higher levels of effectiveness,” said Dr. David Fedson, formerly a professor of medicine at the University of Virginia and former medical director for the pharmaceutical company Aventis Pasteur.
Adjuvants can include various forms of aluminum and are typically used with other vaccines in the United States, including vaccinations for hepatitis A and B, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). In a flu vaccine, the adjuvant would be a water-oil mixture.
By using them in various vaccines, doctors hope to reduce the amount of the vaccine itself that is needed.
“Hopefully, in the future, they’re going to lead to the ability to get a better immune response with much less vaccine,” Dr. Andrew Pavia, chair of the public health committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a professor of professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah, said in an interview with ABC News last September.
The ability to stretch a supply of swine flu vaccine — and an adjuvant’s ability to help to do that — is not trivial. Fears have arisen about whether there will be enough swine flu vaccine available. Adjuvants can allow dosing to be much smaller.
For example, Fedson points to trials for a bird flu vaccine in which 90 micrograms of an antigen — a flu virus’s “signature” that allows for an immune response — could be reduced to 3.75 micrograms when an adjuvant was introduced, effectively enabling 24 times more doses.
“By adding an adjuvant, you gain what is known as an antigen sparing effect,” Fedson said.
While flu vaccine doses typically use 15 micrograms of antigen, adjuvants could increase that significantly.
“Being able to produce four times as many vaccines is a huge advantage in terms of public health,” Fedson said.
At the same time, vaccines have long been plagued by safety concerns — whether legitimate or not — and the use of adjuvants is only likely to add to that. No flu vaccine approved for use in the United States has ever contained an adjuvant.
“It wasn’t felt to be necessary, because the flu vaccines that have been used for decades in this country & were rather broadly protective,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “We felt that the immune response of the vaccine was pretty good to begin with.”
Safety and Availability Fears May Clash
Fears surrounding the swine flu vaccine are often attributed to the vaccine for the 1976 swine flu epidemic when a few hundred people came down with Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving the swine flu vaccine.
While the bad publicity led to the halting of the vaccine program after 40 million Americans had received the vaccine, no link has ever been proven between the vaccine and Guillain-Barré.
But concerns about what might happen with the vaccines remain, and the addition of adjuvant is likely to add more fuel to the fire.
The initial trials of the swine flu vaccine for the United States will be with the unadjuvanted form, while later trials with an adjuvanted form may take place if deemed necessary.
“We’ll probably be looking at that in a few weeks in case we don’t get as good a response with the unadjuvanted vaccine,” Fauci said. “We don’t plan to start any trials on adjuvants at least until we get a bit into the adjuvanted trials.”
He said that a mild flu season would likely mean the trials of a vaccine with an adjuvant would not get started. But a swine flu that returned quickly and spread quickly might force their usage.
“It’s something that we’re keeping as a contingency in case we need to use them,” Fauci said. “Right now, the main priority is to test the unadjuvanted vaccine.”
Should an adjuvant be needed, however, Fauci said there is little question that it would be safe.
“We’re more cautious than when we use something that we’ve used every year for decades,” he said, noting, however, “the Europeans have used these same adjuvants for a long period of time with a & reasonable safety record.”
But if adjuvants were to be used, they would likely be used in older people, where they have been tested, rather than children.
“There’s not a lot of data on adjuvants in young kids — even from the Europeans,” Fauci said.
Good Domestic Public Health, Bad International Public Health?
Officials do not expect a shortage of swine flu vaccine. “We don’t anticipate that we will run out, but it’s possible,” Fauci said.
But while Americans may not face a shortage, Fedson said that not using adjuvants is a problem from an international perspective, although it makes getting the vaccine approved in the United States easier.
“From the regulator point of view, this will be the least onerous pathway to follow to get it approved,” he said. “I think that’s the path of easy regulatory approval, but whether it meets the public health needs of the world and the nation is another matter.”
The problem, he said, is that the concerns for approval are for the individual. But even if the United States has enough, failure to use adjuvants means that doses for developing countries — who don’t have their own vaccine production capacity — are unavailable.
Even more, said Fedson, because the swine flu virus has not been experienced by many Americans, they will need two doses of vaccine instead of one to develop immunity.
Describing the distribution methods for swine flu vaccine “a boutique approach to global public health,” Fedson called them “an approach which will not make much difference for the people in 90 percent of the world, who will not have access to vaccines or antivirals.”
Ottawa, Canada: 11th August 2009 . 7:20 AM
Parents could replace teachers in swine flu outbreak
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2009/08/10/10418741.html
Goodbye Teacher, hello Mom?
That’s the possibility one Ottawa school board is considering — bringing parents in the classroom to replace teachers who fall ill this fall during an H1N1 outbreak.
With classes set to begin again later this month, school board officials are preparing for the anticipated second wave of swine flu to hit schools this fall.
The French public school board of Eastern Ontario is eyeing a seldom-used regulation in the province’s education act if a H1N1 outbreak leaves administrators scrambling to keep schools staffed.
The board’s first plan is to find supply teachers to replace teachers who become infected with the virus, said Francois Benoit, director of education at the French public school board of Eastern Ontario.
However, Benoit said the board is already looking at “plan C” — the scenario if staff at five or six schools are infected with H1N1.
“Plan C would be non-qualified personnel,” said Benoit, adding the French public board would hire available parents who already volunteer at the school.
“Most principals know the parents and would use parents who’ve had security checks from the police,” said Benoit of the board’s 11,000 students in 35 schools located from Pembroke to Cornwall.
However, the head of the union representing Ontario’s English high school teachers says putting unqualified people in teaching positions doesn’t help students.
“It’s something we would certainly frown up as professionals,” said Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.
“The curriculum is extremely demanding and unless you have a firm knowledge of the course material, you would not be providing the resources the students need,” said Coran, adding shutting schools temporarily would be a better option than bringing in unqualified instructors.
While regulation 298 of Ontario’s Education Act gives school boards the power to appoint a non-qualified person to teach for up to 10 days in the case of an emergency, a Ministry of Education spokeswoman said school administrators must first exhaust their supply-teacher pool.
“Schools have make every effort to have someone who is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. It’s non-negotiable,” said Patricia MacNeil, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education.
However, the head of one school council said parents would likely accept having other parents at the head of a classroom for a week or two to avoid major delays in the school year.
“In the elementary level, it’s not as severe ... it’s going to be babysitting practically,” said Genevieve Folliet, president of the school council at Franco-Ouest, a Catholic high school in Bells Corners.
http://wcco.com/health/h1n1.flu.vaccine.2.1122548.html
Preparing For Worst With Possible New Wave Of H1N1
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WCCO) ¯ As the flu season nears, health officials are gearing up for a new wave of H1N1 flu virus infections. In Minnesota, it’s estimated that 1.5 million people will get sick.
Across the nation Monday, human trials began for the H1N1 vaccine. Health officials are testing safety and effectiveness as they get ready for a new wave of “swine flu” as the influenza season begins in the next few months.
So far there are no vaccines in Minnesota, but state legislators heard a scary prognosis. This strain of the flu is impacting a younger age group — the median age of a patient is 12. If the flu follows the pattern it’s already established, it’s possible that 26,000 people could need treatment in Intensive Care Units.
“A very stressful situation coming up over the upcoming weeks and months,” said Michael Osterholm, Director of Infectious Disease Research at the University of Minnesota.
Osterholm answered questions about the pandemic.
“You’re going to need two shots,” explained Osterholm. “You may have some limited protection within 10 to 14 days of the first shot. But it is going to take that second shot. And just that system is going to be a nightmare.”
To date, Minnesota has had 253 hospitalized cases of H1N1 flu with three deaths. Many of the cases had other underlying health conditions, and 30 percent of patients had asthma.
While Osterholm believes the vaccine will require two shots, he says it will be equally important to get another shot to protect against seasonal flu.
“I have complete and utter confidence in the vaccine supply system that we have today,” said Osterholm. “My big concern: it won’t be enough, fast enough.”
If the worst case scenario does become a reality, others fear there will not be enough hospital beds to take care of the number of sick.
Dr. John Hick is in charge of emergency preparedness at Hennepin County Medical Center. He says experts have been working for months on how HCMC will handle an overflow of patients.
“Construct new ICU areas in areas that currently have cardiac monitors but they don’t have a normal ICU environment. We would also put beds into our existing ICUs. We would potentially have to take care of a lot more patients in an alternative care environment,” said Hick.
Hick said facilities like the Minneapolis Convention Center will house many. The problem is finding enough beds and enough staff. He said hospitals will have to ramp up their outpatient care.
“Telling people when they need to come to clinic and when they don’t. When they need to come to the hospital and when they don’t,” said Hick.
As for the vaccine, WCCO-TV talked to area hospitals and Fairview expects they will start giving the H1N1 vaccine by the end of September.
Do you all not recall Dr. Joeph Mercola's article on "Swine Flu's Dirty Little Secret"? It may be somewhere on this Thread.
Dr. Mercola's article states the horrors of Squalene, the adjuvant, which will create a cytolinc (spelling??/) storm. In order words, it will cause the human Immune system to think one's own body is a foreign body and it will attack itself!
I bought N-95 masks yesterday, NIOSH approved. You can find them at your home improvment stores, like Home Depot, Lowes, etc.
A 2000 study published in the American Journal of Pathology demonstrated a single injection of the adjuvant squalene into rats triggered “chronic, immune-mediated joint-specific inflammation,” also known as rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers concluded the study raised questions about the role of adjuvants in chronic inflammatory diseases.
What happens when Squalene is injected into humans?
Your immune system recognizes squalene as an oil molecule native to your body. It is found throughout your nervous system and brain. In fact, you can consume squalene in olive oil and not only will your immune system recognize it, you will also reap the benefits of its antioxidant properties.
The difference between “good” and “bad” squalene is the route by which it enters your body. Injection is an abnormal route of entry which incites your immune system to attack all the squalene in your body, not just the vaccine adjuvant."
From the picture in the article it seems she is overweight but not alot ? What do you think ? She looked above average overweight but not obese . I don’t know how to post the picture of her . But there is a photo in the article link.
Expert: Half of RI’ers could get H1N1
Says state preparing for 1/3 of state to get sick
Updated: Tuesday, 11 Aug 2009, 1:51 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 11 Aug 2009, 1:41 PM EDT
Nancy Krause
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_wpri_providence_swine_flu_preparedness_summit_20090811_nek
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Soon, the kids will be going back to school and the weather will be getting colder. That’s when health officials fear the H1N1 flu virus will once again reemerge in Rhode Island. However, opinions vary on how severe that outbreak could be.
According to the head of the Rhode Island Department of Health , half the population could come down with H1N1, also know as swine flu, this fall.
Dr. David Gifford said he’s making that assessment based on numbers he’s seen from the federal government, historical trends and illness rates in the southern hemisphere.
However, representatives from the Centers for Disease Control said the CDC only expects 10 to 25 percent of the population to get sick during flu season.
Gifford said Rhode Island is preparing for about a third of Rhode Islanders to get sick
He made his predictions following an H1N1 Preparedness Summit hosted by Sen. Jack Reed Tuesday morning at Johnson & Wales University.
“H1N1 has been compared to a gathering storm, and when students return to school in a few weeks that storm could hit hard and we need to be prepared,” Reed said. “The goal is to ensure there is a coordinated response at every level and I hope today’s meeting will help open up the channels of communication between all parties.”
Reed brought in federal health experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , the Food and Drug Adminstration’s Office of Vaccines , and the CDC to work with local health officials, educators, and community and business leaders and to make sure they are taking the proper steps to prepare.
“Our state motto is ‘Hope.’ And while we are all hoping for the best, we are preparing for the worst. Health experts are predicting a very difficult flu season,” Reed said.
According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, there have been 199 confirmed cases of H1N1 virus infection throughout the state, causing 3 deaths. Nationally, the CDC believes over 1 million people have been stricken with novel H1N1 since April 2009.
Thanks for all the updates.
Not at all obese. A beautiful young mother, and physically fit enough to be an EMT.
Condolences to the family.
more on Costa Rica
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/11/health/main5235391.shtml
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Aug. 11, 2009
Costa Rica’s President Has H1N1 Flu
Oscar Arias Quarantined at Home with Fever and Sore Throat
Nobel Peace laureate and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that he has swine flu, showing that not even a head of state is safe from the virus that has caused worldwide concern but relatively few deaths.
The 69-year-old president and Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement that he was quarantined at home and is being treated with the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir.
“The pandemic makes no distinctions,” Arias said. “I am one more case in this country and I am being submitted to the recommendations that health authorities have established for the entire population.”
Arias suffers from asthma and is at higher risk than most, but was in good enough health to continue working.
“Aside from the discomfort of the fever and sore throat, I feel in good shape and in full capacity to carry out my work by telecommuting,” Arias said in the statement.
The president had flu symptoms since Sunday, but participated in public activities as late as Tuesday morning, when he appeared at a call center.
NEW YORK
Family of Mitchell Weiner, Queens man killed by swine flu, plans to sue city for $40 million\
BY Adam Lisberg AND Lisa L. Colangelo
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Tuesday, August 11th 2009, 3:05 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/08/11/2009-08-11_family_of_mitchell_weiner_queens_man_killed_by_swine_flu_sues_city_for_40_millio.html
The family of a Queens educator killed by swine flu plans to hit the city with a $40 million lawsuit.
Mitchell Weiner’s widow Bonnie and her three children contend the city failed to provide a safe workplace and respond to the growing threat of the H1N1 virus as it spread through the school system.
In a notice of claim, the family says the city didn’t give out accurate information about the flu and took too long to tell Weiner he had come into contact with people who tested positive.
Weiner, 55, was an assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 in Hollis when he died in May after contracting the virus.
The family intends to seek damages for the loss of companionship, guidance and moral support for their Weiner’s children Adam, Jordan and Farrell.
Mayor Bloomberg said he couldn’t comment on the legal papers but defended the city’s swine flu response.
“You know, everybody can sue everybody. The city didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
“We have to make decisions, which schools are open or closed. Our obligation is to keep schools open. I’m sorry that somebody caught H1N1 and died from it. It’s tragic, and our prayers are certainly with him.”
Sick? Stay Home: Emergency Rooms May Be Ground Zero for H1N1
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538892,00.html?test=latestnews
Sit for hours amid the sneezing in an emergency room this fall, and if you didn’t arrive with swine flu you just might leave with it.
Another bunch of lowlifes that think that someone owes them a perfect life and if it doesn’t happen then they can sue someone to win life’s lottery.
Despicable.
Hong Kong:
Medics missed swine flu until after man died
Mary Ann Benitez
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=86227&sid=24912388&con_type=1&d_str=20090812&fc=4
The man who became Hong Kong’s fourth human swine flu (H1N1) fatality on Monday was only confirmed to be suffering from the virus after his death.
When the 54-year-old was admitted to Caritas Medical Centre with fever and breathing problems he was not suspected to be a pandemic flu patient.
He was diagnosed with fever and “exacerbation” of his lung disease on the first day in hospital on August 1 and given medication, such as bronchodillator, and oxygen therapy “progressed well,” a spokeswoman for the public hospital in Sham Shui Po said.
He discharged himself last Saturday against the doctor’s advice, despite being told he should undergo more tests.
The following day, he was readmitted in a critical condition to the accident and emergency department of Kwong Wah Hospital.
Preliminary chest X-rays showed an infection, so he was transferred to the isolation ward where he was given antibiotics and bronchodillators.
On Monday morning, his condition deteriorated and he suffered a cardiac arrest, dying three hours later.
Swine flu was confirmed only later that day.
A spokeswoman for the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health said the man had no recent travel history and his three family members remain well.
Under Section 23 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation, only if a health officer has reason to believe that a person is infected with swine flu can the officer place the person under isolation or replace the isolation with medical surveillance, she said.
Caritas said no patient or health-care worker in the same cubicle as the man had been confirmed with swine flu during his hospitalization.
The case has been referred to the coroner for investigation.
Tim Pang Hung-cheong, spokesman for the Society for Community Organization (patients’ rights concern), said the symptoms of pandemic flu H1N1 seem to be “hidden,” which could mislead doctors into misdiagnosing patients.
Pang said health and hospital authorities should change their policy, and urged that antiviral treatment begin as early as possible.
“It seems that in all four fatal cases, swine flu was detected too late or after they died.”
( Comment: Out of India’s first 16 H1N1 deaths, 5 were schoolchildren , 3 were Hosptial Care Workers , 1 was a teacher. )
India:
16 swine flu deaths, but secondary diseases real killer
12 Aug 2009, 1656 hrs IST, IANS
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/16-swine-flu-deaths-but-secondary-diseases-real-killer/articleshow/4885770.cms
NEW DELHI: Sixteen people have died of swine flu in India, with 12 of the casualties in Maharashtra alone. However, in many cases, secondary
complications were behind these deaths.
Experts have said children and old people are most prone to catch the swine flu virus.
The elderly, who suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes or heart problems or are taking medicines for chronic bronchitis or asthma, also have greater chances of getting the infection.
1. Reeda Shaikh, 14, died in Pune’s Sassoon Hospital, Maharashtra, Aug 3. She was the first swine flu death in the country. Shaikh died of wrong diagnosis and delay in treatment.
2. Fahmida Panwala, 53, died in Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital, Maharashtra, Aug 8. She was undergoing treatment for diabetes and hypertension.
3. Sanjay Kokare, 42, died in Pune’s Sassoon Hospital, Maharashtra, Aug 8. A teacher by profession, he died due to late treatment and respiratory problems.
4. Pravin Patel, an NRI, died in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Aug 9. He had viral pneumonia and his haemoglobin count was low.
5. Baburao Mane, 35, died in Pune’s Sassoon Hospital, Maharashtra. He had pneumonia in both lungs. The ayurvedic doctor was the third victim of swine flu in Pune and died Aug 10. He also had Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and his blood pressure was low.
6. Sanjay Balakrishnan, 4, who died in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Aug 10, was diagnosed with kidney failure and chest congestion. He suffered from multiple organ failure.
7. Sanjay Tilekar, a pharmacist, succumbed to the viral infection at the Sassoon Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, Aug 10.
8. Shruti Gavde, 13, died in Pune’s Sassoon Hospital, Maharashtra, Aug 11.
9. Shahida Warsi, 63, died at Mumbai’s Noor Hospital, Maharashtra, Aug 11.
10. Arya, 7, died in a government hospital in Vadodara, Gujarat, Aug 11.
11. Wilson Lukose died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Aug 11.
12. Rakesh Gargunde, a medico {doctor} in Nashik Civil Hospital, Maharashtra, died Aug 11.
13. Shravani Deshpande, 29, died of the disease in Pune, Maharashtra, Aug 12. She had pneumonia.
14. Sanjay Mistry, 35, died in Sassoon Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, Aug 12.
15. Babu Genu Kuland, a schoolboy, died in the Sassoon Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, Aug 12
16. Nita Meghani, 50, died in Sassoon Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, Aug 12.
"As if fever, aching muscles and a sore throat were not enough, researchers have found that flu may also lead to chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Most influenza infections affect the respiratory system, but there have long been suspicions that they are also linked to neurological disorders. The H1N1 flu pandemic in 1918 was followed by an outbreak of encephalitis and later by an unusually high number of cases of Parkinson's disease.
Hard evidence of such a link has been hard to find, however. So Richard Smeyne of the St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, sprayed a solution containing a highly pathogenic subtype of H5N1 avian flu into the noses of 225 mice. The team found that the virus infected nerves in the gut, then entered the brain stem and finally reached the brain. In the brain, it led to chronic activation of the immune system, even long after the viral infection had been cleared. This immune system activity later led to protein aggregation and neuron loss in the brain, and to symptoms like tremor and loss of coordination – the hallmarks of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Brain strains
"Infection with influenza virus might leave the brain vulnerable to damage from future infections with new influenza strains," says Smeyne, adding that this is more likely to happen in young children or during an flu pandemic."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17592-bird-flu-virus-linked-to-inflamed-brains.html
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