Finland Sees First Signs of Swine Flu Epidemic
published today 01:18 PM, updated today 01:29 PM
http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/10/finland_sees_first_signs_of_swine_flu_epidemic_1086910.html?origin=rss
The first epidemic wave of swine flu is hitting Finland. The National Institute for Health and Welfare says the H1N1 outbreaks in northern Finland are reaching epidemic proportions.
Last week the Sodankylä garrison saw an outbreak of H1N1 cases, and this week the Kainuu brigade reported conscripts falling ill with flu-like symptoms. Pockets of swine flu outbreaks have also been reported in the central Finnish towns of Kiuruvesi and Suonenjoki.
“This means Finland is entering into a period of accelerated outbreaks, although there is currently no clear epidemic,” says Professor Petri Ruutu of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
The agency forecasts that it will be five to six weeks before the epidemic peaks. An epidemic phase of the H1N1 virus lasts between two to four weeks, according to the THL.
Ruutu says it’s unlikely Finland will see more than one H1N1 epidemic wave; however, he says it’s possible that two seasonal influenza waves will come on the heels of the H1N1 epidemic.
Finland received its first shipments of H1N1 vaccines this week. Authorities have begun distributing the vaccines to healthcare centres and hospital districts.
Healthcare personnel and expectant women will be the first to receive a vaccine for protection against the H1N1 swine flu virus.
UK:
Swine flu six times more likely to hospitalise diabetes patients
16 October, 2009
http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/swine-flu/swine-flu-six-times-more-likely-to-hospitalise-diabetes-patients/5007459.article?referrer=RSS
The impact of swine flu among Britain’s 2.4 million diabetes patients may seriously disrupt NHS hospital and GP services, says the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD).
The association reports that diabetes sufferers who contract swine flu are six times more likely to be hospitalised and significantly more likely to die.
Says former ABCD chairman Professor Ken Shaw: “The impact of these risks, and the way they are managed in hospitals and primary care, needs expert assessment as part of contingency planning at a local level.”
He fears that a swine flu pandemic may result in a 10-fold increase in the number of urgent new insulin starts.
In its plan for local diabetes services, the ABCD is calling for emergency teams to be on stand-by, and a review of what routine services should be suspended, perhaps for as long as four months.
At the same time, essential services must be safeguarded as staff - who are likely to suffer from greater levels of sickness themselves - are redeployed to other areas.
Meanwhile, it says, patient self-management is the key to a successful outcome, with careful blood-glucose self-monitoring, and adjusting treatment as appropriate.