Thanks DvdMom! I’m going to be reading all those articles. Excellent work.
(And here comes the new school year...)
Swine flu infection threatens Swede’s life
20 Jul 09
http://www.thelocal.se/20792/20090720/
Doctors at Vrinnevi hospital in Norrköping in eastern Sweden fear for the life of the 22-year-old Swede being treated for a swine flu infection after he failed to respond to treatment.
The condition of the man, who became ill with the AH1N1 virus after returning from a holiday in southern Europe, is reported to have worsened overnight and is now described as life-threatening.
Chief physician at Vrinnevi hospital, Christer Liedgren, told newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) on Monday morning that treatment of the 22-year-old with a respirator had not worked and he is now going to be put on a heart-lung machine, so-called ECMO treatment.
“The patient’s lungs are not working as they should. The treatment needs to begin today,” Liedgren told DN.
ECMO treatment, which stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is however only available in Stockholm and it is as yet unclear if the patient will be offered immediate treatment.
The 22-year-old’s treatment is being managed by Karolinska University hospital in Solna and staff from the hospital will travel to Norrköping to oversee the procedure.
It is neither known why the man’s condition had worsened over night and Liedgren confirmed to the newspaper that there had been no complications.
The 22-year-old man became ill on July 11th and was prescribed the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. The patient, while no longer contagious, developed pneumonia as a result of the infection.
UK:
Breaking news: Bushfield [Sports Centre] becomes ‘swine flu centre’
Published Date: 20 July 2009
By ET Staff
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Breaking-news-Bushfield-becomes-39swine.5475635.jp
Sports activities at Bushfield Sports Centre in Peterborough have been suspended indefinitely from lunchtime today (Monday) as the building is designated as the city’s first swine flu assessment and antiviral collection point.
Summer holiday multi-sports and health and fitness activities for children that were scheduled to take place at Bushfield have been relocated to Werrington sports centre.
Normal sports activities will not be available at Bushfield until further notice.
The centre will operate as a swine flu assessment and antiviral collection centre from 8 am until 8 pm daily from tomorrow (Tuesday).
The decision is part of a planned response to the increasing number of cases of swine flu in Peterborough.
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Swine flu did contribute to GP’s death
Dr Michael Day: Swine flu contributed to his death
20 July 2009
http://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/dunstable-news/Swine-flu-did-contribute-to.5475581.jp
Virus was ‘significant’ factor
Swine flu did play a significant role in the death of a popular Dunstable GP, health authority bosses say.
Follow the death of Dr Michael Day, there was speculation among the national media that his death had been caused to underlying health issues.
Dr Day, 64, who had worked at the Priory Gardens Health Centre for 35 years, had tested positive for the H1N1 virus following his death at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital on July 11.
A post-mortem examination last Tuesday ruled that Dr Day died from natural causes and national newspapers subsequently reported he died from further health complications, including a blood clot on the lungs.
A statement released by NHS Bedfordshire on Friday said: “The final coroner’s report following the post-mortem into Dr Day’s death has confirmed that swine flu was a significant factor in his death.”
A memorial service is set to take place at the Priory Church in Dunstable at 4.30pm this Saturday (July 25). Dr Day’s family have asked that anyone wishing to attend does not dress in black and have asked for family flowers only.
Instead of flowers, the family have set up a charity collection in aid of Keech Cottage children’s hospice in Luton and the RNLI.
What can we expect from H1N1 this fall? Mayo Clinic expert looks south for answers.
Renee Tessman
http://www.kare11.com/life/community/health/healthfair_article.aspx?storyid=820237
Brace yourself. We could be in for a particularly nasty flu season this fall and winter.
We’re not talking about seasonal flu. This is the H1N1 variety.
From his office at the Mayo Clinic in southern Minnesota, flu pandemic expert, Dr. Greg Poland is keeping a close eye on the southern hemisphere and how H1N1 virus is spreading. Because while we’re in the midst of a sunny summer, it’s winter flu season there. Poland says, “We’re talking tens of thousands of cases and close to 1,000 deaths by now.”
He continues, saying, “One thing of concern early on in Argentina in part is they were seeing case fatality rates that were somewhere in the 2 to 2 1/2% range. Now in the U.S. our case fatality rate has been under, well under, 1%. About .4 to .5%. But 2 to 3% is the same case fatality rate that historians think happened in 1918.
The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 600,000 in the U.S. So the question is, could H1N1 become as deadly?
Poland, who is a liaison on the Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices and who is chair of the Pandemic Preparedness Panel for the Secretary of Defense, says there are concerns.
One is that in the southern hemisphere, H1N1 has completely replaced seasonal flu.
Poland says, “What’s happening down there is mimicking what was seen in 1918 and again in 1968. This pandemic virus is fitter and is outpacing, outcompeting, replacing all the seasonal virus.”
Plus there are a few H1N1 cases that have been resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
Of course vaccine is being made for H1N1 but manufacturers say they may only get 30% to half the doses they originally hoped putting even more pressure on a tiered rationing system that would give health care workers and children the vaccine first.
Poland says many kids may get the vaccine in mass vaccination clinics at schools. He says, “Because it’s such an efficient way to immunize large numbers of kids that, after all, are the primary vectors for this virus.”
Because H1N1 is still considered milder here in the U.S. some have talked about getting exposed, a sort of H1N1 party, before the virus possibly gets worse in the fall. But Poland says that is a big no no because some healthy children have died from H1N1 in the U.S.
Plus, he says, transmitting the virus through more and more people is not a good idea because that’s how it mutates and changes. That could make it tougher to fight.
Some good news is a study recently showed as many as forty percent of people over age 50 and 60 may have some level of immunity to H1N1. That may be why we’re not seeing higher numbers of illness in older people.