There has been talk on the Internet, from a variety of sources, for a couple of weeks now that when the FDIC report comes out on August 25, there just may be a "run on the banks" beginning on August 26. Another MAJOR Alabama bank closed on Friday by the FDIC.
So, if we have the rumored "banking holiday" are we prepared? Argentina has closed banks because of the swine flu.
I am working to stock up.
Doctors on lookout for Guillain-Barré symptoms in swine flu patients
August 16, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6798178.ece
Doctors treating swine flu patients have been instructed to monitor the incidence of a rare nerve disease that has been linked to the body’s immune response to flu-like illnesses.
Neurologists will study the occurence of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which affects the nervous system and can cause temporary paralysis, during the swine flu pandemic and vaccination programme.
Health officials stress that there is no evidence linking the syndrome to vaccination, but it is known that there is an increased risk of developing it after a flu-like illness.
The exact cause of Guillain-Barré syndrome — which affects about 1,500 people a year in the UK — is unclear, but it is thought to involve an auto-immune reaction. Many people affected by it have had a viral or bacterial infection a few weeks earlier.
Very slight increases in rates duing vaccination programmes — causing one or two extra cases per million people inoculated — have raised questions about links to the way a vaccine primes the immune system. But studies have shown no evidence of a significant increase in risk of the syndrome for those having a flu jab.
A Health Protection Agency spokesman said that enhanced surveillance was routine when introducing a new vaccine.
More than 13 million people in the UK, including people with asthma, diabetes, heart disease, renal disease or with a compromised immune system will get the jab from October.
The normal seasonal flu vaccine may be given at the same time.
The spokesman said: “Guillain-Barré syndrome has long been identified as a potential adverse event that would require enhanced surveillance following the introduction of a pandemic vaccine but there is no evidence to suggest there is an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome from this vaccine.
“There is robust evidence that no increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome arises from seasonal flu vaccination.
“Establishing enhanced surveillance on Guillain-Barré syndrome has always been part of our pandemic plan because there is an increased risk of this disease after a flu-like illness.
“HPA is working in collaboration with the Association of British Neurologists Surveillance Unit and the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit, who will ask clinicians to report each month whether they have seen any cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “In preparing for a pandemic, appropriate trials to assess safety and the immune responses have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile.”
( A.Hun this article has info about people born before 1957 appearing to have some protection from the current swineflu. )
Saturday,15 August 2009 17:2 hrs IST
http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentType=EDITORIAL&programId=1073750967&articleType=&contentId=5844608
What started as an epidemic of swine flu in Mexico in March 2009 has now spread to 100 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been alerting countries for the past eight years to get prepared for a major influenza outbreak. It seems to have finally arrived.
H1N1 virus moved from pigs and went on to infect humans, facilitated by crowded living conditions. From Mexico it spread to the United States, then to Europe and Asia. In the US, swine flu has so far killed 436 people and infected about 100,000 people. The situation will get worse as winter approaches parts of the world.
India has seen 21 deaths {sic} so far and this is causing panic among the populace. The good news is that the vast majority of the people who contract swine flu influenza are going to recover completely after going through a period of body aches, sore throat and fever.
If the Mexican experience is any guide, the H1N1 swine flu is sometimes lethal in children and young adults. This seems to be the pattern in India also. People born before 1957 appear to have some protection from the current pandemic. In the 1918 pandemic, it is estimated that close to 50 million people perished in different parts of the world.
In 2009, healthcare is very advanced compared to 1918. Tamiflu tablets if taken early may minimise the severity of the disease. But if Tamiflu is used indiscriminately, the virus will adapt and become resistant to the drug. Governments have stock piled millions of tablets to be used in a major outbreak.
The influenza virus sometimes settles down in the lungs and can cause severe respiratory distress requiring mechanical ventilatory support. Of the 2,155 cases of viral pneumonia reported from Mexico, 821 required hospitalisation and 100 died of respiratory failure in spite of mechanical ventilation. Not all viral pneumonia cases need ventilatory support.
Pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring a vaccine that could be effective against the swine flu virus. Pilot clinical studies are going on in America. The vaccine is expected to be available to the public in October of this year. One also needs protection against the regular flu virus which shows up every winter. It is unlikely there will be enough vaccine to vaccinate the entire world population. Pregnant women, children, young adults, healthcare professionals engaged in patient care, military personnel all should get priority.
Public need to remember that every year seasonal influenza causes 30,000 deaths in America especially the elderly with chronic lung disease, heart disease and kidney disease. Death generally happens only when there is severe involvement of both lungs by what is called acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. With modern medical amenities, 42 percent of such cases can be saved.
Two classes of drugs are available to minimize the effects of flu on the body. They are Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) and Relenza (Zanamivir). Recently, Japanese scientists have successfully tested CS-8959 in a clinical trial. This drug may be released for public use in Japan next year. This is found to be safer and more efficacious than Tamiflu.
According to a British Medical Journal report, children under the age of 12 should not be given Tamiflu or Relenza. These drugs reduced the length of the flu infection by only one day. More importantly these drugs reduced the transmission of the virus only by eight percent.
The Mexican experience has also revealed the effectiveness of personal protective equipment, to prevent the infection of health care workers. Doctors and nurses taking care of critically ill patients should be given N 95 masks for their safety.
So many people are dying everyday from dengue fever, malaria, tuberculosis and various bacterial and viral infections. Yet, the media by heightening awareness about the disease has unwittingly engendered undue public anxiety.
collapses happen in the fall, i dont know why but they do. sept/oct watch for it.
I know Obama has not posted the yearly figures they are late. he was waiting for healtyh care reform to pass. I understand that we are in the red by 5&3/4%
that would be the first time that we have had to live on borrowed money for programs that are not in existence yet in our history. It will not be good if this information is true.
We will have hyperinflation worse than the soviet union did when they switched to capitalism.
But Michelle Obama will still jet set on the weekends and the white house will throw it’s weekly parties for the press that they love so we should all be happy.
UK:
Crazy Christmas looming over swine flu immunisations
17 Aug 09
By Christian Duffin
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=23&storycode=4123458&c=1#
GPs face a frantically busy run up to Christmas after the Government announced practices would have to ensure all priority groups were immunised against swine flu in just three months, on top of the seasonal flu campaign.
The Department of Health confirmed last week that the swine flu vaccination programme would not start until October, six weeks after the first deliveries of vaccine – as Pulse revealed in our last issue.
But ministers want all vaccines to be administered to GPs, practice staff and priority groups by Christmas at the latest.
The Government has modified its priority groups slightly from the ‘tentative’ list obtained by Pulse last month, with top priority to be given to individuals aged six months to 65 years in seasonal flu at-risk groups, followed by pregnant women.
Women at later stages of birth may be given different priority to those in early stages.
Third on the list will be ‘household contacts of immuno-compromised individuals’ followed by ‘individuals over 65 in seasonal flu at-risk groups.
But GPs may be faced with initial shortages of swine flu vaccine after it emerged US pharmaceutical company Baxter is not able to supply as many doses as was first promised.
Chief medical officer Professor Liam Donaldson said Baxter the shortfall would eventually be covered by vaccines from the other contracted supplier, GSK. The DH is aiming to provide 54.6 million doses by the end of the year, and 132 million in all.
But its push on vaccination came as the other central plank of its swine flu policy – blanket use of antivirals for suspected cases – came under strong criticism in research published by the BMJ.
GP researchers collated data from four trials of the treatment of seasonal flu in nearly 1,800 children treated with Tamiflu – and found while it shortened duration of symptoms a little, it had no significant impact on the number of asthma exacerbations or the incidence of otitis media.
Study leader Dr Matthew Thompson, senior clinical scientist at the University of Oxford and a GP in Oxford, said: ‘While morbidity and mortality in the current pandemic remain low, a more conservative strategy might be considered prudent, given the limited data, side effects such as vomiting, and the potential for developing resistant strains of influenza.’
Weekly GP consultation rates for flu-like illness decreased from 42 per 100,000 to 30.9 for the week ending August 9, although the proportion of deaths from swine flu in healthy people rose from 12% to 21% .
UK:
Mass graves could be dug to cope with autumn bout of swine flu
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 19th August 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207592/Mass-graves-used-autumn-bout-swine-flu.html?ITO=1490
The government is planning to create a series of mass graves to cope with a second outbreak of swine flu in the autumn.
A Home Office document warns that a mass burial site may be needed to cope with the potential crisis.
The proposals were discussed between government officials and council bosses last month, and will affect those areas where there may not be enough graves for victims of the illness.
Within weeks of a full-blown pandemic, the number of burials could more than double and inner city areas “may experience a shortage of grave space”, according to the report.
The Framework for Planners Preparing to Manage Deaths http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience/news/manage_deaths_guidance2.aspx - a -page document - discusses using “a grave that is for a number of unrelated persons, excavated mechanically in advance and designed for efficient preparation and use.”
It said this approach would create a “burial site for multiple graves and consecutive burials” but added there must still be “marking of the position of individual burials”.
It added that some cemeteries “may experience shortage of grave space, in particular in inner city areas”.
Freight containers and “ inflatable” storage units may be needed to provide extra mortuary space. But it stated that “refrigerated vehicles and trailers should not be used”.
During the meeting, in which a senior official from Westminster council, gave a presentation, officials discussed the need for cemeteries and crematoriumsto work seven days a week and the hiring of extra staff to cope.
The report also warned there may be a need for more “basic and shorter services at the chapel” or for “memorial services” to be held at a person’s home instead.
Whitehall officials are also speaking to coffin makers to see if they could meet demands.
Retired doctors may also be called back to work to issue death certificates so GPs can focus on patients.
According to the document it may no longer be possible to bury some people in family plots and it may also become impossible to fly home the bodies of Britons who die abroad.
Meanwhile, NHS Blood and Transplant appealed to the public to give blood to avoid stocks being reduced over the autumn and winter as regular donors fall ill with swine flu. People cannot give blood when they have flu so it is important to keep the blood banks well stocked, it warned.
Swine flu: First Maltese death confirmed
19 August 2009
by Elaine Attard
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=92765
The first death in Malta caused by complications related to the A(H1N1) swine flu virus was confirmed by the Health Department in a statement yesterday. It is of a Maltese 82-year old woman who was admitted to hospital last Friday and died on Monday night.
The woman had suffered from chronic heart and respiratory problems and therefore fell under the vulnerable category, said the department, which took the opportunity to remind the public to practise good hygiene such as washing hands frequently, and to remain at home if they have influenza symptoms.
The department pointed out that even the normal seasonal influenza could be fatal, especially among vulnerable individuals, such as persons with chronic heart disease, respiratory conditions and renal problems, pregnant women, children under five years, diabetics, those with a weak immunity and those who experience complications.
244 swine flu cases have been registered in Malta and Gozo. 37 are being kept under quarantine and 198 recovered without complications. At the moment, only the vulnerable cases are being swab tested for swine flu.
The help line 2132-4086 is available for those seeking more information. The help line can also be reached via e-mail on disease.surveillance@gov.mt. Information leaflets are available on www.gov.mt or www.doi.gov.mt.
NICD says treatment more important than testing fior swine flu
Gia Nicolaides
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) says laboratories are overwhelmed with the number of swine flu tests that are being sent through.
Six people in South Africa have died from the H1N1 virus. At least 3 500 cases have been confirmed.
Health officials say people with underlying or chronic health conditions who catch swine flu need to be treated immediately.
The institute’s Lucille Blumberg says not everyone needs to be tested.
“Laboratories are being overwhelmed and are not coping with mild influenza illnesses. You do not need to get tested to either inform you about what you have got or what treatment you need,” says Blumberg.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=19985
Swine flu spreading across Bengal
Kolkata, Aug 18 : With the swine flu virus gradually spreading to rural Bengal, the total number of those infected has risen to 53, even as a high level meeting to combat it was in progress at the Writers’ Buildings.
Five new cases were reported from rural areas during the past 24 hours prompting the medics to prepare themselve to combat the pandemic, official sources said.
One case each was reported at Midnapur, Howrah and Nadia and two from North 24 Parganas.
A city high school today declared suspension of classes till August 24 to keep at bay the pandemic despite suggestions from doctors not to do so. Doctors suggested rest of seven to 10 days if a pupil was found with symptoms of viral flu.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty called a special meeting on swine flu, the second such after a meeting last week, to take stock of the situation.
Health Secretary Samar Ghosh also attended the meeting in which many medics and administrators from private, army and railway hospitals were also taking part.
Last week, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee talked to the Chief Secretary to share his concern over the growing pandemic in the state, where there was no report of casualty so far.
The West Bengal Government was looking at every opportunity to open new clinics to fight the disease, official sources said.
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-94800.html
US tries to counter some delay in swine flu shots
By LAURAN NEERGAARD (AP) – 10 minutes ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i8ECp7b405v1aBmsMNJBjxc8gwpAD9A5BSTO0
UPDATE 1-Sinovac says one-shot swine flu vaccine effective
Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:09am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLI54489920090818
Actor in swine flu ad catches swine flu
The actor from a popular UK public service announcement about how to avoid swine flu ... has been diagnosed with swine flu.
In the advertisement (video below) from the U.K. Department of Health, actor David McCusker first sneezes the “wrong” way in an elevator, spraying mucus everywhere, then sneezes the “right” way — into a tissue, which he promptly throws away and washes his hands.
The campaign’s tagline: “Catch It, Bin It, Kill It.”
Except now, according to the Daily Mail, McCusker has been diagnosed with swine flu.
“It was a shock when I found out,” McCusker told the paper.
“I quarantined myself and I’ve been getting lots of [grief] from mates,” he said. “I was supposed to ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’ but instead I’ve been shivering, shaking and spreading it.”
About 36 in the UK have died from the virus.
http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/08/actor-in-swine-flu-ad-catches-swine-flu.html
The Family in the article are asking for prayers ....
Opp boy sick with H1N1 flu - AL
Child has spent 3 weeks in Atlanta hospital
By Justin Schuver (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News
http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/aboutus/
Published Monday, August 17, 2009
Kolby Dyess, 7, of Opp, is hospitalized in Atlanta with breathing complications as a result of the H1N1 flu.
When 7-year-old Kolby Dyess of Opp had difficulty breathing at home Fri., July 24, his parents immediately knew something was wrong. What they didn’t know was that Kolby had contracted the H1N1 flu virus and would spend the next three weeks at several hospitals as doctors fought both the virus and breathing complications.
Kolby, a second grader at Fleeta School, is currently undergoing treatment at the Emory Children’s Center in Atlanta, Ga., where he has been since Wed., July 29. He has been sedated the entire time, but his father, Kerry Dyess, said his son is showing signs of improvement.
“(Kolby) was at the house to start with and I came in and noticed he was breathing heavily,” Dyess said. “I thought to myself, ‘that’s not normal,’ so we took him to see our doctor. He was running a 102-104 temperature and they did some quick tests and realized he had a bit of a problem.
“Our doctor called down to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and they sent a helicopter to pick Kolby up. He was there for about a week, when the doctors there realized the virus was starting to attack his lungs.”
Dyess said doctors at Sacred Heart discovered holes in each of Kolby’s lungs, which made it very difficult for the child to breathe. They quickly called Emory, which sent a jet to pick up Kolby and transported him immediately to Atlanta on July 29.
In Atlanta, doctors connected Kolby to an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which adds oxygen to a person’s blood and also provides breathable oxygen into the lungs.
“He’s been sedated for close to two weeks,” Dyess said. “The sedation is to keep him from accidentally pulling out any of the tubes on the machine. This machine allows his lungs to rest, so that way his lungs can collapse down and start healing.”
Dyess said that as of Monday, the hole in Kolby’s left lung appeared to be sealing up.
“That is just wonderful news,” he said. “Hopefully, both lungs will heal up and they’ll be able to take him off the ECMO machine and just hook him up to a regular respirator. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Dyess said doctors are not sure where Kolby may have initially caught the virus. He said it is especially unusual, because Kolby contracted the virus while his 5-year-old brother, Kasey, did not.
“They know this was caused by the H1N1 virus, and luckily he’s far enough along with fighting the virus that the doctors have taken him off the antibiotics,” he said. “They’re really not sure why Kasey didn’t catch it as well — he had a small fever at one time, but other than that he was fine. The doctors at Emory are actually taking some DNA tests from my wife (Sonya) and me, and they’re going to look at the data and see if they can figure out why one child would have problems, and another child wouldn’t.”
Dyess said Sonya and his mother-in-law have been staying in Atlanta with Kolby, while Dyess travels back and forth periodically between Opp and the hospital.
“We were actually lucky, because Emory provides an extra room for any patient who is hooked up to the ECMO machine,” he said. “So Sonya has been staying there at the hospital the whole time, and my mother-in-law is at a hotel and spending a lot of time there as well. It’s good to know that there’s always two people there with him at all times.”
Frieda Bradshaw, Kolby’s aunt, said the community has been supportive of Kolby and his family, both through prayers and monetary donations.
“We have calls coming in all the time questioning how he’s doing and how the family is doing,” she said. “Several churches have had him on their prayer list, and we really appreciate that. The Dyess family would just like to thank every one for their prayers, and ask they continue to keep him and the family on their prayer list.”
In addition, Bradshaw said there is an assistance fund for those who would like to send monetary donations to help the family. Those who wish to donate can go to any Wachovia location and ask to donate to the ‘Kolby Dyess Fund,’ or they can send a check to Country Cathedral, P.O. Box 368, Opp, AL 36467, Attention: Laurette Blair.