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 ...
Thanks :)
Unready for the next wave
Canada must prepare for another swine flu outbreak this fall
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Jul. 04, 2009 12:17AM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/unready-for-the-next-wave/article1206214/
Is Canada ready for a second wave of H1N1 (swine flu) that may hit in the fall? Britain says it may have 100,000 new cases a day by late August, based on the current doubling each week of the number of people falling ill. If Canada is hit proportionately, that would be roughly 50,000 cases a day.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is now ordering hundreds of ventilators in case the provinces do not have enough. Based on current expectations for the influenza’s spread, there may not be enough ventilators.
Andrew Simor, the head of microbiology and infectious diseases at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, puts it this way: “If we assume even a moderate type of pandemic, in the number of people and severity of disease, it will definitely overwhelm our health-care system.” It is not just a matter of a shortage of ventilators but of doctors, nurses and respiratory technologists trained to care for the patients and to use and maintain the equipment. “I suspect that is the situation we will likely encounter” beginning this fall, Dr. Simor says.
Who, then, would qualify for the desperately needed ventilators? Canadian acute-care facilities may be in the position of the people in the proverbial lifeboat with not enough drinking water to go around. “If there is a large-scale health emergency,” says an Ontario health-ministry spokesman, “it comes down to the fact that you’re dealing with only so much resources.” It is a disturbing prospect, and should wake Canadians from any complacency they may feel.
The first wave of H1N1 has been, mostly, mild; and the mildness has bred complacency. Some of it has been nurtured by public health officials, who refer to “underlying health conditions” among those who have become the sickest. What are those underlying conditions? Pregnancy, diabetes, asthma and obesity are among them. So is smoking. There may be nearly as many households with an underlying condition in them as not.
The outbreak is likely to worsen. Most flus hit hardest at the old, sick and weak; H1N1 strikes people between 20 and 50. Most flus disappear in summer; Canada has five times the flu rate this summer because of H1N1. Of the 29 Canadians who died, several had no other health problems. Canada has a high rate of the disease compared with other countries, but that may be a sign it keeps a closer eye out for it.
What lies ahead? If Britain’s plan is an indication, efforts at containment would end. Schools would stay open, no matter how many cases of sick children had been reported, unless staff members fell ill in large numbers. The focus would be on medical treatment, from an overwhelmed system.
Britain already has a national information campaign on swine flu; nothing in Canada thus far compares. Public authorities here need, as a first step, to communicate the importance of knowing the flu’s symptoms, of applying common sense – don’t go to work and infect colleagues. But more than that, the authorities need to make whatever investments are necessary to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed, and that lifesaving care is available to all.
Teen not diagnosed with swine flu until after death (New Zealand)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10582544
A Hamilton teenager with swine flu died at home without being diagnosed with the illness.
He was one three New Zealanders to have died in the past week with swine flu more than likely to have been the cause, the Ministry of Health confirmed today.
Zachary Wilson, 19, had been ill for three or four days but had not been to hospital before he died last Sunday, said Waikato District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Felicity Dumble.
“What’s become apparent with this situation is how quickly this can develop, and somebody can present with what looks like a common cold that may progress to more like influenza and then it can rapidly become something very serious.”
Some efforts were made to treat Mr Wilson’s symptoms, although no further details were made available.
Mr Wilson’s family, who had been devastated by his death, wanted people to be aware how quickly someone’s condition could deteriorate, Dr Dumble told reporters.
Given the wide spread of swine flu, health authorities were focusing on treating people who were sick rather than routine testing.
Mr Wilson’s case of swine flu was discovered following an autopsy.
The coroner would examine if any other medical conditions had played a part in Mr Wilson’s death, she said.
However, he had a history of asthma which, along with other factors such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, was more likely to cause complications.
Although people had been advised to stay at home if possible to avoid spreading the illness and adding to pressure on the health system, anyone whose condition worsened should seek medical attention, Dr Dumble said.
Some deaths were expected as a result of swine flu, she said.
“It’s really important that people are aware that influenza is a serious illness and it does kill.”
Signs to look watch out for included a rapidly worsening condition, a difficulty being woken, confusion or irritability, a fever of about 38.3 degrees, fits, and not keeping down fluids.
Chief Coroner Neil MacLean said a 42-year-old man with underlying medical conditions had also died on Thursday in Christchurch.
It was “strongly probable” that the H1N1 virus (swine flu) was a major factor in the deaths of both men, he said.
Meanwhile, Capital and Coast District Health Board said a young girl with underlying medical conditions died this morning in Wellington Hospital. She had earlier tested positive to swine flu.
[snip]
As of today, the total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand was 945, up from 912 yesterday.
The cumulative total of confirmed cases by region are: Northland (20), Auckland (202), Waikato (45), Bay of Plenty/Lakes (29), Gisborne (2), Hawkes Bay (75), Taranaki (3), Wanganui/Palmerston North (14), Wellington (292), Nelson/Marlborough (19), Canterbury (230), Otago/Southland (14).
_________________
UK:
Forty people a day could die from swine flu by next month
Published Date: 04 July 2009
By SHÂN ROSS
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Forty-people-a-day-could.5429067.jp
ABOUT 40 people will die of swine flu in Britain every day by the end of next month if the current fatality rate stays the same.
The stark assessment came as a 19-year-old man was confirmed yesterday as the first person in London to die after contracting swine flu, taking the UK death toll to four.
The teenager, who had underlying health problem, tested positive for the virus following his death on Wednesday. London, a “swine flu hot spot”, is the second-worst affected area in the UK. West Midlands is the worst hit, with Scotland third.
The youth’s death came as UK Health Secretary Andy Burnham warned Britain could have more than 100,000 new cases a day by the end of next month.
There are 7,447 confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK. Four patients have died, all of whom had underlying health problems. If the death toll stays at that level (roughly one in 2,500), the disease could kill about 40 people a day by September.
The Scottish Government has said 10,000 people a day north of the Border were expected to contract the virus by next month.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It is too early at this stage to know how the pandemic will progress over the coming months; therefore any estimates as to the number of infections or deaths can only be conjectural.
“For example, it is entirely possible that during the summer transmission rates may fall and we will not continue to see the significant rises in cases each week that has been the case in the hot spots in the UK so far.”
Figures released yesterday show Scotland has 64 new cases of influenza A (H1N1), taking the total of confirmed cases to 1,325. Of the 64 newly confirmed cases, 53 were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area, five in Tayside, two in Lanarkshire, two in Ayrshire and Argyll, and one each in Grampian and Highland; 61 were not travel-related.
The Scottish Government, in line with Westminster, is abandoning its daily log of exact numbers who have contracted the disease, and from next week will issue a weekly update giving the percentage infected per 100,000 of the population.
[snip]
The Westminster government has signed contracts with GSK and Baxter for the supply of 130 million doses of swine flu vaccine – enough for the entire population. The first delivery is expected next month, and 60 million doses should be delivered by the end of the year. T
Health workers and at-risk groups, such as those with heart disease, diabetes or asthma, and children under five, are likely to get the vaccine first.
• Eight pupils from Sevenoaks School in Kent, all between 16 and 18, have been treated for swine flu in hospital in Romania
_________________
This is just not rocket science..
Canada:
With school out, flu cases drop
July 4, 2009
Theresa Boyle
HEALTH REPORTER
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/660830
Canada has seen a drop in swine flu cases, good news that’s being largely attributed to the fact school is out.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is undertaking surveillance of the H1N1 influenza virus by gathering information from several hundred “sentinel practitioners” across the country. They report weekly on the number of patients they see with influenza-like illness and this serves as an indicator for the number of new H1N1 cases countrywide.
For the week ending June 27, sentinel practitioners reported 34 consultations with patients for influenza-like illness for every 1,000 patients visits, down from 42 the week before, for a drop of 19 per cent. “This is good news. It happened the week that schools closed and I would guess that there is probably a reasonable link there,” Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infectious diseases prevention for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, said yesterday.
He expects the numbers to continue to go down over the summer because students won’t be infecting each other in school and because influenza viruses tend not to like humid weather. Still, he said, it’s difficult to accurately predict where this virus is going.
“It’s reasonable to say that the dropping trend might continue if you believe the idea the schools have an important role to play in this. But I’m not putting any money down on it. ... It’s a pandemic virus and they do weird things,” he said.
.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/07/04/ david-beckham-s-11-year-old-niece-is-battling-swine-flu-115875-21493652/
David Beckham’s 11-year-old niece is battling swine flu
By Aidan Mcgurran 4/07/2009
David Beckham’s 11-year-old niece is battling swine flu after staying at an adventure camp.
Georgina Every, daughter of Becks’ sister Lynne, was one of three youngsters hit by the bug during the fiveday school outing.
Parents had been warned about an outbreak before the children set off - but were told they would lose their £300 payments if they pulled out.
Lynne, 36, yesterday said she bitterly regretted letting Georgina attend after watching her suffer with coughing and aching limbs.
She added: “If I had known she would come back so sick I would have forfeited the money.”
Georgina, now taking the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, was among 90 pupils from St Edward’s Primary, Romford, Essex at the PGL centre in Marchants Hill, Surrey.
A pgl spokesman said they reported an outbreak in a previous school group in the middle of June, but had been cleared to stay open by the Health Protection Agency.
Eight camp staff have also come down with the virus and have been told to stay at home.
Beckham, who once gave Lynne £130,000 to buy a house, is being kept closely informed of Georgina’s condition and has sent a get well message.
ping
2 More Healthy People with no pre-exisiting conditions ...
New Zealand
Teenager with H1N1 no longer critical
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/teenager-h1n1-no-longer-critical-2830535
A Wellington teenager in intensive care with H1N1 flu has improved from critical to a serious but stable condition.
Wellington Hospital spokesman Michael Tull says the 17-year-old woman’s status was downgraded on Monday morning.
The woman had no underlying health conditions, making her one of the few healthy people suffering such a severe case of swine flu.
A 29-year-old man with suspected swine flu and no underlying medical conditions also spent time in intensive care after being admitted to Gisborne hospital on Friday.
He had respiratory problems and was in a stable condition and improving, a hospital spokesperson said.
He had recently returned to Gisborne from Britain and confirmation of his illness was expected by Wednesday.
This thread ping has alot of swine flu info & links
EU says Europe must prepare for 2nd swine flu wave
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/europe/view/20090706eu_says_europe_must_prepare_for_2nd_swine_flu_wave/srvc=home
July 6, 2009
JONKOPING, Sweden — Swedish Health Minister Maria Larsson says the European Union needs to be prepared for a second wave of swine flu that could be deadlier than the current cases.
Canada orders more ventilators for flu
Published: July 6, 2009 at 11:00 AM
TORONTO, July 6 (UPI) — Warnings that this fall’s swine flu season will be severe has prompted the Canadian government to order critical ventilators, officials say.
A spokesman for the Public Health Agency of Canada told Monday’s Toronto Globe and Mail the department is “currently in negotiations to purchase additional ventilators to increase its stockpile to 500.”
The pandemic has shown that Canadian swine flu victims are younger and sicker than elsewhere, and while the reasons for that are unknown, the government is moving to head off shortages of ventilators when the fall flu season hits, the newspaper said.
Medical experts said the first wave of the H1N1 virus that killed 29 people in Canada and forced the hospitalizations of 663 others exposed a shortage of ventilators for young victims.
“It appears that there is a sub-population of relatively young people who very rapidly develop severe illness with this virus,” Allison McGeer, an expert in infectious disease at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, told the Globe and Mail. “And they are not a large number, but they require very intensive ventilatory support with new advanced ventilators.”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/06/Canada-orders-more-ventilators-for-flu/UPI-45311246892445/
Recent Emerson grad Twomey succumbs to H1N1
Lily Yuhas
PrintEmailArticle ToolsPage 1 of 1
Media Credit: Courtesy of CPLA
07/02/09
David Prescott Twomey III, who graduated from Emerson in 2006 with an M.A. in political and organizational communication, died Tuesday of complications that resulted from H1N1, strep, and a staph infection, his family said.
Associate Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Gregory Payne, Twomey’s former teacher and family friend, said the family informed him yesterday that Twomey was hospitalized Friday in Washington D.C., but his condition soon deteriorated.
After his Emerson graduation, Twomey was hired by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and most recently he was working on new media projects at the U.S. Federal Courts.
interesting, my friend’s son contacted staph and strep infections with the flu before his death.
Swine flu won’t loosen its grip on Arizona
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LiveWire/57055
New cases of H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, are still pouring into local health departments, and that’s causing some worry among state officials.
Never before has a flu season lasted this far into the summer months — the heat usually helps kill off any strains of the virus circulating in the community. But the new H1N1, which first appeared in April, has some serious staying power.
As of July 1, there were 761 confirmed swing-flu cases in the state, and state health officials say if the illness doesn’t die out soon, it could lead to an early, ugly start to this fall’s flu season.
The reason? Back-to-school time is just around the corner.
Children are some of the best incubators of germs and flu viruses, and some school-aged children in Arizona head back to class at the end of this month. Most others are back at their desks by the second or third week of August.
“If it doesn’t drop off here soon, its going to be a very early start to a very long flu season,” said Will Humble, interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. “A lot of people are going to get sick.”
Humble said state officials typically shut down their flu surveillance in late May or early June, when the level of confirmed illness starts dropping off dramatically. The flu virus typically doesn’t re-emerge until late November or early December.
To still have rampant influenza in July is “unheard of,” he said.
In total, there have been 5,872 confirmed influenza cases in Arizona this year, but the majority of the recently reported flu illness cases has been the H1N1 strain, as opposed to seasonal flu.
More than 62 percent of the H1N1 laboratory-confirmed cases this year have occurred in children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 24, according to the state’s flu surveillance report; the median age of those falling ill is 14.
By comparison, seasonal flu seems to target the elderly and very young children in disproportionate numbers.
If the virus is still circulating in the community when fall classes start, it will put the onus on teachers and school nurses to quickly identify sick children and keep them away from their peers.
That’s because it is unlikely that any H1N1 vaccine would be ready for human use within the next month, despite global efforts to fast-track its creation.
Federal officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that nationwide demand for the H1N1 vaccine could reach 600 million doses.
There is some concern many in the general population, including children, will need two doses for full protection against the virus.
In a typical year, the U.S. distributes 115 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine, health officials said.
Arizona health officials are still working through plans for H1N1 vaccine distribution, including identifying which groups would get the shots first.
That is really sad what happened to your friend’s son . Prayers sent your way :)))
Swine Flu Returns With a Vengeance
Updated: Monday, 06 Jul 2009, 9:42 PM CDT
SALLY MACDONALD
HOUSTON - Even though the panic seems to have faded, the number of swine flu cases has just jumped dramatically.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most significant increase in reported U.S. activity came at the end of June, months after the initial scare. U.S. deaths jumped 34 percent to 170 in just the past week.
“We don’t have any evidence that it’s mutated yet, but I’m concerned the mutation may be taking place. The children seem to me to be getting much more sicker than they used to be one or two months ago,” said Dr. Norris Payne, a Houston pediatrician.
He’s seeing three or four new cases of swine flu each day.
[snip]
“Flu season is over, but this is the first time in 30 years I’ve seen flu in the summer,” said Dr. Payne.
For now, the antiviral tamiflu still seems to be working.
[snip]
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/health/swine_flu/090706_swine_flu_cases
From the article:
Quote:
Dr. Payne is the pediatrician for FOX 26 anchor Melissa Wilson’s two year old son. Melissa’s son has been diagnosed with swine flu.
Over the weekend, she says, “He was belligerent. He would not stop crying.” His fever had soared to 105 degrees.
“Flu season is over, but this is the first time in 30 years I’ve seen flu in the summer,” said Dr. Payne.
For now, the antiviral tamiflu still seems to be working.
Melissa says, “If you have a child with a fever in the middle of summer, that’s odd. I would get help immediately.”
I would almost like to get the Swine Flu now, before it mutates and gets REALLY nasty.
A Freeper friend’s son died from the swine flu . He was young , healthy & had a great career . My thoughts & prayers are with the family & their friends in this difficult time .
Online game shops found to be flu hubs
Child infections surgeover long holiday
Published: 7/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Online game shops have been identified as a major transmission point for influenza type-A (H1N1) virus among children, who make up the largest group of flu infections.
The number of children contracting the virus has jumped sharply since Saturday, the first day of a five-day long holiday.
Questioning of young H1N1 patients has found many developed their flu symptoms after visiting computer game shops, Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee said yesterday.
On Sunday, more than 200 children tested positive for the virus, and 160 of 196 new cases reported yesterday were children.
Game shops are favourite hang-outs for children. The shops are usually packed with game-addicted youngsters, especially on holidays. Many children stay at the shops overnight.
Mr Manit said he would like to see the online game shops closed during the holidays to limit H1N1 infections.
[snip]
He said it was difficult to contain the H1N1 outbreak because of the mobility of people during the long holidays.
Hospitals countrywide have all had more than 100 outpatients seeking influenza treatment in recent days.
The number of H1N1 patients admitted to hospital has doubled from about 20 over the holidays.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai yesterday instructed hospitals to step up measures to prevent medical staff and hospital visitors from contracting the H1N1 virus.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/19778/online-game-shops-found-to-be-flu-hubs
I am saddened, but not surprised.
The ability of this flu to spread (due to a lack of herd immunity) is going to be dramatic.
It is a “relatively” mild flu right now, but any flu is nasty -— I had the flu last summer (got the flu shot in October) and thought I was going to die (and wanted to) -— miserable 10 days.
When -— when, not “if” it mixes with one of the less contagious, but more extreme flus, we are in for disaster.
Plagues of locusts in Utah.
Flies in Texas
Now a potential killer flu.
It’s like we have a Pharoah who hates Israel or something.
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