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 ...
UCSF Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Issues Campuswide H1N1 Flu Update (California)
http://today.ucsf.edu/stories/ucsf-medical-center-chief-medical-officer-issues-campuswide-h1n1-flu-update/
UCSF Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Josh Adler, MD, issued an email message to the campus community on Friday, reporting that UCSF Medical Center is expanding its infection control measures after 10 patients were admitted to the hospital with probable H1N1 influenza.
Novel H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus that was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. Today, more than 70 countries are reporting cases of human infection with novel H1N1 flu, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here is Adler’s entire message:
Dear Colleagues,
This week, UCSF Medical Center expanded its infection control measures after 10 patients were admitted to the hospital with probable H1N1 influenza, including two patients who are critically ill. In addition, several clinic patients and 13 employees are known to have developed flu-like illness. In total, 44 patients have tested positive for influenza A at UCSF since June 1. The hospital patients are being specifically tested for Novel H1N1 Influenza A, also called swine flu. Although the results of those tests probably won’t be available for several weeks, data from the state public health lab suggests that the majority of specimens being tested are H1N1.
To prevent further spread, patient care staff – including doctors, nurses, students and volunteers who work on units housing patients with probable H1N1 – are being screened for possible exposure and offered the antiviral medication Tamiflu. All employees who feel ill should stay home to protect their co-workers and our patients.
The hospital has notified all employees who may have been exposed to H1N1 and has set up a daily clinic for flu screening, and to answer employee questions. Sick call volume remains at a normal level.
All visitors to UCSF Medical Center who have fever, cough, runny nose or other flu-like symptoms are asked to stay home until they are symptom-free.
It is important to emphasize that based on current information, infection with the H1N1 strain is no more severe than the standard annual flu. The primary justification to administer preventative antiviral medication to employees is to prevent the spread of the virus to patients, who may be at risk for serious illness or complications.
Public health authorities recommend taking the following precautions to reduce your risk of getting sick or spreading infection if you are ill:
* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
* Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
* Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you cough or sneeze.
* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
* If you get sick, stay home and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Health care professionals are in the best position to determine if you need influenza testing. If you develop flu-like symptoms (high fever, cough, runny nose, body aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea), contact your primary care doctor. Students on campus should contact Student Health Services. But try to avoid unwarranted visits to health care providers.
It's normal for influenza A viruses.
This one isn’t normal according to the link in 21.
That’s sad and scary. It’s taking out more young people than old ones.
I don’t think the authorities want us to know how bad it is.
It surely doesn’t seem natural.
Who let this genie out of the bottle, and why?
Thanks for all the updates, and please add me to your ping list.
Who wants to control and uses scare tactics?
Hmmm...let me think a second.
Oh, yeah, our Supreme Leader, the Big Zero.
Yup. And President Obeyme’s boss. There are several choices as to his boss. Besides the Devil, I mean. ;-)
Freeper Smokin’ Joe does the freeper avian / H1N1 flu ping list . I told Smokin’ Joe to add you to the ping list :)
Thanks , DvdMom
Well, if you knew anything about influenza, you could.
The quote below was in the original article . I know the same thing happened during the previous pandemics :((
( Who would think that a normally healthy woman would die so swiftly from influenza in June?
Could you ever have imagined such a thing? No wonder her family and friends are in shock.
So why did it happen? )
CDC eyes 600 million doses of swine flu shots
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31571476/ns/health-swine_flu/
ATLANTA - A potential fall swine flu immunization campaign may involve an unprecedented 600 million doses of vaccine, though officials said Friday they haven’t figured out how to administer so many doses or accurately track side effects if a seasonal vaccine is given simultaneously.
The swine flu campaign could far eclipse the roughly 115 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine distributed each year, officials said at a national vaccine advisory committee meeting.
thanks, bfl
What am I missing? The US population is approximately 306,772,987 (according to census clock). So why 600 million doses?
More swine flu deaths ‘a certainty’
By Jennifer Macey for AM
Posted 4 hours 4 minutes ago
Updated 3 hours 35 minutes ago
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/27/2610255.htm?section=justin
An infectious disease expert says the swine flu vaccine will be available too late to help many of the people who are going to contract the virus.
Four people have died so far and in New South Wales, two children are in intensive care because of the virus.
One of the children has no pre-existing medical conditions.
Professor of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the University of New South Wales, Raina Macintyre, told AM it is certain more people will die from swine flu in Australia.
“We expect that it will peak towards the end of July or early August,” she said.
“That’s when we’ll really be at the height of the epidemic, and we would expect something of the same range or higher, but in the same ball park of a bad flu season.
“It could be anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent of the Australian population over the whole winter. Every year from seasonal flu there are about 2,500 deaths from flu and pneumonia.”
She says swine flu deaths are expected to be higher because people have not built up immunity to the virus.
“Any influenza, even seasonal influenza, has a higher rate of complications and death in people with pre-existing conditions because they’re just more vulnerable to infections like influenza,” she said.
“So, it’s not unexpected really that the first deaths that we’re seeing are in people who are immuno-compromised or have chronic diseases.”
Professor Macintyre says the vaccine for the flu expected to be available by the end of July will not be soon enough.
“No, it’s not ideal. Normally with seasonal flu we vaccinate people in February or March, and the flu season starts in June and beyond,” she said.
“So, really, in the ideal world you would vaccinate several months before the outbreak starts.
“In this case, we’ll be vaccinating at the peak of the outbreak, so half of the people who are going to be get infected will already be infected and won’t be able to benefit from the vaccine.
The official tally of confirmed cases of swine flu has risen by 54 to 507 (New Zealand)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/06/27/1245b6b1fb7a
The Health Ministry figures are an under-estimate as it only refers to those who have been confirmed by laboratory.
Wellington has had most confirmed cases, according to the tally, followed by Auckland and Canterbury.
Gateway Airport prepared for any swine flu assault (Arizona)
http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/06/26/20090626mr-pandemic0627.html
The Valley’s Mesa-based reliever airport is gearing up to operate with a surprisingly lean staff should the Swine Flu pandemic decimate the airfield’s workforce.
Keeping Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport flightworthy with a skeleton crew was added earlier this month to mandatory emergency preparedness training that airport managers say is vital to sustain services when they’re most needed at the former Air Force Base.
The virus causing the flu can pass undetected through most airport security checkpoints unless they have heat senors that sense body temperatures. And unlike manmade and natural disasters, the disease is invisible until it strikes, said airport spokesman, Brian Sexton.
“Today, a sick child in Africa can directly impact our health here in Arizona,” he said. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. Everyone, not just airports, has a responsibility to be prepared.”
Gateway administrators and employees say they accept the emergency readiness regimen as a “social and legal” obligation to preserve one of the Valley’s front lines for transportation of manpower and supplies essential to the survival of thousands of residents.
At the state’s biggest airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, a “continuity of operations plan is consistently exercised and reviewed in the event of incidents like this,” said airport spokeswoman, Alisa Smith.
Operating Gateway with a couple dozen employees, almost a quarter of its entire workforce, may sound like an invitation to chaos, said Williams.
But with the H1N1 swine-flu virus outbreak now classified as a global pandemic and expectations that the disease will make many more Arizonans ill and unable to work this fall, preparing to operate the airport with a decimated staff is essential, she said.
“Luck is not a strategic plan,” Williams said. “We have to quit the denial that this can’t happen to us.”
Gateway’s emergency preparedness strategy starts with the well-being of all employees and their families, Williams said.
‘If employees are prepared at home and they know the well-being of their families can be sustained then they can better serve the airport’s needs,” Sexton said.
The home-front plan includes an extensive, detailed list of family emergency data information, medical history, family emergency supply and readiness checklists that employees are asked to complete and keep in their homes.
“Like a firefighter entering a burning building, they’re trained to protect self before entering,” Sexton said. “We are being trained to protect ourselves and family during a crisis, then we head to the airport to serve others.”
And it’s just the first phase of a comprehensive drill that goes well beyond what most businesses do to prepare employees for emergencies, Sexton said.
Phase two, which is in the preliminary planning stage, will concentrate on the growing mission of the Disaster Employee Support Team to serve as the employee liaison and advocate during a disaster or other emergency, Williams said.
The team would serve as the primary source for status updates and human resources information to allow operational managers and critical personnel to focus on response recovery, she said. The team would coordinate its updates with the airport’s public information officer.
Phase three will focus on the extended family and pooling available resources to family members while employees are engaged in airport response and recovery efforts.
Though the disaster plan is meticulous and its training requirements time-consuming, the airport has a head start on emergency response in that scores of its employees are already skilled in two or more technical disciplines, airport officials said.
“Cross training of staff is a critical component of emergency preparedness,” said Airport Executive Director, Lynn Kusy. “Our airfield maintenance technicians have been formally trained in airport operations, most of our department leaders have experience in more than one element of airport management, and we make it a practice to hire deeply skilled aviation employees.”
Chile reports four new deaths due to A/H1N1 flu
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11609900.htm
The Chilean authorities confirmed on Friday four new deaths due to A/H1N1 flu, raising the death toll in the country to 12.
The authorities said that two patients were from Nuble province, one from Valdivia and one from Osorio.
The victims from Nuble, southern Chile, were a 48-year-old female patient and a 47-year-old male, said the authorities.
The female patient was treated with anti-viral drug Oseltamivir from June 15, but she was taken to the hospital due to complications on June 19.
The male patient did not seek medical consultation on time. When he went to the health center, he was hospitalized and received treatment.
Nuble’s health official Ivan Paul Espinoza said that most of the cases showed light symptoms.
The other death was a male patient of 41 years old from Valdivia, 800 km south to Santiago, the capital of Chile.
The seven-year-old girl in Osorio is the first one who did not have symptoms and the first child who died in the country.
_________________
Funds sought for ill teenager
Ballet memorabilia put up for auction
By: Lindsey Wiebe
14/05/2009 1:00 AM
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/funds-sought-for-ill-teenager-44969927.html
A ballet-loving Winnipeg teen fighting for her life in hospital is getting a helping hand — a tutu once worn and signed by ballet great Evelyn Hart will be auctioned to raise funds for her care.
Jessica Bondar fell ill April 13, and went to hospital with what she and her aunt, Sheryl Matheson, thought was a bad case of the flu. Within 12 hours the 18-year-old was on life support after suffering heart failure, a rare complication from the influenza A virus, said Matheson.
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