Posted on 06/24/2009 8:04:24 AM PDT by metmom
Risk of death ten times higher in children with H1N1
12/28/20092:26 pm
Vanderbilt researcher, while working in his native country of Argentina, has found that children with H1N1 influenza die at a rate 10 times higher than those who suffer from seasonal flu.
Dr. Fernando Polack, the Cesar Milstein associate professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt, describes the serious impact of the H1N1 influenza virus on children in an article titled Pediatric Hospitalizations Associated with H1N1 Influenza in Argentina, published in the Dec. 23, 2009, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The overall death rate with H1N1 was 1.1 per 100,000 children, compared to .1 per 100,000 for seasonal flu in 2007.
Polack also details which children were at highest risk. Due to Argentina’s location in the southern hemisphere, Polack was able to collect detailed surveillance data during the peak of the H1N1 virus outbreak in Buenos Aires in June. His cohort included six hospitals that combine to serve 1.2 million children.
“One thing that was striking was the tremendous impact on hospital logistics. Routine surgeries were cancelled; mass infection control practices were put in place; wards doubled— particularly in ICU’s, with everyone working over capacity. It was pretty rough,” Polack said.
Dr. Kathryn Edwards, Sarah H. Sell Chair in Pediatrics and director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, is a coauthor on the article. Edwards says the H1N1 outbreak showcases opportunities which can result from observing opposing seasonal illness peaks from the northern to the southern hemispheres. The hope is that scientists can learn to respond more quickly to a developing pandemic.
“Flu is a global disease and we need to work together to understand and deal with each flu virus,” Edwards said.
The first author of the article is Argentinean pediatrician Dr. Romina Libster, who is currently in Nashville working as a research specialist with the VVRP. Libster said Polack realized what was happening when reports began to arise in Mexico that a new flu virus was causing serious illness.
Contact: Laurie Holloway (615) 322-474
laurie.holloway@vanderbilt.edu
I meant a 100% recovery :)
Q226R In Fatal H1N1 Infection of Oregon Cat
Recombinomics Commentary 12:49
January 20, 2010
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01201002/Q226R_cat_OR.html
The cat, a 10-year-old male, was brought to the Animal Clinic in Lebanon on Nov. 4 with labored breathing. A family member had been sick with a flulike illness about a week earlier.
The cat’s condition worsened and, three days later, it died.
The above comments describe the first reported fatal infection of a cat with H1N1. The HA and NA sequences form A/cat/Oregon/29573/2009 were released by the National Veterinary Services in Ames, IA. The sequences contain the receptor binding domain change Q226R. Although this change was present as a mix in isolates last spring, including the vaccine target California/7, it is being reported more frequently. Moreover, H5N1 has a Q at position 226, which is thought to generate at alpha 2,3 specificity, which may be associated with the ability to replicate is a subset of lung cells. Differences in outcomes between the child and cat in the above household may be linked to receptor differences between humans and cats.
Additional reports have described at least two more fatal infections of H1N1 in cats and several additional non-fatal infections. The first sequence released, from a cat in Iowa, did not have the receptor binding domain change.
Release of addition H1N1 sequences from cats would be useful.
Commentary
Ukraine Dead Top 1000 - Donetsk Fatalities Grow
Recombinomics Commentary 12:49
January 20, 2010
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01201003/Ukraine_1005.html
4,324,282 Influenza/ARI
256,941 Hospitalized
1005 Dead
The updated numbers from the Ukraine Ministry of Health website indicates the number dead have now topped 1000. The 1005 fatalities reported on Tuesday is 9 higher than Monday’s total, with 153 in Donetsk (see map), which is 5 higher than the previous day. Alrhough the infection rate in Dontsk is below the epidemic threshold, the continuing increase in fatalities raises concerns that H1N1 with D225G/N in Ukraine is becoming more common.
An earlier isolate from Ukraine with D225G was classified as a low reactor, indicating the ferrent reference anti-sera produced a titer at least 4 four lower than the vaccine. This reduced titer raises concerns that D225G will offer a selective advantage in a population developing protective antibodies. The decline in cases across the Ukraine increases those concerns because the reduction in wild type receptors reduces the competing viral genomes. The 153 deaths in Donetsk is 50% higher than the second highest Oblast (Lviv with 103 deaths), which increases concerns of fatal variants in eastern Ukraine, along the border with Russia.
More information on deaths on the Russian side of the border would be useful.
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01201004/Nepal_Cluster.html
Commentary
Nepal Fatal Cluster Raises Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 16:37
January 20, 2010
After a couple’s death, paramedics have suspected possible swine flu (H1N1 virus) outbreak in a remote Sinhasain village of Dailekh district.
Bhim Bahadur Thapa Magar, 50, and his wife Maisara, 55, of Banskatiya of Sinhasain-7 died on Tuesday evening. They were suffering from common cold.
According to Health Assitant Binod Kathayat, more than 15 others are receiving treatment at the local health post for serious common cold.
“They are suffering from the cold that looks serious,” Bhakta Bahadur Malla of District Health Office. “So we have deployed a team of two including the in-charge at Ram Karnali Health Post Geharaj Khanal and Health Assistant Khem Raj Buda with necessary medicine.”
The above comments describe another fatal H1N1 cluster, in Nepal, which follows a similar cluster in Romania. Reports of receptor binding domain changes at position 225 (D225G and D225N) continue to increase along with associated deaths. India recently confirmed that the three cases with D225G were fatal and the WHO update indicated 50% of sequences with D225G were from fatal cases.
The designation of an isolate with D225G as a low reactor raises concerns that the increasing immunity to H1N1 will select for isolates with D225G.
Sequence data on the isolates from the above fatal cluster would be useful.
I believe this is a new death in Albemarle County, Virginia...
Darden student dies from lung complications
Fatal blood clot claims life of Justin Key; friends, relatives remember him for his cheerful manner, religious devotion
Katherine Raichlen, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
News
January 20, 2010 0
First-year Darden student Justin Key died Dec. 14 from a blood clot to the lungs. A memorial service will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. in Abbott Auditorium.
The blood clot that caused Key’s death came after several weeks of illness with H1N1, said Christy Bell, assistant director of general medicine at Student Health and Key’s physician.
“Recent research has shown a higher than expected number of cases of lung blood clots in those hospitalized with swine flu,” she said, adding that researchers are looking into whether blood clots could potentially explain sudden deaths in other young healthy people ill with H1N1.
Key was 26 when he died in his apartment, said his father, Brian Key, who remembered his son as a passionate and friendly person. “He loved so many things,” his father said, “but one of the main things he loved was travel.” Key spent last summer in South and Central America and spent eight months traveling across Europe two years prior. By the time he started at Darden, Key had visited 40 countries.
Justin Key was best known for the time he spent with people, his father said, noting that he met with people for coffee or drinks nearly everyday.
“He was just an energetic individual who made an effort to contribute positively to other people’s lives,” second-year Darden student Parker Garrett said.
First-year Darden student Jenn Crutchfield described him as outgoing and fun, as well as encouraging.
“He always had a ready smile and he was one of the more cheerful [and] positive people that I knew,” she said.
His friends and family also spoke of his commitment to his religion.
“He was a Christian and his faith meant a whole to him,” Key’s father said. “That was a huge priority of his, living out his faith.”
Garrett, who knew Key through his involvement in the Darden Christian Fellowship, said Key was unique for “his absolute love of God and what he was doing in his life [with regards to] his Christian faith.” Key expressed his religious devotion in what he said and wrote, Garrett said. He described Key as “a very considerate individual who really understood how blessed he was.”
Crossroads Bible Church Youth Pastor Stephen Janho recalled Key’s involvement at his church in Bellevue, Washington. Key led the Young Men’s Project at his church, working to create mentoring relationships between young men at the church and local business leaders, Janho said. Key also spent summers working with youth in church programs.
“He was just interested in caring for people and serving as an older mentor in their [lives],” Janho said. “Here’s a young guy who was bright, sharp and I think had the whole world ahead of him.
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2010/01/20/darden-student-dies-from-lung-complications/
Aussies pinpoint ‘deadly’ swine flu
03 February 2010 | 07:48:23 PM
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1186687/Aussies-pinpoint-?
Australian researchers have found a way to predict whether a person’s dose of swine flu is likely to turn life threatening, in a globally significant development.
Melbourne-based Professor Lindsay Grayson said it offered doctors a means to flag those patients who were most likely to experience the worst complications from a swine flu infection.
The discovery also pointed to a potential new treatment and an explanation for the most puzzling aspect of the global A(H1N1) pandemic.
That was, Prof Grayson said, the virus’s ability to be a “pretty mild disease” for the majority while also striking young and apparently healthy people.
“The unusual thing about swine flu is that, if you compare it to seasonal influenza, it mainly affects people aged 15 to 35,” said Prof Grayson, who is director of infectious diseases at Austin Health.
“It’s very unusual for us to see a 22-year-old about to die with (ordinary seasonal) influenza.
“Our thought is there is something special about swine flu and its interaction with immunoglobulin.”
Prof Grayson found those swine flu patients who become the sickest were likely to have a pre-existing deficiency of a specific blood protein (immunoglobulin G2 or IgG2) that is crucial to the proper functioning of the immune system.
It was a chance discovery, he said, sparked by the treatment of a critically ill pregnant woman at the height of Australia’s outbreak of swine flu last year.
Doctors ordered a non-routine test on the woman’s blood that returned an unsuspected result, and the same test was then conducted on all swine flu patients in the intensive care ward.
“We suddenly saw almost all of them were low, unexpectedly, in IgG2 ... this was the first time anyone had noted this,” Prof Grayson said.
“Almost all the patients in the ICU were all short of this protein, their levels were really, really low.”
Prof Grayson said up to 20 per cent of the population was known to have low immunoglobulin levels, and those with IgG2 deficiencies appeared to be at heightened risk from swine flu.
Many people with these deficiencies found out after suffering repeated chest and ear infections through their childhood.
“But there’s a fairly large chunk of them that would never know,” Prof Grayson said.
“What we’re hypothesising is that this may be an explanation for the very curious phenomenon that swine flu for the majority of the population is a pretty mild disease.
“But if you happen to be unrecognised and naturally IgG2 deficient, (swine flu) is going to affect you more.”
The discovery also suggests a potential new treatment for a swine flu infection, as people low in protein could have their levels topped up from donated blood.
The World Health Organisation was alerted to the finding last year, and a paper detailing the research is published this month in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
ILI - Influenza like illness - is up in most states now.
And since hardly anyone is ever tested, and tests often are inaccurate and cannot “find” swine flu, *and* there is practically no seasonal flu, guess what!
The pandemic is not over. The second wave may not be as “mild” (not mild for those who died or had severe illness) as the first.
Henry Niman’s latest Commentary:
Commentary
WHO Obsolete Reports on H1N1 D225G Raise Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 22:08
February 03, 2010
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02031002/WHO_Obsolete.html
Preliminary tests reveal no significant changes in the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus based on investigations of samples taken from patients in Ukraine.
The mutations appear to occur sporadically and spontaneously. To date, no links between the small number of patients infected with the mutated virus have been found and the mutation does not appear to spread.
The D222G substitution has been detected in virus isolates from around 20 countries, areas and territories in the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. These changes have been found since April 2009 but have not been associated with temporal or geographical clustering, strongly suggesting the mutation in these viruses has occurred sporadically as opposed to the emergence and sustained transmission of a variant virus.
The three statements above are from various WHO announcements on the receptor binding domain change D225G (aka D222G) which has a high association with fatal H1N1 cases. The comments above were obsolete or incorrect at the time of public release and raise serious questions about WHO’s ability to understand the evolution of pandemic H1N1. They are still tethered to an outdated and incorrect notion that genetic drift in influenza is largely driven by random copy errors which emerge through selection. This notion has been thoroughly discounted by influenza sequences, which support homologous recombination as the key driver.
The above comments on D225G were largely dictated by events in Ukraine. In late October media reports described the death of about 100 young adults who were appearing at emergency rooms, coughing up blood, and dying within days with severe lung damage. Although similar descriptions had been reported previously for fatally infected H1N1 patients, the high number of cases in a small region in western Ukraine led to a WHO investigative team traveling to Ukraine to gather information.
The above circumstances led to the prediction that the cases would be due to H1N1 with receptor binding domain changes, and these changes would be D225G and D225N. This prediction was based on sequences that had just been released from Brazil, Australia, and China. The HA sequences had D225G, D225N or both and were largely associated with severe or fatal cases and the H1N1 in each are represented a distinct genetic background.
The movement of the same polymorphism to multiple genetic backgrounds was best explained by recombination, which had been previously detail in clade 2.2 H5N1 as well as multiple clades of seasonal H1N1. For H1N1 the same synonymous polymorphism, NA G743A, suddenly appeared on multipe clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt in early 2007. This change appeared concurrently on different genetic backgrounds in Russia, Kuwait, Ghana, and Nigeria, which was most easily explained by recombination with a host sequence carrying G743A.
Similar results were seen in seasonal flu. Tamiflu resistance H274Y also appeared on multiple H1N1 clade 2B backgrounds in 2007/2008, but more detailed analysis indicated it had began to appear in 2006 in patients who had not received Tamiflu. Like the H5N1 polymorphism, it jumped from sub-clade to sub-clade. In 2007/2008 addition polymorphisms appeared on clade 2B which had been on a co-circulating sub-clade (2C), and the new acquisitions included adjacent polymorphisms. On NA there were three consecutive polymorphisms acquired, which included a synonymous polymorphisms, which would have had less selection pressure. Thus, the background switching, which included sequential polymorphisms, strongly supported recombination.
Moreover, the fixing of H274Y was linked to the acquisition of receptor binding domain changes. For H274Y, A193T was the key acquisition, which was then accompanied by flanking changes at positions 187, 189, and 196, which were associated with fixing H274Y worldwide.
Similar associations were seen in the fixing of adamantine resistance in H3N2. That anti-viral marker (M2 S31N) as also associated with an HA change at position 193 (S193F) as well as a second RBD change, D225N.
There was concern that similar events in pandemic H1N1 would lead to H274Y jumping from seasonal H1N1 to pandemic H1N1, which would then pair up with one or more receptor binding domain changes. The first example of H274Yacquisition which was not linked to Tamiflu usage was in an isolate that had H274Y and D225E. This H274Y linkage with a position 225 change increased concerns for fixing of H274Y in pandemic H1N1.
This concern was increased further in the fall of 2009 when sequences were released from fatal cases in Sao Paulo Brazil. Two sequences from lung or throat necropsy tissues had D225N, while two other sequences from lung had D225G. Sequences had also been released from a severe case in Zhejiang, China and it also had D225G, but was on a different genetic background. Similarly Australian sequences with D225G and D225N were on a third genetic background. The appearance of D225G and D225N on different genetic backgrounds led to the prediction that the same changes would be found in Ukraine, because both markers were “in play” and were associated with severe and fatal cases.
Consequently the involvement of D225G and D225N was predicted for the severe and fatal cases in Ukraine.
The team WHO sent collected representative samples, which were sent to the Mill Hill regional lab in London and subsequently to another WHO regional lab at the CDC in Atlanta.
On October 17, WHO released a Ukraine update, which state that “tests reveal no significant changes in the Pandemic (H1N1) virus” as noted above. However, the next day Mill Hill released 10 HA sequences from Ukraine. One was from an earlier collection in Kiev, while nine were from western Ukraine. Five were nasal washes from milder cases, while four were from throat or lung tissues from deceased cases. All four sample from deceased cases had the predicted D225G. Moreover, the D225G was linked to a “low reactor” clasification.
Others saw this receptor binding domain change in four of four fatal cases as significant because D225G was rare and only found in about 1% of public H1N1 HA sequences. Norway had generated sequences matching the western Ukraine sub-clade and found D225G in three. Two had died and one was severe, so Norway issued an alert.
WHO responded to the alert with a briefing note on October 20 by noting that D225G had been seen in previous mild and severe cases and characterized D225G as “spontaneous and sporadic and does not appear to spread”, as quoted above.
The CDC then released five more HA sequences. Three were from the five mild cases sequenced by Mill Hill, but two were unique and appeared to be from fatal cases. Both had D225N, which had also been predicted. Now the fatal cases with D225G/N was up to six and although were from the same clade, there were difference that divided the sequences into sub-clades, and D225G/N was in multiple sub-clades, again pointing toward spread via recombination.
Mill Hill then released to more sequences from lung samples and both sequences had D225G and D225N, demonstrating that the polymorphisms were spreading and were not spontaneous.
However, after the first six fatal sequences had been made public, WHO issued a preliminary evaluation of D225G and although 26 of the 52 samples were with D225G were from fatal cases, WHO maintained that the clinical significance was unclear and maintained that the cluster in Ukraine was not a cluster, and stated that the isolates were sporadic, as noted above.
Subsequently, multiple labs in Russia released sequences from lung and throat samples from fatal cases and they too had D225G and D225N. Several of the sequences were from the same general sub-clade, but small difference required multiple introductions, which further discounted the WHO working hypothesis that the changes were random, spontaneous, sporadic, and didn’t transmit.
WHO then e-mailed the same report via its WER, even though the Russian sequences invalidated virtually all of the major points in the report.
The WER was e-mail on a Friday, and Mill Hill released 28 samples from autopsy lung on the following Monday. 21 of the samples had D225G or D225N, and 10 of the samples had both. Thus, the linkage with fatal cases was higher than the frequencies cited by WHO, and the samples were clustered in time, space, and phylogeny. More independent introductions were required to explain the data which included identical genetic backbones with a wild type RBD or one with D225G, D225N, or both added. Similarly both polymorphisms were on branches with wild type sequences, signaling even more independent introductions, which was not consistent with the WHO working hypothesis and fully supported movement of these polymorphism by recombination.
Thus, in spite of the overwhelming data discounting WHO’s working hypothesis, they have not made any new comment since their statement last year.
This silence and linkage to the unsupported paradigm of random mutations continues to be hazardous to the world’s health.
This is one of the longest commentaries I’ve ever seen from him.
I was expecting something like this sort of genetic deficiency. Thank you.
As always, thanks for keeping us updated, DvdMom!
Ping to post 8,567
Thank you.
Aussies pinpoint ‘deadly’ swine flu<<<
Very interesting, thanks for pinging me.
Makes one wonder what else will be found out about this flu.
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/02081001/H1N1_MS.html
Commentary
More Severe H1N1 Increases In Mississippi
Recombinomics Commentary 16:38
February 08, 2010
All their temperatures were in the 103-104 F degree range and they exhibited the classic picture of “aching-all-over-like-I’ve-been-run-over-by-a-semi” with uncontrollable dry cough and extremely depressed energy levels.
These folks were dramatically sicker than anyone I saw with H1N1 which I described in an earlier column as “Flu Lite.” The typical case of swine flu I treated in the office struck me as being about a third as debilitating as seasonal flu.
I treated these recent patients with Tamiflu and they all got better but it took longer than in previous years. I have always told flu victims in the past that, once they started on Tamiflu, they would feel better within 24 hours. Most would tell me they felt brand new the next day. This year that advice didn’t work. Most of these unfortunates were in bed for three or four days and didn’t feel a bit better until the third day.
The above comments of a General Practitioner in Mississippi raise concerns that the increasing severity in recent flu patients in Region 4 is widespread. Although this practitioner thinks his patients have seasonal flu, there have been no significant influenza A seasonal flu reports in MS or elsewhere in the US this season. Seasonal H1N1 has not been reported in 7 weeks, and H3N2 was reported at minimal levels, which were less than 1% of swine flu levels.
Earlier reports described more severe cases in Memphis, TN as well as UNC University Hospital in Chapel Hill, NC. Moreover, the per cent positive rate for swine H1N1 has increased to 25% for NC and 13% for Region 4 in the latest update. Region 4 also reported the first upward swings in swine H1N1 in the fall, which began in August in the south, where schools began the academic year weeks earlier than school districts in other regions in the United States.
Although widespread disinformation campaigns have been discounting the current pandemic, these anecdotal reports suggest H1N1 cases are increasing and more severe. Anecdotal reports also indicate school absenteeism is on the rise, but swine flu symptoms are being reported as bronchitis, allergies, stomachs flu, or seasonal flu, as happened during the swine flu outbreak in the fall.
Details on rising school absenteeism, which appears to be approaching 10% in some schools districts in the south, as well as sequence data from the more severe cases, would be useful.
It’s pretty strange - OTOH, articles (editorials actually) about “yay, the flu pandemic is over” and “pandemic was hoax etc”. Then ominous snippets of news and pieces by Niman and others who actually know what they’re talking about.
The next few weeks and months will tell.
Nasty virus taking Sydney people down
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/nasty-virus-taking-sydney-people-down/story-e6frezz0-1225840619803
Dr Gordian Fulde March 15, 2010
SYDNEYSIDERS are being hit by a virus that is not only taking down people but also hospital staff.
It is an unseasonal virus, not the swine flu, that is really nasty and the emergency department has been flooded by people coming in sick with it.
It has caused some people, even young ones, to get pneumonia.
This is not the right time of the year but it is amazing how it is spreading. It seems to be attacking the head so people feel like they are getting the flu.
They will have a nasty cough and we are seeing a lot of sore throats and infections that are so severe we have to admit people.
Some patients have had throats so swollen they can’t swallow or breath properly and even their neck is swollen.
Vitamin D as effective as vaccine in preventing flu
14/03/2010 19:30:00 admin
Taking high doses of vitamin D3 supplements helps reduce risk of acquiring seasonal flu in winter, a new Japanese trial demonstrated.
The trial results reported in the March 10, 2010 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that children given a vitamin D(3) supplement were 42 percent less likely to get infected with seasonal flu than those who were given a placebo.
The efficacy is remarkable as it is probably comparable to that of flu vaccine, which is generally low because the virus used to construct the vaccine often does not match well with the circulating one.
Deficiency of Vitamin D, which is synthesized after the skin is exposed to sunlight or UV rays, has been associated with increased risk of seasonal flu and swine flu as well. But most of such studies were epidemiological or observational.
In the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima and colleagues at Division of Molecular Epidemiology Jikei University School of Medicine Minato-ku in Tokyo Japan gave one group of schoolchildren 1,200 international units per day of vitamin D(3) and another group a placebo to see how vitamin D would prevent seasonal flu.
The primary outcome of the trial was the incidence of influenza A and diagnosis was established by testing a flu antigen in a nasopharyngeal swab specimen.
During the trial between Dec 2008 and March 2009, 18 of 167 (10.8%) children given vitamin D tested positive for flu infection compared to 31 of 167 (18.6) children in the placebo group. The relative risk is 0.58 meaning those taking vitamin D were at 42 percent reduced risk of seasonal flu.
The anti-flu effect was found much more significantly among children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements and who started nursery school after age 3 and the reduction in the risk was 64 percent for both groups.
In a subgroup of children who were previously diagnosed with asthma, 2 children taking the vitamin D supplement experienced asthma attacks while 12 children receiving a placebo suffered asthma attacks meaning that vitamin D cut the risk by 83 percent.
The researchers concluded that the results suggest that vitamin D3 supplementation during the winter time may reduce the incidence of influenza A.
Dr. John Cannell, one of most knowledgeable vitamin D experts in the world, director of Vitamin D Council - a non-profit organization, and colleagues early published a heavy-weight review article in a scientific journal called Virology explaining that vitamin D is needed for the production of antibacterial peptides.
In winter, according to Dr. Cannell, people tend to stay indoors,lack exposure to sunshine and are prone to becoming vitamin D deficient. This is why people in winter are at higher risk of influenza including seasonal flu.
Dr. Cannell suggests adults can take 5,000 IU per day and try to maintain 50 to 80 ng/mL (or 125 to 200 nm/L) year-round. One early study suggests that it is safe for schoolchildren to take 2,000 IU per day for a year without any noticeable side effects.
Vitamin D is found only in a few foods including eggs and fatty fish like salmon. Because of this, this vitamin is fortified in some foods like milk, orange juice and cereals. But vitamin D levels in such foods are fairly low and you may need to drink as many as 20 glasses of milk to get enough vitamin D. Because of this, vitamin D supplements are a good source of the nutrient although the best source is UV rays.
Dr. Cannell cautioned that high intake of vitamin A can reduce the efficacy of vitamin D. Cod liver oil, which is high in vitamin A while vitamin D is relatively low, is not as good as used to be as a vitamin D source.
A health observer suggests that regardless of your vaccination status, an adequate level of serum vitamin D should be maintained to prevent flu and many other serious diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
For more detailed information on vitamin D, visit Vitamin D Council.
Family of H1N1 victim helping others
Updated: Sunday, 14 Mar 2010, 11:09 PM CDT
Published : Sunday, 14 Mar 2010, 11:09 PM CDT
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/family-of-h1n1-victim-helping-others
“This has been a very traumatic week. It’s been his worst week and his best day,” admitted Mitzi Holt. Holt and her husband, Hank, have been battling the H1N1 flu virus for over a month. Hank, 54, is in a medically induced coma, and his lungs have been decimated from pneumonia.
“The ventilator blew a hole in his right lung on Monday,” explained Mitzi. “Thursday, it blew two holes in the left lung. So it was a bad week.”
Holt said the good news is those holes have healed.
“(Monday) we’re gonna try to put him on a ventilator that will be more gentle and get the moisture and the healing and the humidity down in him.”
Holt, who herself was affected with the virus but recovered, said she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what her family has. That’s why she and others organized free flu shots for the public throughout Pensacola.
“When I see people come up here and get the shot, it means so much to me. Some of the e-mails coming in say, ‘We got the shot, maybe Hank saved our lives!’” she said.
Hank’s brother Jerry, a Vietnam War vet, said Hank’s stage of H1N1 is among the worst.
“Every single person on our little blue globe that’s gotten the bad stuff is dead,” Jerry said. “They died between the 13th and 17th day. Hank’s at day 33. He’s literally a medical text being rewritten.”
With the help of free vaccines, many others’ medical futures are also being rewritten.
More than 300 people came to get those free H1N1 shots. Three residents in Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties have died from causes associated with the virus.
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