US declares public health emergency for swine flu

The precautionary step doesn't signal a greater threat to Americans. But it allows the federal and state governments easier access to flu tests and medications.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napilotano says roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu are being released from a federal stockpile so that states can get it if needed.

Napilotano said at a White House news conference Sunday that the emergency declaration is standard operating procedure — one was recently declare for the inauguration and for flooding.

The World Health Organization advised all countries to be on the lookout for "unusual" outbreaks of flu, after an emergency meeting Saturday as the seriousness of the outbreak became clear.

By Sunday, 81 deaths in Mexico had been deemed "likely linked" to swine flu. Viral testing has confirmed 20 cases, said Dr. Jose A. Cordova Villalobos, Mexico's health secretary.

read more | digg story

Swine "Flu" pandemic - mixed DNA means NOT JUST FLU

It turns out this virus is highly unusual, a quadruple reassortant. The genes of a flu virus are packaged in eight discrete segments. When two flu viruses infect the same host cell, the segments of each are copied and repackaged, 8 at a time, in new viral particles which then bud off from the infected cell. They then may infect a new host cell. In this repackaging process the segments of the two different viruses may mix and match, so that new virus particle will have segments from two different viruses. The new virus is, in a sense, not just a swine flu virus. It does have viral segments characteristic of two different families of swine flu, one typical of North America, where swine flu is endemic, and one typical of pig flu viruses from Europe and Asia. But we learned today that it also has viral segments seen in North American birds and in human seasonal influenza. Which of the segments is a bird segment and which is humans wasn't discussed in today's briefing, but the fact that the genetic sources comprise widely different geographies and species is highly unusual -- unusual at least as far as we know. We have little systematic information on swine viruses, so how common this really is we don't know for sure, nor do we know how recent. The virus is resistant to the older adamantane antivirals but sensitive to both oseltamivir (Tamilfu) and zanamivir (Relenza).

Whatever this is, it isn't seasonal influenza. The reported cases range from 9 years old to 54 years old, 3 females, 4 males. All have recovered and only one required hospitalization. The earliest case is from late March, the most recent just days ago. Symptoms are typical for influenza-like illness except that there seems to be a greater prominence of gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) along with the respiratory symptoms and fever. CDC emphasized they were in an active investigation mode and will keep sharing information as it develops. Clearly there is a lot more to learn about this.

Could this be the harbinger of an influenza pandemic? A pandemic is a global sized outbreak from a single strain of influenza. We believe that there are several necessary conditions for this to happen with influenza. One is the ability of the viral strain to infect humans (there are many influenza viruses but most don't infect humans). Another is the ability to be transmitted from person to person. While bird flu can infect humans, it still has not acquired the ability to spread easily from person to person. Yet another is an influenza virus which is sufficiently different that there is little natural immunity in the human population. As far as I can tell, this virus seems to have all of these characteristics.

read more | digg story

Swine Flu in America: 8 Cases in NYC, 2 in Kansas

Two cases of the human swine influenza have been confirmed in Kansas and one more in California, bringing the U.S. total to 11.

Kansas health officials said Saturday they had confirmed swine flu in a married couple living in the central part of the state after the husband visited Mexico. The couple, who live in Dickinson County, were not hospitalized, and the state described their illnesses as mild.

Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, the state health officer, said, "Fortunately, the man and woman understand the gravity of the situation and are very willing to isolate themselves."

The man traveled to Mexico last week for a professional conference and became ill after returning home. His wife became ill later. Their doctor suspected swine flu, but it wasn't confirmed until flu specimens were flown to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A flu viruses, the CDC's Web site says. Human cases of swine flu are uncommon but can happen in people who are around pigs and can be spread from person to person. Symptoms of the flu include a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

read more | digg story

Experts Debate Pandemic Potential of Swine Flu

A top federal health official said the government's concern over the swine flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico has grown since Thursday -- and a handful of influenza experts worry the deadly, never-before-seen hybrid strain may spur a pandemic.

read more | digg story

The Truth About Deadly 'Superbugs'

After decades of irresponsible use of antibiotics, we're paying the price.

"It sounds more like a sci-fi movie plot than reality, but "superbugs"—deadly microbes that can resist drugs designed to wipe them out—are far from imaginary. Schoolchildren in several states recently have died from infections caused by MRSA bacteria, otherwise known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and medical recordkeeping shows such cases are increasing annually...where do the harmful, drug-resistant nemeses come from? Experts think the answer lies in how we combat diseases with antibiotics."


read more | digg story

Brain-eating Amoeba Kills Sixth Victim

"A 14-year-old Lake Havasu (Arizona) boy has become the sixth victim to die nationwide this year of a microscopic organism that attacks the body through the nasal cavity, quickly eating its way to the brain."

read more | digg story