Lingering Pandemic Virus Brings Summer Flu to England, Wales
There were 11.2 cases of influenza-like illnesses per 100,000 people in the week ended June 21, the London-based Royal College of General Practitioners said in a weekly report on its Web site yesterday. That compares with 6.5 per 100,000 the previous week.
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Who Says It May Declare Swine Flu Pandemic Soon
WHOs flu chief Keiji Fukuda said the agency wanted to avoid “adverse effects” if it announces a global outbreak of swine flu. Fukuda said people might panic or that governments might take inappropriate actions if WHO declares a pandemic.
Some flu experts think the world already is in a pandemic and that WHO has caved in [...]
Whos Chan Warns Nations Not to Overreact to Swine Flu Pandemic
Margaret Chan, the WHOs director-general, may declare an influenza pandemic within days, said three people familiar with the organizations plans. Chan, in an interview late yesterday, said a final decision hasnt been taken, and authorities must use the time before swine flu becomes global to revise emergency plans and convey the measures to their countries [...]
Its A Pandemic, Experts Say; Who Tweaks Label to Avoid Panic
Margaret Chan, the WHOs director-general, will make the announcement sometime in the next 10 days, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private. The agency, having spent the past five years alerting the world to the dangers of a pandemic, is now looking for a way to declare one [...]
Japan Flocks to Ostrich Masks to Help Fight Swine Flu Paranoia
Tsukamoto, 40, a veterinary professor at Kyoto Prefectural University, was part of a team that investigated the deaths of birds in 2004, when avian influenza hit farms in western Japan. The probe into the virus that killed three-fifths of infected people worldwide spurred him to produce flu-fighting antibodies from ostriches, which are resistant to infectious [...]
Scientists Identify New Lethal Virus In Africa
Its not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.
“This one is really, really aggressive” he said of the virus.
A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online [...]
Who May Alter Pandemic Alert System After U.k. Cites Confusion
The agency will ask a group of scientists and public health officials for advice on how to improve the decade-oldalert system over the next few weeks, said Keiji Fukuda, the WHOs assistant director-general of health security and environment. Dozens of cases in Chile and Australia indicate the virus is spreading in communities in the Southern [...]
Swine Flu Is Spreading More Widely Than Official Numbers Show
One in 20 cases is being officially reported in the U.S., meaning more than 100,000 people have probably been infected nationwide with the new H1N1 flu strain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.K., the virus may be 300 times more widespread than health authorities have said, the Independent on [...]
Japan Plays Down Swine Flu Threat as Tokyo Attests Third Case
The governments swine flu taskforce eased policies on quarantine and flight inspections and downplayed the severity of the virus in new guidelines issued today. The measures will end mandatory on-board health checks of people on flights from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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Tests Show More Swine Flu Immunity In Older Folks
Scientists think its because older people have been exposed to other viruses in the past that are more similar to swine flu than more recent seasonal flus.
But the results come from complicated lab work and calculations, and its not yet clear how safe older people actually are from the new infection, federal officials said.
“We cant [...]