Swine Flu News

[Tinijocaro]

Glad you're better-hope your dd is soon to follow.

http://pandemicinformationnews.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Disneyland/Brazil Flight: Surveillance will be tracking 18 people who were in flight when Jacqueline Ruas Died
05/08/2009

The State Health Secretariat of São Paulo reported that the Health Surveillance is monitoring 18 people who were on the flight in which the teenager Jacqueline Streets, 15, died last Sunday (2).

The teenager returned from a trip to Disney and still showed symptoms of influenza in the United States. She was referred to a hospital where he was subjected to an examination to diagnose it was swine flu - the so-called influenza A (H1N1) - but the result was negative.

The couple returned to go wrong during the flight and was attended by two doctors who were on board, they did CPR procedures for it, but had no success. According to SSP (Department of Public Safety), the IML diagnosed pneumonia as the cause of death.

According to Secretary of Health of São Paulo, they were sitting in the row next to Jacqueline during the flight that landed at the international airport of São Paulo, at Guarulhos (metropolitan area). The list of passengers was made by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).

According to the Secretariat, among the 18 passengers selected people from different states and even from other countries. The monitoring will be done by the Epidemiological Monitoring of each site.

On Monday (3), the tourism agency of Aunt Augusta, reported that a boy who traveled on the same flight of the adolescent, was confirmed with the swine flu. A child traveling with parents and showed symptoms of flu yet in the United States.

Case
The family of the student decided to sue the operator of tourism Aunt Augusta. The teenager's aunt, Magda Peace Santos, 39, says the goal is to get information on what happened during the U.S. tour before the teenager go wrong and die.

Read full post and comments

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanks Tinijocaro. The kids continue to improve and so far dh and I are symptom free. The more I thought about my pediatrician's office and what that nurse said, the more annoyed I got. If my doctor hadn't tested my son, we would have gone under the assumption he had something viral, gone to Chicago and infected my brother's family with this thing. I mean my son was pretty sick, but nothing awful, but who knows how my brother's family would have fared?

So far at least four other kids that were on that same trip for our church have tested positive for Influenza A. With lots of others sick. I was surprised that one of my son's friend's doctor told him not to bother to come in even though five kids have confirmed flu cases and this particular kid had a fever of 102 and was very sick.

I think we are going to come out just fine and my kids were way sicker in March from seasonal flu than from this. But I am glad I had them tested so that we knew to stay home and away from other people.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

I just knew my dd had the flu a few weeks ago. She went to a friend's house for a sleepover one night and was fine but when I picked her up the next morning she felt bad and by the time we got home(10 min drive) she was crying. She had a really bad headache, stomachache, fever, chills, cough, nasuea .I mean the works. A few dyas later I took her to the ER because she seemed to be getting worse. When she got there her heart rate was double the normal so they started her on an Iv. At that point they probably thought she had the swine flu because all the docs and nurses were now wearing face masks. Turns out she did not have the flu just a yucky old virus that had dehydrated her bad enough to raise her heart rate but I was just positive she had the flu.

I occasionally read this thread but I probably need to stop. All I tend to do is worry for no reason. I have talked to my kids about the importance of proper hand washing, I have them carry hand sanitizer everywhere and we are taking our vitamins and taking in more vitamin C. There's really nothing more that we can do so I guess whatever happens happens and there is no use getting all woked up about it!

I don't know whether your daughter had flu or not, but the quick tests are very unreliable. This concerns me because doctors make decisions about prescribing antivirals based on these tests.

Here is a new article about this topic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/06flu.html?_r=1

 

[C.Ann]

Wanted to pop in and say all is well.. I'm better and DD is much, much better! DGD is a little stuffy since yesterday, but it's either a cold or allergies..

 

[Tinijocaro]

www.trancy.net



August 7: Prepare at home for H1N1
Automatically added to News @ August 7th, 2009

Let’s say thousands are stricken with the flu. Your employer may ask you to stay home. Schools are closed. Now what?

A pandemic flu might create a run on stocking up and wipe out local grocery store supplies in hours. Stores here generally carry a three-day supply of food. Witness the runs on milk, bread, and fresh and frozen items when a snowstorm is predicted.

Preparedness experts are recommending that households stock a two-week supply of food and a three-month supply of medications now. Unlike a weather disaster, a pandemic should not shut down electricity, water, other utilities, the Internet, or phones. There is some concern that if citizens are at home from work and children are not in school, activity on the Internet could be extremely heavy.

For long sieges at home, parents may want to bring in old-fashioned board games, books, and DVDs to keep children engaged, suggests Dena Howard, director of Partner Services for the American Red Cross Heartland Chapter.

 

[Tinijocaro]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-06-swine-flu-schools_N.htm?csp=34

New swine flu guidelines issued for schools


SWINE FLU: H1N1 VIRUS

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
Schools across the USA should close this fall only if "high numbers" of students come down with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, top federal officials said Friday.

Schools' first line of defense against the illness? Frequent hand washing, "coughing etiquette," routine cleaning and close monitoring of symptoms.

In schools where students show symptoms, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, educators should set aside a room for kids — "a safe place for them to stay" until they're picked up to go home.



The new guidance, issued Friday in Washington by Duncan and top health officials, represents a change from last spring, when more than 700 schools, acting on guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), closed temporarily.


The new guidelines also shave the recommended time that ill students should be kept out of school, from one week to 24 hours after their fever subsides.

The new timeline is "more practical," said CDC Director Thomas Frieden. But he added that if the virus becomes more deadly, schools should begin screening people as they come through schoolhouse doors, consider sitting kids farther apart and adopting staggered school dismissal times to cut down on contact.

Frieden said an H1N1 vaccine, expected by mid-October, "so far looks like it will be a good match" with the strain that's circulating." Most children will require two doses separated by three weeks, he said.

Duncan said schools could serve as mass vaccination sites this fall if swine flu makes a strong comeback. The typical public school is "a natural location" for vaccinations on a large scale. "It's where our students are."

Last spring, when the swine flu first struck, federal health officials advised schools with suspected cases to shut down for about two weeks. After investigators found that the bug was milder than expected, the CDC said parents should keep infected children home for a week instead.

At a swine flu summit last month, Duncan said closing schools should be "a last resort, not a first resort." On Friday, he added, "We absolutely hope that no schools will have to close, but in reality some schools will have to close this fall."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the new guidelines echo that thinking. "Only schools with high numbers of high-risk students — should consider closure," she said, adding that closing a school, even temporarily, "causes a very significant ripple effect" in the community.

She warned that keeping kids home from school means that students should stay home to recuperate. "We do not want kids going to the mall or anywhere else," she said. "We want to reduce transmission" of the flu bug.

Duncan on Friday also said educators should figure out how to keep students learning if schools must close for extended periods. "Educators will have to start thinking now about having temporary home-school plans in place," he said. He promised to give school districts as much flexibility as possible under federal rules on average daily student attendance.

After attending a Thursday briefing on the new guidelines, Amy Garcia, executive director of the National Association of School Nurses, said she was "really pleased at the collaboration of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security. We think that will go a long way toward there being much more consistent messaging to parents."

The cooperation "will reduce some of the confusion" that schools and families experienced last spring around school closures and home confinements for sick children.

Frieden, who until last June was commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said researchers have learned a lot since last spring about how the flu spreads. New York City saw cases in hundreds of schools, but closed only about 50.

"Perhaps we would have closed fewer if we had known then what we know now," he said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/aug1009vaccine.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8296948&page=1

 

[Mskanga]

Well after speaking to our doctor yesterday he said we probably have more imunity now since we had the swine flu than she shot can probably provide. He only advises us to get the regular flu shot like we always did.

 

[Tinijocaro]

God, I hope this article isn't true!

Also, something else I read said that only 10% of the world's population lives in the southern hemisphere, yet the deaths outnumber what we've had in the northern hemisphere. That means we could be in for a very, very tough fall.



Even after 5 days of Tamiflu, kids carry virus for 3 weeks
Kounteya Sinha, TNN 12 August 2009, 02:47am IST

NEW DELHI: Children, mostly below 12 years of age and infected with H1N1 swine flu, can continue to infect those around them for almost three weeks
after onset of symptoms. Doctors scanning and treating infected H1N1 patients in government hospitals across India have found that some children, who were infected with the deadly swine flu virus and cured after a five-day Tamiflu-regimen, continue to carry the virus in their nasal cavity.

Interestingly, the virus potency reduces in such cases because of which the child remains asymptomatic but then becomes a carrier of the virus capable of infecting others for two more weeks. This phenomenon is also found in people with immuno-suppressive diseases like HIV, infected with H1N1. According to experts, this is usually common in cases infected with seasonal influenza viruses but has now been found to be true even with the novel H1N1 virus.

Speaking to TOI, professor of medicine at AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria said, “We have scientific evidence which proves than children can be long-term carriers of the H1N1 virus even after they have been completely treated of the infection. Children and HIV patients after the five-day two-times-a-day Tamiflu regimen might not show symptoms of the disease but the virus may continue to line their nasal cavity or throat.”

Dr Guleria added, “This may be primarily because both children and HIV patients have a weak immunity system because of which complete virus eradication takes a longer period. Their body may have managed to eliminate the virus which remains in slight quantities in the nasal passages. This is why the body does not show it is infected after a Tamiflu treatment.” This finding is crucial for India where majority of the cases are in the school-going age group.

A recent analysis of age-based infection amongst 615 positive cases in India by the health ministry had found that the worst affected was the 10-14 year group with the 5-9 years group not far behind.

A scientists at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases told TOI, “Children mostly six years or younger can spread the virus much longer than adults. But the question is whether this is a serious problem because children after five days of Tamiflu show no symptoms. So then don’t cough or sneeze. Therefore, they can’t expose others to infection since influenza viruses spread from person to person primarily through large-particle respiratory droplet transmission.” He added, “Usually when we do find cases where children still harbour the virus after five days of treatment, we add five more days of Tamiflu.”

So what should children once infected with H1N1 and cured do? Dr Guleria said, “They must continue basic cough hygiene like covering their mouths and sneezing for two weeks after being discharged. They must avoid contact with high risk groups.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rry-virus-for-3-weeks/articleshow/4883601.cms

 

[Tinijocaro]

*Jalisco Province of Mexico -- People getting infected/sick with H1N1 a SECOND time*
(1918 all over again -- Dr. NIMAN)

People in the province of Jalisco in Mexico are getting infected/sick with H1N1 after already having it and recovered from it the first time several months ago. Yes those who had it earlier in the spring and summer are getting infected a second time and the symptoms seem to be just as severe as the first time they were infected. This is SIGNIFICANT as it relates to acquired immunity potential with both infection of H1N1 and vaccination/innoculation of H1N1. Dr. NIMAN states this is just like 1918 when people got infected more than once with the Spanish flu. To read about this and also Dr. NIMAN's thoughts about this phenomemon/event see link below and scroll down to bottom.

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119767

 

[sbell111]

God, I hope this article isn't true!

Also, something else I read said that only 10% of the world's population lives in the southern hemisphere, yet the deaths outnumber what we've had in the northern hemisphere. That means we could be in for a very, very tough fall.

Ummm.... It's flu season there.

*Jalisco Province of Mexico -- People getting infected/sick with H1N1 a SECOND time*

It's much more likely that they were misdiagnosed. See Mskanga's post just a few posts up.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Ummm.... It's flu season there.

It's much more likely that they were misdiagnosed. See Mskanga's post just a few posts up.

Umm...yes, it is flu season there, which means when we hit our flu season, there could be many deaths-since we have 90% of the world's population and the southern hemisphere has only 10%.

What about what Mskanga said? Her doc thought they might have immunity, now cases are being found where people DO get it twice. Not sure what you're saying.

 

[DawnCt1]

DH said that as many children, ages 5 to 14 have been hospitalized in the last 6 to 8 weeks, as were hospitalized in the entire winter's flu season.

 

[laurie31]

Well, school started Monday, and today we have a confirmed case of influenza A (presumed H1N1) in the middle school. I knew school starting would intensify the spread, but I didn't think it would only take 3 days.

I'm not panicking, but I told my kids not to touch their face (eyes, nose) unless they had JUST washed their hands, and to wash frequently throughout the day.

 

[rparmfamily]

DD8 was just confirmed with Influenza A. She started on Tamiflu and has to stay home for 7 days. I thought maybe she had it, since she rarely gets sick, it's been years since she's been. I thought it must be something she wasn't exposed to before, she has had a high fever (down now) plus the flu-symptoms.

Anyone personally dealt with it?

My kids started school just this past week too.

 

[Trish Bessette]

Gosh I'm so worried about this...my DD's start school in a few weeks. I have a feeling this will be a tough winter.

 

[C.Ann]

DH said that as many children, ages 5 to 14 have been hospitalized in the last 6 to 8 weeks, as were hospitalized in the entire winter's flu season.

Is he talking about here in the U.S., Dawn?

I really don't like the sounds of this thing - not at all..

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I think it will be too. There are just too many of use who have no immunity to this virus. Will it be the end of the world? Nah, I don't believe that stuff.

I do, however, believe it is prudent to stock up now on the things you will need if you or your little ones become sick. Whether or not it is this new H1N1 or the reformatted H3N2 [the season vax won't work on it, it mutated too much over the spring] or another season virus, it doesn't really matter. Who wants to leave their little ones to go get the medicine and food stuff once they or you are sick? Not every one has a spouse/significant other/close neighbor who can go get it for them.

Get your cold medicines/fever reducers/musinex type stuff. You don't want a cough suppressant though. You want that mucus out, not in.

Get your pedialite/oral rehydration solutions.

Get soups, easy to fix and eat food stuff now.

This way, it is there, on hand if you need it. Most of those things will last a long time, so if you and your loved ones don't get the flu or super bad cold this season, it will be still be good for the next season.

That is just prudent. No fear mongering. Just sound advice I found from the American Red Cross.

 

[Tinijocaro]

DD8 was just confirmed with Influenza A. She started on Tamiflu and has to stay home for 7 days. I thought maybe she had it, since she rarely gets sick, it's been years since she's been. I thought it must be something she was exposed to before, she has had a high fever (down now) plus the flu-symptoms.

Anyone personally dealt with it?

My kids started school just this past week too.

DS14 had it in early June. His was very mild-100degree fever and headache, chills, body aches. That was it. One day of chills, next day feeling sick, the next day he was better.

My niece had it worse, she has asthma and was down and out for over a week.

I'm surprised they gave your dd Tamiflu with all that's been in the news about it lately. Is she vomiting at all? Be sure to keep her hydrated. It seems that advice is inconsistent on giving Tamiflu. Hope she's feeling better soon!

http://www.nursinginpractice.com/de...elyill"&page=article.display&article.id=18109

http://www.pharmacyeurope.net/defau...amiflu"&page=article.display&article.id=18113

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/31/tamiflu-side-effects-children

 

[Trish Bessette]

I think it will be too. There are just too many of use who have no immunity to this virus. Will it be the end of the world? Nah, I don't believe that stuff.

I do, however, believe it is prudent to stock up now on the things you will need if you or your little ones become sick. Whether or not it is this new H1N1 or the reformatted H3N2 [the season vax won't work on it, it mutated too much over the spring] or another season virus, it doesn't really matter. Who wants to leave their little ones to go get the medicine and food stuff once they or you are sick? Not every one has a spouse/significant other/close neighbor who can go get it for them.

Get your cold medicines/fever reducers/musinex type stuff. You don't want a cough suppressant though. You want that mucus out, not in.

Get your pedialite/oral rehydration solutions.

Get soups, easy to fix and eat food stuff now.

This way, it is there, on hand if you need it. Most of those things will last a long time, so if you and your loved ones don't get the flu or super bad cold this season, it will be still be good for the next season.

That is just prudent. No fear mongering. Just sound advice I found from the American Red Cross.

EXCELLENT advice