Global's H1N1 Update-09/24/09, 0830 hrs PST

The next update will be on Tuesday, September 29th, at 08:30 PST.
The WHO Pandemic Alert level remains at Phase 6

Influenza A (H1N1) Cases and Deaths

*Cases reported by The World Health Organization (WHO) are as of 13th September, 2009

Local/National News

The Government of Canada, in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, has launched a national television ad promoting infection prevention behaviours to prevent the spread of H1N1 and seasonal flu. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care produced the ad and the Public Health Agency of Canada is paying for it to air on television stations across Canada. The ad encourages Canadians to wash their hands, cough into their arm, and keep common surfaces clean to prevent the spread of H1N1 and seasonal flu. PHAC

The Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese has confirmed two known cases of H1N1 in its high schools in the Lower Mainland. One of the cases is at Notre Dame Regional Secondary, where 100 students were absent today; the other confirmed case is at St. Patrick's Regional Secondary. Superintendent Doug Lawson commented, "I would imagine there are a fair number of families who are electing not to come to school." News1130

International News

According to Dr. James Turner, president of the American College Health Association and executive director of student health at the University of Virginia, more than 13,000 college students have had flu-like symptoms in the last month at 250 colleges spread across the country. However, there is no way to tell how many of those are H1N1 because health officials are no longer testing every sick student. So far, two students have died from the flu — one at Troy University in Alabama on September 4 and one at Cornell University on September 11. Chicago Tribune

Sanofi-Aventis (SA) will begin delivering the first doses of its new swine flu vaccine in the United States by mid-October. SA will be able to produce at least 800 million doses of the vaccine per year. The U.S. has ordered 195 million doses but may order more if there's enough demand. Typically fewer than 100 million Americans seek flu vaccine every year. Health Key

The Japanese Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry is looking at giving subsidies to all hospitals and clinics across Japan to better deal with swine flu. The money would be used not only to improve medical facilities but also to reinforce quarantine systems and purchase vaccine. Hospitals that receive the subsidies would also have to increase the number of beds for patients whose swine flu symptoms become serious and put in place shields to prevent other patients from getting infected. Japan Times

Antiviral News

At a conference in San Francisco organized by the American Society for Microbiology, researchers presented data on peramivir, a new antiviral drug that works the same way as Tamiflu and Relenza but is given intravenously. Studies report that a single 15- to 30-minute infusion of peramivir was equivalent to a five-day course of Tamiflu in alleviating symptoms of the seasonal flu. An intravenous drug could also be used by patients who cannot swallow Tamiflu capsules or inhale Relenza. New York Times

Vaccine News

With evidence mounting that the swine flu virus will become the dominant strain causing flu infections in 2009, public health officials across Canada are debating scrapping vaccine programs for seasonal flu, allowing health workers to focus instead on swine flu vaccination. Young children getting both shots would have to visit the clinic and get inoculated four times to be fully protected. Health officials in Quebec are already saying they're putting the seasonal flu shot program on standby. CTV

Week’s Feature

Concerned about the H1N1 vaccine? Watch CBS’s coverage of the safety and required dosage of the vaccine