The WHO Pandemic Alert level remains at Phase 6
Influenza A (H1N1) Cases and Deaths
Local/National News
Several provinces and territories plan to ask retired nurses to return to work if the swine flu pandemic becomes severe in Canada. While Quebec constantly updates its list of recently retired nurses in case of an emergency, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Alberta, Yukon, and British Columbia are all actively looking for both retired and non-practicing nurses. Recently, New Brunswick's nursing college launched an online appeal for retired nurses to register. CBC
Research done in 2007 and presented by the Canadian Medical Association Journal has found there is no evidence that hand washing prevents the flu. The report, commissioned by the Public Health Agency of Canada stated that current evidence shows flu is primarily spread through the air. Despite the results, the Public Health Agency of Canada continues to recommend hand washing to prevent the flu because there is "substantial evidence" to support washing to prevent infection. CTV
International News
In North America, influenza transmission is geographically widespread and continues to increase above the seasonal baseline. Rates of influenza-like-illness continue to be above baseline levels in Ireland, parts of the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland), Israel, and France; in addition, more than 10 other countries in the region have reported geographically localized spread of influenza. Throughout the tropical region of the Americas, many countries, like Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Paraguay have been recently reporting a declining trend. In tropical regions of Asia, there continues to be an increasing trend in respiratory diseases in parts of India and in Cambodia. WHO
Influenza A/H1N1 has hit a third school in Uganda as 13 students were confirmed with the epidemic, bringing the total cases in the country to 58. The new cases were confirmed at Ndejje secondary school in Luwero district, central Uganda. Another 30 students are being monitored at an isolation unit at Ndejje school, said Issa Makumbi, head of disease surveillance at the Health Ministry. The earlier outbreaks in two secondary schools in Bushenyi and Kabarole district have left 19 students confirmed with the flu and over 300 more under medical surveillance. China View
Swine flu is now widespread across the entire United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced as federal health officials released Tamiflu for children from the national stockpile and began taking orders from the states for the new swine flu vaccine. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the disease control center’s director of immunization and respiratory disease, said there was “significant flu activity in virtually all states,” which, she added, was “quite unusual for this time of year.” New York Times
Doctors in Australia and New Zealand have found that swine flu is most dangerous when it causes the lungs to become inflamed, flood with fluid, and fail to function. While a majority of people infected with the virus have a mild illness, a small number develop life-threatening disease. The doctors described the most common of three main complications from the pandemic strain as flu A-associated acute respiratory disease syndrome, or “flaards.” Flaards -- sometimes with associated multiple organ failure -- is the most common syndrome and has the highest attributable mortality. Bloomberg
Vaccine News
The swine flu vaccine has arrived in parts of the U.S., with vaccinations due to begin on October 5th. Vaccination clinics are scheduled for staff at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee and Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, in which the vaccine will be given to doctors, nurses, emergency medical workers and other health care professionals who work directly with patients. The first vaccines to be administered in the U.S. will be a nasal spray from AstraZeneca unit MedImmune. The U.S. government has ordered about 250 million doses of both injectable and nasal spray vaccine from Sanofi-Aventis SA, CSL Ltd, MedImmune, Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline. Seasonal flu vaccination programs are also underway in the U.S., having begun last month. CTV
International influenza vaccine experts are apparently not convinced that Canadian researchers have found a true link between getting a seasonal flu shot and catching swine flu. The consensus arrived at during a WHO teleconference on the controversial data believed that the Canadian findings are likely due to some confounding factor or factors in the data themselves and may not reflect a real increased risk, according to David Wood, coordinator of the quality, safety and standards team of WHO's department of immunization, vaccines and biologicals. Scientists from the United States, Britain and Australia have looked at their data, but didn't see the same effect. CBC
Week’s Feature
Watch the spread of the H1N1 virus through global air traffic routes in this study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. NEJM
Posts
