The next update will be on Tuesday, October 20th, at 0830 hrs 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 October 4th, 2009
National News
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has announced funding of $2.4 million over two years to support five new research projects on the H1N1 flu virus. The research will be funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The projects include research into high risk groups, complications in pregnant women, new drug treatments for severe infections, and immune-based preventive and treatment strategies. CBC
Dr. Kami Kandola, the top public health official in the Northwest Territories, says the fall wave of swine flu is spreading faster than expected and becoming more common than the common cold, citing higher numbers of people reporting influenza-like illness, calling the flu line, and visiting the emergency room. Cases of swine flu were identified in 22 of the territory's 33 communities as of last week. Health officials say schools are reporting more students calling in sick, but no school closures have been reported to date. CBC
Prince Edward Island has launched a recruiting campaign to find retired licensed health care professionals who are willing to work if the swine flu severely hits the province. Officials with the Department of Health said advertisements for retired doctors, nurses, and laboratory technicians were published in local newspapers over the weekend because extra help might be needed if many health-care workers get the H1N1 virus. Between 300 and 400 people have retired in the last eight years and may be needed to provide long term and acute care across the province. CBC
International News
Health authorities are urging guardians of young children with flu-like symptoms to get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Dr. Kenneth Alexander, the University of Chicago's pediatric infectious disease chief, said there are common signs to indicate when both kinds of flu turn dangerous. A recent report from the CDC found that one-third of pediatric deaths from the new H1N1 virus were in children with no known underlying condition that would put them at risk. CTV
As the flu season starts, pork producers across the United States are crossing their fingers that the worst is behind them. The outbreak of "swine flu" in Mexico last April sent a shockwave through the pork industry, sending prices into a free fall and instigating pork bans by several countries even as researchers concluded that consuming and handling pork is not hazardous to humans. Currently, experts estimate that pork producers are losing approximately $30 to $35 per animal, a loss of almost $3 billion to the entire pork industry. Minot Daily News
Vaccine News
Canada's Olympic team should receive the swine flu vaccine on a priority basis to prevent an outbreak at the Winter Games, the team's top medical officer, Bob McCormack said amid reports that Canadian athletes who come down with the virus may be placed in quarantine. For McCormack, the Olympics provide a potential breeding ground for the H1N1 virus and that provides justification for making athletes a priority for the vaccine. The Public Health Agency of Canada said it has already decided not to give Olympic athletes vaccination on a priority basis because they have lots of time to get the shot before the competition. The International Olympic Committee has said it will not quarantine athletes who get sick at the Games. CBC
According to a simulation model of a pandemic outbreak reported in a new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, early action, especially rapid roll-out of vaccines, is extremely effective in reducing the attack rate of the H1N1 influenza virus. The model simulated a pandemic outbreak based on demographic information from London, a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada, as well as epidemiologic influenza pandemic data. It looked at the impact of vaccination timing, school closures, and antiviral drug treatment strategies, as well as the effect of pre-existing immunity. Science Daily
The New York Civil Liberties Union demanded on Tuesday that the state health commissioner withdraw a new regulation requiring hundreds of thousands of health care workers to get both seasonal and swine flu vaccinations. Several labor unions have opposed compulsory flu vaccination, arguing that it could result in the punishment and even dismissal of workers who refuse, whether for religious, cultural, or other reasons, to be vaccinated. The regulation covers workers and volunteers who come into direct contact with patients, including nurses, doctors, and aides and even nonmedical staff members, like food service workers, if they enter a patient’s room. New York Times
Weekly Feature
Take an online self diagnosis test, licensed by Emory University and endorsed by the CDC, to check if you have the H1N1 flu or not: Microsoft
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