The next update will be on Thursday, December 17th, 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 December 6th, 2009
National News
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says H1N1 activity in Canada continues to subside, dipping for the third straight week. The agency's weekly update, FluWatch, says widespread activity is limited to two small pockets of the country, in central Saskatchewan and along the south and east coasts of Newfoundland. There were 307 people admitted to hospital with H1N1 flu, 83 admitted to ICUs and 33 who died across the country, in the last two weeks. Canadian Press
Comparing transmission of H1N1 during the current winter season to transmission during the summer season, there appears to be 2-3 times more hospitalized cases and deaths in the United States and approximately 4-5 times more hospitalized cases and deaths in Canada during the winter season. This would indicate that transmission of the virus has been much more widespread and intense during the winter, as predicted, but overall rates of severe illness have not changed compared to southern hemisphere. WHO
Similar to seasonal influenza, persons with certain underlying conditions (compared to those without) were at significantly increased risk of hospitalization and death associated with the H1N1 virus infection. During the current winter season in Canada, 52% of hospitalized cases, 60% of cases requiring intensive care, and 67% of fatal cases, had an underlying chronic medical illness. The most common underlying conditions among fatal cases in Canada were asthma followed by cardiac disease, immunosuppression, and diabetes. WHO
International News
With the exception of France where flu activity continues to increase, flu activity has peaked in much of Western Europe. Increasing activity continues to be observed in central and southeastern Europe, including in Albania, Estonia and Greece. In Western and Central Asia, influenza virus transmission remains active but may have peaked in Afghanistan, Israel, and Oman. In East Asia, influenza activity continues to increase in Japan and has recently begun to increase in Hong Kong. In South Asia, influenza activity has begun to increase in the north-western parts of India and in Sri Lanka. In Central and South America and the Caribbean, overall disease activity has been declining. WHO
U.S. federal health officials have reported that almost 10,000 people had died of H1N1 since April, a significant jump from mortality numbers released last month. Officials also said that 50 million Americans (one sixth of the country), had caught the disease and that 213,000 people had been sick enough to be hospitalized. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said about 85 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine are still available. Some states have so much that they are asking that everyone over six months old get vaccinated, not just high-risk individuals. New York Times
North Korea agreed on December 10th to accept medicine from South Korea to fight an outbreak of H1N1 flu in a development that could improve relations between the nations after a deadly maritime clash. Winnipeg Free Press
South Korea confirmed that pigs infected with H1N1 have been found at domestic farms. Infections were confirmed at five pig farms in Gyeonggi and North Gyeongsang provinces. The ministry has also found infections of the (A) H1N1 virus among pigs imported on November 11 from Canada. Ministry officials, however, say pork is safe to eat as people cannot get flu from eating pork or pork products. A total of 117 people with the virus have died in South Korea. The Straits Times
Respective insurance companies in Malaysia will compensate the next-of-kin of life insurance policy holders who die of the H1N1 virus. Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussein confirmed that insurance companies would not differentiate death due to the H1N1 virus from other causes. Earlier, there were concerns in the country about whether the death resulted by the H1N1 virus would be compensated by insurance companies. China View
China's Health Ministry warned that the H1N1 flu outbreak in the country could peak over the next several months, especially as hundreds of millions of people return home for the traditional Chinese New Year. More than 100,000 people in China have been infected with H1N1 flu, with 326 fatalities as of December 10th. China's peak flu season could last until March. Since September, China has vaccinated more than 30 million people. An average of 1 million people are vaccinated every day, and the ministry aims to increase that to 1.5 million before the Lunar New Year. CTV
Vaccine News
New Brunswick's Department of Health is urging young men to get the H1N1 vaccine as officials are noticing men in their 20s are avoiding getting the H1N1 flu shot. Dr. Paul Van Buynder, deputy chief medical officer of health, said the public H1N1 vaccination clinics are wrapping up this week and the department is concerned young men are avoiding their shots. New Brunswick expects to give its 500,000th H1N1 vaccination shot sometime this week, and that means about two-thirds of the province's population will have been inoculated. CBC
December 12th and 13th was the last chance to get a H1N1 flu shot at a public clinic in Toronto before the holidays. To date, more than 200,000 people in Toronto have received the shot at the clinics. Toronto Public Health has distributed more than one million doses of the vaccine to various health-care providers ranging from family doctors to private clinics. CTV
Vancouver Coastal Health spokesman Gavin Wilson said only 36% of health care staff had received the vaccine. That's compared to 46% of the general population in the Vancouver Coastal Health district. The Vancouver Island Health Authority has recorded even fewer vaccinations. About 31% of employees are known to have been immunized, fewer than the estimated 35% of the population. Dr. Bill Cavers, a Victoria general practitioner who has criticized the immunization campaign, especially its failure to utilize family doctors, said the low uptake of health care workers is likely due to poor organization. B.C. H1N1 flu clinics will cease offering the vaccine December 18th. Kelowna.Com
The U.S. Army plans to inoculate some 40,000 new recruits with the H1N1 flu vaccine before the Christmas holiday leave. Mass inoculations will be conducted in the next two weeks in army bases across the nation before the recruits go home to spend the holiday. The Pentagon is gearing up to prepare enough supply of the H1N1flu vaccine for the roughly 2.7-million-strong U.S. military. China View
Antiviral News
The World Health Organization endorsed findings published in the British Medical Journal that there is no clear evidence the antiviral Tamiflu prevents complications such as pneumonia in otherwise healthy people with seasonal flu. But the WHO continues to recommend that Tamiflu, made by Swiss drugmaker Roche be used immediately in people infected with the separate H1N1 virus who are at high risk of complications or whose symptoms persist for three days or worsen. Governments around the world have stockpiled Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, to fight the flu pandemic. Reuters
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