Influenza A (H1N1) Cases and Deaths*
*Cases reported by The World Health Organization (WHO) are as of February 28, 2010
International News
WHO Reports Pandemic Tide Continues to Recede
Around the globe, the World Health Organization has reported that H1N1 activity is continuing its general decline. Although there has been increased activity in Thailand, Myanmar, Russia, and Armenia, overall the activity in those areas is still quite low. Respiratory tract infections and respiratory disease activity is up in Brazil, Peru, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but officials are unsure whether or not there is a causal relationship between this and H1N1. The organization is monitoring the southern hemisphere winter and its coming flu season before making a final determination on whether or not the pandemic peak has past. World Health Organization
Top US Health Care Officials Discuss Lessons Learned
As part of a collective debriefing, American public health officials held a conference on lessons from the influenza pandemic. The biggest ones revolved around vaccines: the delays their production and skepticism over their safety. “For this pandemic we had about the longest warning we might ever have for a potential bio-threat, and yet we all lament how long it took for vaccine to be made.” said Dr. Nicole Lurie from the US Health and Human Services Department. Dr. Lurie also went on to say, “We can't ever be in a situation again where we have a countermeasure that half the public won't accept.”
Vaccine News
CDC Reveals Safety Record for H1N1 Vaccines
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said in a situation update that, five months after its launch, the H1N1 vaccine has demonstrated the same safety record as seasonal flu vaccines. Out of an estimated 70 million administered vaccine doses in the US, there have been 636 cases of “serious” vaccine side-effects. Serious side effects were defined as any condition that was life-threatening or resulted in death, major disability, abnormal conditions at birth, hospitalization, or extension of an existing hospitalization. American health officials have been tracking flu vaccines for safety since 1976. University of Minnesota CIDRAP
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