Mysterious U.S. Swine Flu Probe Widens as Mexico Finds Swine Flu *updated*

Baxter not to provide anti-swine flu vaccine to Czechs

Prague - The U.S. pharmaceutical firm Baxter which manufactures a vaccine against the swine flu in its Czech branch will not ensure the vaccine for the Czech Republic in the case of a pandemic, Baxter media representative Jana Cechova told CTK today.

The Czech Republic has relied on the factory in Bohumil, Central Bohemia.

In its original pandemic plan, the Czech Republic reckoned with vaccines for 60 percent of the population, while the updated plan involves vaccines for 25 percent and the Tamiflu and Relenza antivirotics for the same number.

"No contract for the delivery of the vaccines A(H1N1) between Baxter and the Czech Republic has been concluded," Cechova said.

The server tn.cz writes that the Czech Health Ministry has explained its stopping the talks with Baxter by the firm's inability to guarantee that the vaccine is safe and who will bear the risks for possible side-effects.

"It is a pity, but, unfortunately, at the moment when we accepted the bids, Baxter was unable to confirm that it will deliver a registered vaccine," Health Minister Dana Juraskova said.

Over 60 Czechs have caught the swine flu, but no fatality has been registered.

Girl with swine flu symptoms dies on flight to Brazil

Sao Paulo, Aug 3 (EFE) A 15-year-old girl with swine flu symptoms died on a flight from the US to Sao Paulo city in southern Brazil, media reports said Monday.

The teenager died aboard a Copa Airlines plane that arrived at the Sao Paulo airport Sunday.

The Panamanian carrier said two doctors aboard the plane tried to assist the girl, but she was pronounced dead on arrival in Sao Paulo.

The teenager had travelled to Orlando in the US to visit the Disney World.

She acquired swine flu symptoms while in Florida, the tour agency that organised the trip, said.

The girl was examined at an Orlando hospital where the doctors declared she was not infected with the virus.

US health officials allowed the girl to return to Brazil, the tour company said.

Copa Airlines did not say what type of illness the teenager suffered during the flight.

The coroner's office will determine the cause of death.
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Tamiflu-resistant swine flu found on US-Mexico border

LA JOLLA, California — A strain of swine flu that is resistant to treatment with the drug Tamiflu has been discovered near the US-Mexican border, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Monday.

"We have found resistance to Tamiflu on the border. We have observed some cases, few to be sure, in El Paso and close to McAllen, Texas," said Maria Teresa Cerqueira, head of the local PAHO office.

Cases of A(H1N1) that were resistant to the anti-viral medicine have now been found in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong and Japan.

Experts gathered in La Jolla, California on Monday to discuss the response to the outbreak, said the resistance was likely due to overuse of antivirals like Tamiflu.

"In the United States Tamiflu is sold with a prescription, but in Mexico and Canada it is sold freely and taken at the first sneeze. Then, when it is really needed, it doesn't work," said Cerqueira.

Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, has said it expects a 0.5 percent rate of case resistance based on clinical trials.

Cerquiera said one patient diagnosed with a Tamiflu-resistant strain had been treated with Zanamivir -- an anti-viral made by GlaxoSmithKline -- and another was given no alternative medication. Both survived.

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First H1N1 death reported in Iowa

The first H1N1 death has been reported in Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Public Health announced the death today. The Iowan who died was not identified, and health department officials said confidentiality laws prevent them from releasing identifying details.

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Soldier killed by swine flu

SOLDIER Lee Porter has become the first member of Britain's armed forces to die of swine flu.
Popular Lee, a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, contracted the virus a fortnight ago.

The Territorial Army volunteer was rushed to hospital and put on a life-support machine after collapsing. Heartbroken loved ones held a bedside vigil for Lee, 30, who had underlying health problems.

But doctors at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey lost the battle to save him on Friday, it emerged last night.

He was the 28th person known to have died from swine flu in England.
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A(H1N1): Death toll rises to eight Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported two new influenza A (H1N1) deaths yesterday, bringing the total number of people who have succumbed to the disease to eight.

The seventh victim was a 24-year-old native woman who died at the Miri Hospital’s intensive care unit, two weeks after giving birth to her first child. She was the first A (H1N1) fatality in Sarawak.

The eighth victim was a 51-year-old school teacher who died in Seremban on Sunday, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.

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Hospital kept us in the dark, say health authorities

PUNE: The state health authorities have strongly refuted the claim made by Jehangir hospital that it had kept the state and the central government health authorities informed about the treatment that was being given to the 14-year-old girl who died of H1N1 flu at the hospital on Monday evening.

M S Devnikar, head of Pune's joint co-ordination committee for containment of the flu, told TOI: "Till today, we were not aware that any patient with symptoms of swine flu had been admitted to a private hospital. It was only after news of the death of a patient was reported on the news channels that we contacted the Jehangir hospital authorities."

New Zealand confirms another Influenza A/H1N1 death

WELLINGTON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- A man in his 50s is the latest person to die from Influenza A/H1N1 in New Zealand, health officials confirmed on Monday.

The Ministry of Health said the man had underlying medical conditions and died in Christchurch last week. It says a total of 14 people have now died from Influenza A/H1N1.

But Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean has reported 17 deaths linked to Influenza A/H1N1 and said on Monday there has been no change to that figure over the weekend.

The total number of confirmed cases of Influenza (H1N1) is 2855,up from 2810 on Sunday.

Australian researchers have reported what they say is the first evidence of resistance to zanamivir (Relenza) in seasonal influenza A (H1N1) strains. www.6minutes.com.au...

Greece has become the latest country to announce it will enforce a mandatory swine flu vaccination program, despite fears about the jabs containing mercury and squalene. www.prisonplanet.com...

GlobalResearch.Ca...and excellent commentary...

The WHO plans to vaccinate more than half the World's population

globalresearch.ca...

City-County Public Health District Confirms Second Local Death Due to H1N1 Flu Virus

The Corpus Christi - Nueces County Public Health District announced that it has received confirmation of a second death in Nueces County as a result of the H1N1 Flu Virus, which is commonly referred to as the "Swine Flu." The woman, who was a Corpus Christi resident, died at 11:24 p.m. on August 3, 2009 at Spohn South Hospital.

According to Dr. William Burgin, Jr., Local Health Authority, the woman had been hospitalized since July 20, 2009. The woman, who was in her early thirties, reportedly did not have a history of travel to Mexico or any medical condition prior to the onset of the illness.

The Health District also reports that Nueces County has so far had 117 confirmed cases of the Swine Flu Virus. As previously mentioned, this makes for a total of two deaths in Nueces County since the Swine Flu Virus outbreak began in late April of this year.
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wiadomosci.wp.pl...

translated by google


Since 28 April were confirmed in 100 cases of A/H1N1 virus infection - had informed the principal sanitary inspector Andrzej Wojtyla. Security in the Government Center held another meeting of experts on the threat of epidemic influenza.

At least 100 cases of h1n1 flu in Poland; next emergency meeting on flu will be held on 12.08.



[edit on 4-8-2009 by Aqwart]

H1N1-related death in Hillsborough County

Tampa, Florida - The Hillsborough County Health Department reports that a 28-year-old woman with the H1N1 (swine) flu has died.

They are not releasing her name, but do tell us that she suffered from other underlying health issues.

This is the third H1N1-related death reported in Hillsborough County.

WA Recorded Human Swine Flu Related Deaths

The WA Department of Health confirmed a further three Pandemic H1N1 (Human Swine Influenza) related deaths.

A 92-year-old man, who had significant underlying medical conditions, died at home on July 18.

A 46-year-old man died at Armadale-Kelmscott Memorial Hospital on July 28. The man had significant underlying medical conditions which were complicated by Human Swine Influenza.

A 12-year-old boy died at home on August 2. The Coroner is investigating the cause of death.

There have been six Western Australians whose deaths were associated with the disease and five people who have died in Western Australia.

The total number of Australian deaths associated with human swine influenza is currently 70.

In WA there are 2455 confirmed cases, 25 people in hospital, and of those 12 are in ICU.

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WHO says swine flu deaths surge to 1,154

GENEVA — The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 1,154 swine flu victims have died since the virus emerged in April.

WHO said that includes 338 deaths reported in the week leading up to last Friday.

More than 300 of the new deaths were in the Americas, bringing the death toll in that region to 1,008 since the virus first emerged in Mexico and the United States, and developed into the global epidemic.

WHO also said there is no evidence that the new H1N1 virus is mutating into a more dangerous form, but that six patients have been found with a virus resistant to Tamiflu, the most commonly used swine flu drug.

Laboratory confirmed cases of the disease have reached 162,380, but WHO said this number understates the total caseload because hard-hit countries are no longer testing all the people with flu symptoms.

At least 168 countries and territories have reported confirmed swine flu cases.

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Plague outbreak takes third life in China

An outbreak of pneumonic plague in northwest China has claimed a third victim, local health authorities reported, as they continued to cordon off a town.

The man was identified as Danzhi, 64, from Ziketan town, in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to a statement on the website of the Qinghai Health Bureau.

The town, with a population of 10,000, has been quarantined since the outbreak began on Thursday. A 32-year-old herder and his neighbour died earlier from the disease.

Nine other people have been isolated after showing signs of infection, with one in a serious condition and another with symptoms such as coughing and chest pain, the health bureau said.

Pneumonic plague is a highly infectious, air-born form of the disease and is spread human-to-human through coughing. If left untreated, it can kill within 24 hours of infection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In most cases, the pneumonic form is due to a secondary spread from an advanced infection of the bubonic plague, which is spread through flea bites.

"Provincial, prefecture and county-level health professionals are continuing to carry out disinfection and pest and rodent control, in order to eliminate fleas," the Qinghai health bureau said in the statement.
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Pneumonic plague is no stranger to L.A. -- we've had our own epidemic

With China moving to control an outbreak of pneumonic plague, it's worth noting that the disease doesn't occur only in places for which Americans need a passport to visit. In fact, Los Angeles has dubious bragging rights to the United States' most recent rat-borne epidemic.

Here's a review of that epidemic from the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

The recap begins: "On October 29, 1924, a physician requested an ambulance from the Los Angeles County General Hospital for Two Mexican patients critically ill of a malady which he could not definitely diagnose, but which he knew to be highly contagious since several others in the neighborhood were also affected with similar symptoms of very high fever and pains in the back and chest. The following day 13 other cases displaying the same symptoms were detected and subsequently admitted to the hospital, where they all developed signs of severe pneumonia, with bloody expectoration and marked cyanosis."

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momento24.com...

Dengue: There are almost 4.500 infected in Mexico

Dengue started to spread in Mexico from the tropic area to the centre of the country, which called for a medical care alert.

There are infected people in 14 states, 4118 with classic dengue and 469 with haemorrhagic dengue.

Even the states in the centre are affected by the virus. San Luis Potosí Puebla, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, México and Querétaro reported infections.

Even though no deaths have been reported, México, Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Puebla and San Luis Potosí ordered an epidemic alert.

Vietnam reports first death of A/H1N1 flu

HANOI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese 29-year-old woman died of the A/H1N1 flu in the central Khanh Hoa province of Vietnam on Monday night, the first death of the flu in the country since its outbreak, the online newspaper Vietnamnet reported Tuesday.

The woman, whose name identified by the newspaper as Tran Thi Kim L, was admitted to the military hospital No. 87 of Khanh Hoa province on July 30 with the A/H1N1 flu-like symptoms, said Le TanPhung, a health official of the provincial health department.

Her test results by the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute showed positive to the A/H1N1 virus on July 31, said Phung.

The woman was later transferred to the Khanh Hoa General Hospital because her condition deteriorated, said Phung.

The patient died on Monday of inflammation in lungs and respiratory disorders, said Phung.

Following her death, Vietnam's health officials have conducted tests to check if she was infected with H5N1 virus as well, said the newspaper.

The woman's son was found to be infected with the A/H1N1 virus on Aug. 1. He is now being treated at the Khanh Hoa General Hospital, said Ly Ngoc Kinh, head of the health care management department under Vietnam's Ministry of Health.

Vietnam has so far reported 971 A/H1N1 flu cases since its outbreak in the country.