|
||||||
    |
As the Chinese government openly begins to speculate about the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the H7N9 bird flu strain, an international team of experts, including some from the World Health Organization, have been deployed to investigate the disease in the country. [PHOTOS: Bird Flu Cases Increase in China] If true, the development would quickly raise concerns of the disease outbreak leading to a pandemic. Flu experts have long warned once a particularly [...] A surge in bird flu cases in China increases the pandemic potential of the H7N9 strain, according to a Beijing-based supplier of influenza vaccines to the Chinese government. Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (SVA), the first company to win regulatory approval for a swine flu shot in 2009, is preparing to make immunizations against the new virus that’s infected dozens of people in China and killed 13. The Nasdaq-traded company will hold off [...] AFP A study in England has strengthened evidence from Scandinavia that a vaccine used to prevent pandemic flu boosted the risk of sleep disorder among teens and children, doctors said on Tuesday. Using the Pandemrix vaccine increased the risk of narcolepsy among people aged four to 18 by a factor of 14 compared to those who did not get the jab, they said. The risk in absolute terms was between one [...] Britain’s most senior medical adviser has warned MPs that the rise in drug-resistant diseases could trigger a national emergency comparable to a catastrophic terrorist attack, pandemic flu or major coastal flooding. Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, said the threat from infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotics was so serious that the issue should be added to the government’s national risk register of civil emergencies. She described what she called an “apocalyptic scenario” where [...] The US government has issued a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak in order to preserve internet bandwidth for investors, day traders and securities clearing house operations. The concern is that a pandemic would cause too many people to stay at home and download YouTube videos and porn, hogging all the internet bandwidth and blocking throughput for investment activities, thereby causing a stock [...] Ethan A. Huff In the shadow of Halloween, local health departments all across the country are holding creepy new drive-thru flu shot clinics this year as part of a nationwide “emergency preparedness drill” to see how quickly and efficiently large numbers of people can be vaccinated. According to numerous local reports, individuals are being encouraged to bring their family and friends along for the ride as they roll [...] Researchers, led by Vancouver’s Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an influenza expert at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, noticed in the early weeks of the [2009 H1N1] pandemic that people who got a flu shot for the 2008-09 winter seemed to be more likely to get infected with the pandemic virus than people who hadn’t received a flu shot. Five studies done in several provinces showed the same unsettling results More to [...] Scientists in the United States have identified a new strain of influenza in harbour seals that could potentially impact human and animal health. The H3N8 flu has been associated with the deaths of harbour seals in New England last year. Researchers say the virus may have evolved from a type that had been circulating in birds. They say the discovery highlights the potential for pandemic flu to emerge from unexpected sources. “We need [...] Jeremy Laurance Britain is facing a “massive” rise in antibiotic-resistant blood poisoning caused by the bacterium E.coli – bringing closer the spectre of diseases that are impossible to treat. Experts say the growth of antibiotic resistance now poses as great a threat to global health as the emergence of new diseases such as Aids and pandemic flu. Professor Peter Hawkey, a clinical microbiologist and chair of the Government’s antibiotic-resistance working [...] by JEREMY LAURANCE, Independent.co.uk Britain is facing a “massive” rise in antibiotic-resistant blood poisoning caused by the bacterium E.coli – bringing closer the spectre of diseases that are impossible to treat. Experts say the growth of antibiotic resistance now poses as great a threat to global health as the emergence of new diseases such as Aids and pandemic flu. Professor Peter Hawkey, a clinical microbiologist and chair of the Government’s antibiotic-resistance working group, said that [...] Doctors have questioned the effectiveness and safety of the main drug used to treat pandemic flu Thomas Moore The Department of Health maintains a Tamiflu stockpile to treat around 30 million people, at a cost of around £500m. But doctors at the Cochrane Collaboration assessed 16,000 pages of clinical trial data and said there were “critical questions about how well the drug works and about its reported safety profile”. Researcher Dr Carl Heneghan told Sky [...] By JASON KOEBLER The days of medical masks at airports and widespread panic may be coming back—that’s because at least 12 humans are believed to have been infected with a new strain of swine flu that’s not covered by this season’s vaccine. The new swine flu strain, H3N2v, has shown at least some potential for human-to-human transmission in those 12 individuals, which makes it especially dangerous. Between 2009 and mid-2010, more than 17,000 people [...] WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has approved $105 million for humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa to combat worsening drought and famine. White House press secretary Jay Carney says the money will help provide food, shelter, water, and sanitation and health services to those in need. (Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org … FLASHBACK: Obamas 2009 Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pandemic Flu was revised and [...] |
Custom Search
|
||||
|
Copyright © 2013 InvestmentWatch - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
