WHO Flag

Dr. Margaret Chan of the World Heath Organization (WHO) has officially raised the status of H1N1 Swine Flu to six, the highest level.

Dr. Chan said there are two main concerns now:

a) a second wave of the flu is to be expected, probably within the next 6 to 9 months, and

b) in developing countries who have not yet come into their influenza season, that they may not be able to cope well with H1N1 when it arrives.

The virus which is currently called Swine Flu is still a somewhat mild version, meaning it is more severe than normal flu but not yet killing too many people.

Influenza viruses are notorious for quickly changing their behaviour and because of that the concern is that it could mutate into something much more severe.

The last Pandemic was in 1968 when Hong Kong Flu killed some 50,000 people.

Almost 30,000 have been infected by the H1N1 virus in some 74 countries according to the WHO.

Much more news on Twitter.

Cases of Swine Flu have surged since the weekend in Japan forcing authorities to close schools and kindergardens as a precaution for the teenager-hit crowd.

Meanwhile the WHO (World Health Organization) says that making swine flu vaccine is harder than thought and will not be available until mid-July.

The WHO says 40 countries are now infected with H1N1 and have officially reported 8480 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.

Bird Flu also keeps in headline news as Reuters reports a 4-year-old Egyptian girl has died after contracting the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus, Egypt’s state news agency MENA said on Monday. Fears continue that the two could mix creating a potent virus deadly to humans. While it is expected that the flu virus will die down until later in the year, it is still an unknown as to what exactly will happen.

Currently the USA leads in cases of Swine flu (4714) followed by Mexico (3103), Canada (496), Japan (176), Spain (103) and the UK (101).

Dr Smith: Each and every year, the flu spreads around the planet. It starts China and then travels, often not noticed in the Northern hemisphere (where most of the world’s population live) until Autumn or Spring.

Q: When and where do swine flu outbreaks occur?

WHO: Outbreaks in pigs occur year round, usually in the autumn and winter in temperate zones. Since international health regulations were implemented in 2007, WHO has been notified of swine influenza cases from the United States and Spain.

Governments do not have to notify international animal health authorities about swine flu outbreaks, therefore its international distribution in animals is not well known. The disease is considered endemic in the United States. Outbreaks in pigs are also known to have occurred in North America, South America, Europe (including the UK, Sweden, and Italy), Africa (Kenya) and in parts of eastern Asia including China and Japan.

Q: This super-virus we’re looking at now is said to be a cross between a pig flu, a human flu and also the bird flu, which has been deadly too. Does this make it even more dangerous?

Dr Smith: Flu is broken down into a number of different types: there’s flu A, flu B and flu C. Flu A is the bird form and, of course, humans also have a flu A. Then we further categorise it according to the surface molecules, the H (for Haemagglutinin) and the N on the surface.

This new strain is a H1N1 virus, which we know circulates in humans, pigs and birds. It’s possible that the pig initially got some of its flu from a bird and then co-mixed that with the human form to produce this hybrid, which is why you can find elements of all three.

It is very much early days and the big focus now, through infection control organisations like the Centres for Disease and Prevention (CDP) and the WHO, will be to interrogate this virus at a molecular level.

In other words, look at the genetic make-up, sequence the virus, and once they’ve got the genetic sequence you can begin to unpick where it’s come from, what its origins are, and therefore begin to build the story as to what its likely outcome will be.

WHO: Swine flu viruses are most commonly of the H1N1 subtype but other subtypes g (H1N2, H3N1 and H3N) are also circulating. The H3N2 swine virus was thought to have been originally introduced into pigs by humans.

An influenza virus containing genes from a number of sources is called a “reassortant” virus. Swine flu viruses are normally species specific and only infect pigs, but sometimes they cross the species barrier to cause disease in humans.

This interview was with the World Health Organization and Dr. Christopher Smith, Virologist at Cambridge University and the author of The Naked Scientists Science Radio Show Podcast

As we know, the 1976 scare was just that, the epidemic never came. However, it raises an interesting question about vaccination in 2009. Should health officials go ahead and call the public to vaccinate? If they do, the upcoming seasonal flu in the autumn will possibly require a second vaccination. While it may be possible to manufacture enough vaccine for one flu round, it probably is not possible to manufacture enough vaccine to cover both the Swine Flu and the normal, upcoming flu season ahead of us. And health officials do not want to try to concoct vaccines which are untested and which may result in the catastrophy of 1976.

In Other News:

Facebook is weighing in with its own Swine Flu discussion. See the photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106392&id=20531316728

* Several countries are beginning to debate where and when schools may be closed down to halt a possible spread of Swine Flu. Since infection can happen between 1 and 5 days before any symptoms show up, it is a hard choice to make.

* Schweinegerippe in Deutschland bestätigt aber Erste Zweifel an Gefährlichkeit der Schweinegrippe: http://www.spiegel.de/

* CAIRO (AP) — Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said.

* Virus’s Arrival Is Reported on Four Continents: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124090884691363061.html

* Lingo Watch: From Swine Flu to H1N1 Virus (so as not to disrupt the sale of pork)

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
Swine Flu website last updated April 28, 2009 6:00 AM ET … An investigation and response effort surrounding the outbreak of swine flu is ongoing. …

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103506962
Swine flu, a highly contagious respiratory disease in pigs, can infect humans who have close contact with the animals or a contaminated …

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
WHO is coordinating the global response to human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) and monitoring the corresponding threat of an influenza …

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
One-stop access to US Government avian and pandemic flu information. … Flu terms defined — Seasonal flu, swine flu, avian flu, and pandemic flu are not …

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-41899.html
Photo Gallery: Fighting a Swine Flu Pandemic. 04/27/2009. Return to Homepage. 1 of 16. REUTERS. Virologists expect that the swine flu will soon reach …

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWcd0Nbgc_R4&refer=home
The seasonal flu vaccine doesn’t appear effective against swine flu, … No decision has been made to order a vaccine against swine flu, …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT2HWdPFqMg
Harry Smith spoke with a Texas family who contracted Swine flu but are recovering without difficulty. Dr. Jennifer Ashton outlined the …

http://twitter.com/cdcemergency
Tracking Swine flu on Twitter

http://coldflu.about.com/
A series of blog entries from About.com related to Swine Influenza

http://www.medicinenet.com/pneumonia/article.htm
Learn pneumonia symptoms, causes, treatment, signs, diagnosis and types: viral and bacterial (Pneumocystis carinii, Klebsiella, Mycoplasma, …

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/pneumonia.html
Kids Health: When this happens, symptoms of pneumonia begin after 2 or 3 days of a cold … Symptoms of pneumonia vary, depending on the age of the child and the cause …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8020552.stm
BBC News, links, QandA, video, audio and more on Swine Flu

http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/Default.aspx
European Centre for disease prevention and control

http://www.google.org/flutrends/
Explore flu trends across the U.S. via Google

http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/influenza-vaccine-dictionary.htm
How Stuff Works: Vaccine – influenza; Immunization – influenza; Flu shot; Flu vaccine …

http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/
Body and Health Canada: Pneumonia rarely causes serious complications for healthy people under 65 …

“We are very, very concerned,” World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. “We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human…”

At this time, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment of infection with swine influenza viruses. The H1N1 viruses are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine but not to oseltamivir or zanamivir. It is not anticipated that the seasonal influenza vaccine will provide protection against the swine flu H1N1 viruses.

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy against Swine Flu.

* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

* Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
* If you get sick, it is recommended that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

To survive swine flu or any influenza, a strong immune system is a must. Smoking, drinking, drug abuse and lack of sleep weaken your immune system. Eat right, get plenty of exercise and rest properly. Abuses of any kind are going to weaken your bodies natural defense mechanisms.

Symptoms of Swine flu are similar to normal influenza and include breathing problems, fever, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea. You should consult a doctor if you suspect you have the flu. And as you might know, most countries have been stock-piling anti-flu virals for some time now. It is expected (certainly hoped) that Tamiflu and Relenza will be able to fight against A (H1N1).