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Some significant news has been taking place over the last month. Notable is:
—————> Bird Flu Victims are Mainly Young, WHO Reports.
The average age of bird flu victims is 20, making the current outbreak similar in that respect to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the World Health Organization said Friday.
The current death rate among people with bird flu ages 10 to 19 is 73 percent — highest of any age group, according to the WHO report cited by the Bloomberg news service. By contrast, most victims of seasonal flu are older than age 65.
Overall, the lethal HN51 strain of bird flu has killed more than half of its victims, according to the WHO report published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record. Since 2003, 228 cases of human bird flu have been reported, including 130 deaths, Bloomberg said.
—————> Increased Countries and Cases
The number of new countries reporting human cases increased from 4 to 9 after October 2005
Specifically, in 2003 there were 3 cases and 3 deaths. In 2004 there were 46 cases and 32 deaths. In 2005 there were 95 cases and 41 deaths. Already in 2006 there have been 84 cases and 54 deaths.
(WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.)
—————> When does the flu occur?
Cases have occurred all year round. However, the incidence of human cases peaked, in each of the three years in which cases have occurred, during the period roughly corresponding to winter and spring in the northern hemisphere. If this pattern continues, an upsurge in cases could be anticipated starting in late 2006 or early 2007.
—————> U.S. Dispatches Antiviral Drugs to Asia
The United States in May sent an undisclosed amount of the antiviral flu drug Tamiflu to a secure location in Asia, where it could be used in the event of an outbreak of bird flu, according to a report from Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
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