Archive for the ‘Flu Information’ Category
The Spanish Flu occurred in 1918 and spread to nearly every part of the world. The 1918 pandemic was caused by a strain of Influenza that was highly infective and very deadly. It is hard to pinpoint the origin of the virus as the data from that period was not sufficient to find a source. Most victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu were healthy young adults which differs from most influenza outbreaks which generally affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients. The 1918 pandemic started in March 1918 an lasted until 1919 and spread far and wide, affecting even the Arctic and remote Pacific Islands. It is estimated that nearly one third of the world’s population or 500 million people were infected during the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic.
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Despite the recent claims by Mexico’s health secretary that the swine flu virus is in its declining phase, The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak could gain momentum in the months ahead. Gregory Hartl, a spokesman from the WHO for epidemic and pandemic diseases, said Sunday that the outbreak is only about 10 days old, and even if the illness is declining, it could return. He went on to remind everyone that “in 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance,” He further said “And we know that that eventually killed 40 million to 50 million people.”
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This video is Harry Smith from CBS the Early Show speaking with a family from Cibolo, Texas. Most members of the Texas family have contracted Swine flu but are recovering without difficulty. The interview included details about what the family has experiences both in symptoms and as far as response from the government and health officials. Dr. Jennifer Ashton outlined the symptoms of swine flu at the end of the video. She also talks about how to respond if you think you have contracted swine flu.
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The number of confirmed swine flu cases seemed to double overnight. The number of confirmed cases is now at 658, up from 367 a day ago. The World Health Organization said Saturday that although it is still preparing for a pandemic, the rise of confirmed cases of swine flu to 658 was largely because of confirmation of suspected cases in Mexico.
“I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent because we’re seeing the disease spread to other countries. We have not seen yet that sustained transmission outside one WHO region,” said Dr. Michael J Ryan, the WHO’s director of its global alert and response team. “At this point we expect that phase 6 will be reached; we have to hope that it is not reached,” he said. Dr. Ryan also went on to say that “Pandemics are serious,” and further noted that the phases of a pandemic describe “the geographic spread of the disease, not its severity.” See Phases of a Pandemic for more information about the 6 phases involve din a pandemic.
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According to the World Health Organization the number of confirmed swine flu cases across the globe kept rising Friday. Despite the rising number of confirmed cases there are some signs of hope in the battle against the worldwide outbreak. On Friday, the World Health Organization said that the number of confirmed cases worldwide was at 367. The total cases includes 141 confirmed cases in the United States and 156 in Mexico. So far, thirteen countries have confirmed cases.
Researchers worked to develop a vaccine for swine flu, which is also known as 2009 H1N1. According to Michael Shaw, lab team leader for the H1N1 response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC hopes to have a vaccine to manufacturers within a month. “We’re doing the best we can as fast as we can,” he said. Even with the vaccine getting to manufacturers within a month, it would take four to six months from the time the appropriate strain is identified before the first doses become available, said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research. “Of course we would like to have a vaccine tomorrow. We would have wanted to have it yesterday,” she said. “It’s a long journey.” She said there is “no doubt” that a vaccine can be made “in a relatively short period of time.”
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Four different influenza antiviral medications (amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, and zanamivir) are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment and/or prevention of influenza. All four usually work against influenza A viruses. However, the drugs may not always work, because influenza virus strains can become resistant to one or more of these medications. For example, the influenza A (H5N1) viruses identified in human in Asia in 2004 and 2005 have been resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Monitoring of avian viruses for resistance to influenza antiviral medications continues.
A vaccine probably would not be available in the early stages of a pandemic. When a new vaccine against an influenza virus is being developed, scientists around the world work together to select the virus strain that will offer the best protection against that virus. Manufacturers then use the selected strain to develop a vaccine. Once a potential pandemic strain of influenza virus is identified, it takes several months before a vaccine will be widely available. If a pandemic occurs, the U.S. government will work with many partner groups to make recommendations guiding the early use of available vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a global influenza preparedness plan. The plan from WHO, which defines the stages of a pandemic, outlines the role of WHO, and makes recommendations for national measures before and during a pandemic. There are four periods and 6 phases to the plan developed by WHO and they are:
Interpandemic period
Phase 1 : No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. An influenza virus subtype that has caused human infection may be present in animals. If present in animals, the risk of human infection or disease is considered to be low.
Phase 2 : No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. However, a circulating animal influenza virus subtype poses a substantial risk of human disease.
Pandemic alert period
Phase 3 : Human infection(s) with a new subtype exist. During Phase 3 there is no human-to-human spread or at most rare instances of spread to humans during close contact.
Phase 4 : Small cluster(s) of infection have been detected with limited human-to-human transmission. The spread is highly localized suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans at this point.
Phase 5 : Larger cluster(s) of infection are present. The spread from human-to-human is still localized, suggesting that the virus is becoming increasingly better adapted to humans but may not yet be fully transmissible. Phase 5 indicates that there is a substantial pandemic risk.
Pandemic Period
Phase 6 : Pandemic: Phase 6 indicates a pandemic due to increased and sustained transmission of the virus in the general population.
Post-pandemic period
Once the virus has run its course and has no further hosts to infect, it will stop spreading. After the Pandemic period there will be a return to the Interpandemic Period (Phase 1)
The distinction between phase 1 and phase 2 is based on the risk of human infection or disease resulting from circulating strains in animals. The distinction is based on various factors and their relative importance according to current scientific knowledge. Factors may include pathogenicity (the ability of a pathogen to produce an infectious disease in an organism) in animals and humans, occurrence in domesticated animals and livestock or only in wildlife, whether the virus is enzootic (the non-human equivalent of endemic and means, in a broad sense, “belonging” or “native to”, “characteristic of”, or “prevalent in” a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment) or epizootic (a disease that appears as new cases in a given animal population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is “expected” based on recent experience), geographically localized or widespread, and other scientific parameters.
The distinction among phases 3 and 4 is based on an assessment of the risk of a pandemic. Various factors and their relative importance according to current scientific knowledge may be considered. Factors may include rate of transmission, geographical location and spread, severity of illness, presence of genes from human strains (if derived from an animal strain), and other scientific parameters.
During the 20th century, the emergence of several new influenza A virus subtypes caused three pandemics, all three of the flu viruses spread around the world within a year of being detected, they were the Spanish Flu, Asian Flu and Hong Kong Flu.
The first outbreak occurred during 1918-1919. This was known as “Spanish flu” or A (H1N1). Spanish Flu caused the highest number of known influenza deaths. As a result of Spanish Flu More than 500,000 people died in the United States, and up to 50 million people may have died worldwide. Many people died within the first few days after infection, and others died of secondary complications. Nearly half of those who died from Spanish Flu were young, healthy adults. Influenza A (H1N1) viruses still circulate today after being introduced again into the human population in 1977.
The second occurred from 1957-1958 and was known as [A (H2N2)] or “Asian flu”. Asian Flu caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. Asian Flu was first identified in China in late February 1957, Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957.
During 1968-1969 [A (H3N2)] also known as ” Hong Kong flu” caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. The Hong Kong flu virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. Hong Kong flu or Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.
Both the 1957-58 and 1968-69 pandemics were caused by viruses containing a combination of genes from a human influenza virus and an avian flu virus. The 1918-19 pandemic virus appears to have an avian origin.
There are many different subtypes of Influenza or “flu” viruses. The subtypes differ based upon certain proteins on the surface of the virus (the hemagglutinin or “HA” protein and the neuraminidase or the “NA” protein).
Pandemic viruses emerge as a result of a process called “antigenic shift,” which causes an abrupt or sudden, major change in influenza A viruses. These changes are caused by new combinations of the HA and/or NA proteins on the surface of the virus. Changes results in a new influenza A virus subtype. The appearance of a new influenza A virus subtype is the first step toward a pandemic; however, to cause a pandemic, the new virus subtype also must have the capacity to spread easily from person to person. Once a new pandemic influenza virus emerges and spreads, it usually becomes established among people and moves around or “circulates” for many years as seasonal epidemics of influenza. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have large surveillance programs to monitor and detect influenza activity around the world, including the emergence of possible pandemic strains of influenza virus.
