Influenza Virus Mashup

(Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:32:00 +0000)

# 4857

Timing is everything.

Last Saturday this exact subject came up over dinner with a dear friend after I announced my intention to get my flu shot in the next week or so.

Some confusion exists because in the past the CDC had recommended that some people – particularly the elderly - wait until October or even early November  . . . to get their seasonal flu shot.

 

The concern was that the protection afforded by an earlier shot might wear off before the flu season ended.

According to a Medscape Today report, those concerns are no longer considered valid.

Carolyn Bridges, MD, associate director for science at the CDC’s influenza division - during a teleconference  two days ago - assured listeners that the protective effects of the vaccine don’t really begin to wear off for a year.

And so there is no need to wait on getting the seasonal flu vaccine.

Good news, since the number of people who ought to get the flu shot each year has expanded to nearly the entire population older than 6 months of age.

So get your shot now, and avoid the October rush.

Details of yesterday’s teleconference (which touched on a variety of vaccine related subjects) are available in the Medscape Medical News story below.

CDC No Longer Recommends Delaying Influenza Vaccination for Elderly

Robert Lowes

(Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:45:00 +0000)

# 4856

Today marks the first day of National Preparedness Month, a national drive to get Americans  better prepared to deal with disasters and emergencies. 

As I write this, portions of the Eastern Seaboard are under a Hurricane watch, and in the first eight months of the year, 65 Major Disasters have been declared in this country.

Add to that the hundreds of thousands of smaller emergencies and disasters that strike Americans every year (household accidents, house fires, localized storm damage, etc), and the need to be prepared is great.

As an NPM10 coalition member, interspersed with my regular coverage of influenza and emerging infectious diseases, I plan to run dozens of preparedness-centric posts over the next 30 days.

Some will be repeats of older essays I’ve done, a few will be new, while others will lead you to important preparedness information online. 

On twitter, look for the hash tag #NPM10 to follow online announcements about National Preparedness Month. 

Since Ready.gov urges everyone to:

I’ll try to align my posts to those goals.

And since the first step is GET A KIT, an appropriate place to start is Ready.gov’s recommendations for a basic emergency kit.  You can download & print this list by clicking the images or using this link.

Of course, this is just a basic list.  Nothing says you can’t improve upon it, go for a week’s worth of supplies . . . or even two.

But this is an excellent place to start (assuming you haven’t already), and represents the minimum level of emergency supplies each household should strive to keep on hand. 

And for those of you who can do better - you will be in a position to help your friends, relatives, and neighbors should a disaster strike.

Which makes preparing not only a good thing to do for your family  . . . .  but the right thing to do for your community as well.

Via The Times of India: 27-yr-old woman dies of swine flu. Excerpt:

A 27-year-old woman admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital died on Tuesday due to swine flu, taking the total number of deaths reported in Delhi this season to 30. 

Debashish Bhattacharya, nodal officer for swine flu in the capital, said 53 new cases of H1N1 infection were reported on Tuesday. The total number of cases reported this season has now reached 926. 

 ”Of the new swine flu cases reported on Tuesday, 11 patients are children,” said Bhattacharya. 

According to sources, the latest swine flu victim, who succumbed to the disease at RML Hospital, is a citizen of Delhi. 

“There are seven other swine flu patients at RML hospital and two of them are in serious condition,” said the source. 

Since May 2009, when the swine flu epidemic hit the capital, more than 120 deaths have been reported.

WHO has published Avian influenza - situation in Egypt - update 37.

The Ministry of Health of Egypt has announced a new human case of A(H5N1) avian influenza infection. 

The case is a 33 year-old female from Qaluibia governorate. She developed symptoms on 17 August, was hospitalized on 24 August, where she received oseltamivir treatment, and died on 26 August. 

Investigations into the source of infection indicated that the case had exposure to sick and dead poultry. 

The case was confirmed by the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratories, a National Influenza Center of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN). 

Of the 112 laboratory confirmed cases of Avian influenza A(H5N1) reported in Egypt, 36 have been fatal.