Sliver bullet ?

Novartis says produces first batch of H1N1 vaccine

wiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis AG said Friday it has successfully produced a first batch of swine flu vaccine weeks ahead of expectations.

The vaccine was made in cells, rather than grown in eggs as is usually the case with vaccines, the company said.

The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization declared swine flu, also known as A(H1N1), a pandemic. The move indicates that a global outbreak is under way. WHO says drugmakers will likely have vaccines approved and ready for sale after September.

Novartis said it would use the first batch of vaccine for pre-clinical evaluation and testing. It is also being considered for clinical trials, the company said.

The vaccine was produced at a Novartis plant in Marburg, Germany. Novartis said the facility could potentially produce millions of doses of vaccine a week.

A second plant is being built in Holly Springs, North Carolina, the company said.

Now Panic!

WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun, 1st in 41 years

Swine flu is now formally a pandemic, a declaration by U.N. health officials that will speed vaccine production and spur government spending to combat the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. Thursday's announcement by the World Health Organization doesn't mean the virus is any more lethal — only that its spread is considered unstoppable.

Since it was first detected in late April in Mexico and the United States, swine flu has reached 74 countries, infecting nearly 29,000 people. Most who catch the bug have only mild symptoms and don't need medical treatment.

WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the long-awaited declaration after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts and said she was moving to phase 6 — the agency's highest alert level — which means a pandemic is under way.

"The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan said in Geneva.

Don't Panic

WHO on verge of declaring H1N1 flu pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) is on the verge of declaring the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, but wants to ensure countries are well prepared to prevent a panic, its top flu expert said on Tuesday.

Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director-general, voiced concern at the sustained spread of the new H1N1 strain -- including more than 1,000 cases in Australia -- following major outbreaks in North America, where it emerged in April.

Confirmed community spread in a second region beyond North America would trigger moving to phase 6 -- signifying a full-blown pandemic -- from the current phase 5 on the WHO's 6-level pandemic alert scale.

"The situation has really evolved a lot over the past several days. We are getting really very close to knowing that we are in a pandemic situation, or I think, declaring that we are in a pandemic situation," Fukuda told a teleconference.

Healthcare Friday Humor

An example of Münchausen syndrome by proxy from the headlines

Mom Caught Putting Feces
In Child's IV

AUSTIN -
Investigators call it one of the most disturbing cases of child abuse in Travis County history. Emily Beth McDonald, 23, is accused of intentionally making her 3-year-old daughter sick. Investigators say hospital surveillance cameras recorded the abuse.

The victim is still at Dell Children's Medical Center but is in stable condition. Investigators say her mother admitted to rubbing feces into the toddler's feeding tube on multiple occasions at the hospital.

All the while, the mother kept a daily blog of her daughter's illness and attempts to recover. Austin police say every time McDonald's daughter started to improve, the child would get sick again.

"The medical records show that the child would get better and then feces would most likely be reintroduced," said Det. Marci Graham.

Some people just need killing.

Angry mob beats child rapist in Philly

Angry mob on caught on video beating child rapist.

New allegations have surfaced against the 'person of interest' in connection to the rape of a young student who was viciously attacked on her way to school in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

Jose Carrasquillo, 26, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon after being spotted by neighbors at Lee and Clearfield Streets.

Authorities say the vigilantes restrained Carrasquillo until police arrived and transported him to Temple University Hospital. He is listed in stable condition.

Well thats just a damn shame.

The founding fathers were so wise