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.

Is she talking about the fall return?

WHO chief says world should prepare for severe flu

Countries should be ready for more serious H1N1 infections, and more deaths from the newly-discovered virus, World Health Organisation chief Dr. Margaret Chan said on Friday.

"In cases where the H1N1 virus is widespread and circulating within the general community, countries must expect to see more cases of severe and fatal infections," she said. "We do not at present expect this to be a sudden and dramatic jump in severe illness and deaths."

Kentucky now has 24 confirmed swine flu cases

Four more flu cases confirmed in state

Kentucky health officials confirmed four new swine flue cases in the state Thursday, including a Fayette County man who became ill on a trip to Nevada.

The Lexington patient remains in Nevada and is being treated there with anti-viral medicine, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Officials think he picked up the flu virus in Nevada, not Kentucky.

The other three other new cases confirmed Thursday are in Lincoln, Mercer and Jefferson counties, state health officials said.

That brings the state total to 24 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, Jefferson County health and education officials held a joint press conference Thursday to reassure the public after a middle school there recorded two confirmed and two probable cases of flu.

Swine flu confirmed in Daviess County Kentucky

Second swine flu case confirmed in Ky.

One of Kentucky's five probable swine flu cases has been confirmed as actual swine flu, state health officials said Tuesday.

Officials initially reported the Daviess County man's case as probable swine flu last weekend. Further testing by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the diagnosis.

The young man is receiving anti-viral drugs and is doing well, state health officials said.

He is the state's second confirmed case of H1N1 swine flu, the other being a woman from the Bowling Green area who was hospitalized in Georgia after becoming ill on a trip.

No new flu cases were reported in Kentucky Tuesday.

Kentucky health officials are still awaiting confirmation on four other probable cases: a Fayette County man; an infant in Western Kentucky, a toddler in Hardin County, and a child in Montgomery County.

Probable swine flu case reported in Daviess County, Ky.

Probable swine flu case reported in Daviess County, Ky.

A Tri-State resident has come down with what officials believe to be swine flu, the Kentucky Department for Public Health said today.

The case marks the fourth probable instance of H1N1, known commonly as swine flu, in Kentucky. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct further testing on the specimen.

"In Kentucky and nationally, we are still in the early stages of identifying cases of H1N1 swine flu, and determining how widespread it might become," Department of Public Health Commissioner William Hacker said in a news release. "While we have not identified many probable or confirmed cases, we continue to encourage individuals to stay informed as this situation evolves and to continue practicing basic health habits to prevent illness."

The new case involves a young Daviess County man who has since received antiviral treatment and has recovered, health officials said. The Green River District Health Department will check close contacts for the illness and offer preventive treatment.

Kentucky officials are coordinating investigation of the case with Massachusetts health officials because the man attends college there, said Gwenda Bond, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Bond said the man, whose name and age are not being released, came down with symptoms in the middle of last week shortly after he came home from Massachusetts.

"But it is possible to spread the virus before the symptoms appear," Bond said.

My fear as well

Scientists dig for lessons from past pandemics

If there's a blessing in the current swine flu epidemic, it's how benign the illness seems to be outside the central disease cluster in Mexico. But history offers a dark warning to anyone ready to write off the 2009 H1N1 virus.

In each of the four major pandemics since 1889, a spring wave of relatively mild illness was followed by a second wave, a few months later, of a much more virulent disease. This was true in 1889, 1957, 1968 and in the catastrophic flu outbreak of 1918, which sickened an estimated third of the world's population and killed, conservatively, 50 million people.

Swine flu comes to Kentucky

One Confirmed, One Probable Case Of Swine Flu In KY

Gov. Steve Beshear announced that the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) will report one confirmed case and one probable case of swine flu to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday.

"Like the rest of the nation, we are concerned about the spread of this new strain of swine flu," said Beshear. "I want to assure Kentuckians that health officials here are responding aggressively to detect possible cases of swine flu and respond with the appropriate preventive measures. Individuals should continue to monitor this situation as it develops and practice basic measures to stay healthy, such as hand washing and staying home when sick."

The confirmed case involves a woman from Warren County who had recently traveled to Mexico. The patient is currently hospitalized in Georgia, and samples were submitted to CDC for confirmation by Georgia health officials. Officials from the Barren River Health District are actively investigating the circumstances of this case to determine whether any contacts of the patient may be ill or need preventive treatment.

The probable case that is being reported involves an infant from another area within the Barren River Health District who had been in close contact with an individual who recently traveled to Mexico. It is unrelated to the confirmed case. The child's family and other close contacts are being evaluated for illness and possible preventive treatment. The child has not been hospitalized. A sample from the patient has been sent to the CDC for further testing to determine whether swine flu is the cause of illness. The name of the county in which the patient resides will be released if the case is confirmed.

Helpful swine flu website

Do I have swine flu?

1976 Swine Flu Propaganda

Whats in a name?

WHO to stop using term 'swine flu' to protect pigs

GENEVA – The World Health Organization announced Thursday it will would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs. The policy shift came a day after Egypt began slaughtering thousands of pigs in a misguided effort to prevent swine flu.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency had expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to ban pork products and order the slaughter of pigs.

"Rather than calling this swine flu ... we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A," Thompson said.

Why not just call Egypt on its stupidity. Certainly there would be many broken relationships if it were sheep flu instead.

Advance team member for Obama Mexico trip sick

White House aide's family likely has swine flu

WASHINGTON (AP) - A member of the U.S. delegation that helped prepare Energy Secretary Steven Chu's trip to Mexico City has demonstrated flu-like symptoms and his family members have tested probable for swine flu.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that three members of an aide's family are being tested to see if they have the same strain of swine flu that is threatening to become a pandemic. The aide worked in presidential advance, which is responsible for planning and preparing trips.

Gibbs said that Secretary Chu has not experienced any symptoms. The spokesman also said that President Barack Obama also has had no symptoms of the virus and doctors see no need to conduct any tests on his health.

Bad PR for Disney

South Carolina students report flu-like symptoms after Disney trip

Officials in South Carolina shut down a school today and are disinfecting the building after 16 to 18 students in their marching band reported flu-like symptoms after visiting Walt Disney World.

Reports from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control show lab results released today indicate that 10 students from a different school probably have the swine flu virus after a recent school trip to Mexico.

Those lab results have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation, which can take up to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Orange County Health Department officials said test results on a tourist who had visited Disney earlier this week and also displayed flu-like symptoms are expected sometime today.

WHO Pandemic Phase 5 (of 6)

WHO raises flu threat level, warning pandemic imminent

Its on now Skippy.

Interesting data about Vitamin D and Flu

Vitamin D deficiency linked to more colds and flu

Is sunshine more than just a home remedy for a cold? New research suggests it may be: In a study that will be published tomorrow, people with low levels of vitamin D — also known as the "sunshine vitamin" — were more likely to catch cold and flu than folks with adequate amounts. The effect of the vitamin was strongest in people with asthma and other lung diseases who are predisposed to respiratory infections.

People with the worst vitamin D deficiency were 36 percent more likely to suffer respiratory infections than those with sufficient levels, according to the research in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. Among asthmatics, those who were vitamin D deficient were five times more likely to get sick than their counterparts with healthy levels. And the risk of respiratory infection was twice as high among vitamin D-deficient patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than in lung patients with normal levels of the vitamin.

Having asthma perhaps I need to get my Vitamin D level checked when I get my lipid profile done.

Armageddon: Unconfirmed report of swine flu infected Mexican tourist at Disney Orlando

Florida Hospital Denies Swine Flu Case Has Been Confirmed

Looks like the results are still pending. No need to stop Mexican tourists from entering the US though to visit the number 1 theme park in the world.

Swine flu is offensive

Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

I bet the pigs think so too.

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

I'm sure the Mexicans would appreciate that.

In the Obama Administration 1+1=3

Napolitano: Closing border not the answer to flu

"We're already doing passive surveillance at the border," Napolitano said. "You would close the border if you thought you could contain the spread of disease, but the disease already is in a number of states within the United States."

Mexicans take swine flu lightly on U.S. border

TIJUANA, Mexico, April 27 (Reuters) - Many Mexicans crossing into the United States on Monday at one of the busiest crossings on the border shunned advice to wear surgical face mask to curb the spread of a deadly new flu.

Most Mexican immigration officials at the Tijuana-San Diego crossing were using masks and surgical gloves, but Mexicans crossing by car and foot seemed unconcerned by the influenza scare and only a handful wore masks.

"I don't think anything will happen to me, it's old people and children we need to look after," said Gloria, a 35-year-old woman waiting to cross by car into California who declined to give her last name.

Many of the up to 149 people who have died of the new virus in Mexico have actually been aged between 25 and 45, a worrying sign as pandemics tend to target healthy young adults.

As Insty says we are in the very best of hands.

Marijuana for Swine Flu?

One interesting thing about the avian flu H5N1 was that the Cytokine Storm as seen in severe sepsis was responsible for many of the deaths. It may have also played a large role in the 1918 Pandemic and in the SARS deaths. Research has shown those on statin therapy for cholesterol can reduce mortality from the avian flu and presumable the swine flu as well.

So in researching that last night on line I ran across another intersting study on reducing the effects of the cytokine storm and cytokine production.

Marijuana and Cocaine Impair Alveolar Macrophage Function and Cytokine Production

So we all just need to get some Tamiflu, take some Zocor and smoke some pot while we watch it spread across the google map?