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More Flu Articles

Posted by Randy Hollenbeck on Nov. 28, 2009

Health, Medical, Safety

CDC: West Virginia Doctor Had H1N1 - Twice

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed that a West Virginia physician had the H1N1 virus twice — once in August and again in October.

Dr. Debra Parsons, a pediatrician in Cross Lanes, W. Va., first became ill this summer, the same time her son did.  Parsons tested herself for the virus, and it came back positive for the H1N1 Influenza A strain.

When Parsons experienced flu-like symptoms again in October, even worse than those she had in August, she tested herself again.  The test came back positive again for H1N1.

Source and Full Story: Dailymail

Over 1 Million Infected, 189 Dead To New Strain Of Flu In Ukraine

Three flu viruses - 2 seasonal and the Californian flu - have combined to create a pneumonic plague, which is sweeping through the Ukraine.  Over 1 million people have been infected and 189 people have died, mostly in the western part of the Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko has said: "People are dying.  The epidemic is killing doctors.  We have sent the analysis to Kiev.  We don’t believe it’s H1N1 swine flu.  Neither do we know what kind of pneumonia it is.”

A Western Ukraine doctor said they carried out 2 postmortems and found their lungs "as black as charcoal.  They look like they have been burned.  It's terrifying.”  Poland and other neighboring countries fear that it will soon spread their way

Source and Full Story: www.express.co.uk

H1N1 mutation found in some flu fatalities

Source and Full Story: MSNBC

Swine flu puts airlines, travelers in tough spot

Sick fliers weigh social responsibility vs. financial toll of altering plans

Source and Full Story: MSNBC

The flu shot: The viruses in the flu shot are killed (inactivated), so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot.

The "flu shot" — an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. The flu shot is approved for use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.

The nasal-spray flu vaccine — a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for "live attenuated influenza vaccine" or FluMist®). LAIV (FluMist®) is approved for use in healthy* people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.

Source: CDC

H1N1 Shot Recalled Over Allergy Risk

GlaxoSmithKline tells Canadian docs not to use a batch of H1N1 vaccine due to fears of deadly allergic reaction

Source and Full Story: Foxnews

U.S. sees rise in secondary infections after flu

U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they are seeing a worrying pattern of serious bacterial infections in swine flu patients, mostly among younger adults not normally vulnerable to them.

The pattern is typical of pandemics such as the current H1N1 pandemic but shows the need for patients and doctors to keep an eye out for the infections and treat them quickly, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.

Source and Full Story: Reuters

China Disease Expert Warns of H1N1 Mutation

HONG KONG —  China must be alert to any mutation or changes in the behavior of the H1N1 swine flu virus because the far deadlier H5N1 bird flu virus is endemic in the country, a leading Chinese disease expert said.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China's southern Guangdong province, said the presence of both viruses in China meant they could mix and become a monstrous hybrid — a bug packed with strong killing power that can transmit efficiently among people.

Source and Full Story: Foxnews