WHO DO you trust when it comes to advice about swine flu , and whether you or members of your family should be vaccinated? Is it your GP, your neighbour, the professor on the television or the government's advertising campaign? [...more]
Via Australia's ABC News, a frustratingly short good-news story: Discovery aids treatment of severe swine flu cases. The whole report:Doctors in Melbourne believe they have found a new and effective way to treat people with severe swine ... [...more]
There was no conspiracy or panic. Scientists were right to prepare us for a major crisis Simon Jenkins's distaste for scientists leads him to declare that they deliberately overstate risks, and make panic predictions ( Swine flu was as elusive as WMD. The real threat is mad scientist syndrome , 15 January). In reality, scientists worked calmly – not "frantically" as Jenkins asserts – to predict the progress of the disease and to understand risk [...more]
CTV.ca CDC: 1 in 5 Americans vaccinated against swine flu Washington Post AP ATLANTA -- About 1 in 5 Americans have been vaccinated against swine flu, according to the government's first detailed estimates of vaccination rates against the new pandemic. The estimate is based on two government telephone surveys ... Up to 80 million Americans infected with H1N1 - CDC Reuters Glaxo to Maintain Swine-Flu Shipments as Demand Falters Wall Street Journal CDC Says 20% of Americans Got H1N1 Flu Shot MedPage Today Tinker Take Off [...more]
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) January 15, 2010 / Vol. 59 / Early Release [...more]
Remember the warnings of 65,000 dead? Health chiefs should admit they were wrong – yet again – about a global pandemicLet me recap. Six months ago I reviewed the latest bit of terrorism to emerge from the government's Cobra bunker, courtesy of Alan Johnson, home secretary. Swine flu was allegedly ravaging the nation. The BBC was intoning nightly statistics on what "could" happen as "the deadly virus" took hold. The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, bandied about any figure that came into his head, settling on "65,000 could die", peaking at 350 corpses a day.Donaldson knew exactly what would happen. The media went berserk. The World Health Organisation declared a "six-level alert" so as to "prepare the world for an imminent attack". The happy-go-lucky virologist, John Oxford, s... [...more]
Remember the warnings of 65,000 dead? Health chiefs should admit they were wrong – yet again – about a global pandemicLet me recap. Six months ago I reviewed the latest bit of terrorism to emerge from the government's Cobra bunker, courtesy of Alan Johnson, home secretary. Swine flu was allegedly ravaging the nation. The BBC was intoning nightly statistics on what "could" happen as "the deadly virus" took hold. The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, bandied about any figure that came into his head, settling on "65,000 could die", peaking at 350 corpses a day.Donaldson knew exactly what would happen. The media went berserk. The World Health Organisation declared a "six-level alert" so as to "prepare the world for an imminent attack". The happy-go-lucky virologist, John Oxford, s... [...more]
Source: BBC Health News Area: News The World Health Organization (WHO) is to review its handling of the HIN1 swine flu pandemic, once it is over. [...more]
Source: BBC Health News Area: News The Department of Health's weekly swine flu briefings have been abandoned following a dramatic fall in the number of new cases in England over the past month, a signal that the crisis is considered to be easing. It said it would now use fortnightly bulletins to keep journalists up-to-date with statistical trends and an interpretative quote from the chief medical officer. (Source: NeLM - News) [...more]
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, on behalf of the Government of Canada, has announced it will be providing five million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine to Mexico to help bridge that country's immediate pandemic vaccine requirements. This is not a donation. Mexico will replenish Canada's H1N1 vaccine supply by March 31, 2010. "We are privileged that we are in a position to support Mexico's pandemic response efforts," said Minister Aglukkaq... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today) [...more]
