Flu - News
The H1N1 pandemic flu virus could kill up to 40,000 people across Europe and be followed by seasonal flu waves that could kill the same number, European health experts said on Friday. The Sweden-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said epidemics of H1N1, known as swine flu, were now affecting almost all countries in the European Union but it could not predict how intense the peaks would be.
H1N1 swine flu is on the rise in China and Japan after triggering an unusually early start to the winter influenza season in Europe, Central Asia and North America, the World Health Organization said on Friday. According to the U.N.
Some countries have been "ambushed" by sudden severe outbreaks of disease and death from the H1N1 flu pandemic, and have gone over the top in their response, a European flu specialist said on Friday. Angus Nicoll, influenza coordinator...
Some pigs, turkeys and household pets have become infected with the H1N1 flu, but the pandemic virus does not yet appear to be spreading quickly among animals, the World Health Organization said on Friday. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said it was not clear how the isolated animals had contracted the flu virus that is spreading quickly among humans in the northern hemisphere, particularly in Eastern Europe.
Last May, an influx of children with flu symptoms and their worried families flooded the emergency department of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, swelling the normal patient load from 150 a day to 400 and leaving a net loss for the month of $325,000.
New York City health officials scrambled to explain themselves on Thursday following outraged media reports about bankers who got scarce H1N1 flu vaccines through their employers. Although there is a long-standing arrangement for employers to provide seasonal flu shots to workers, the city health department was bombarded with calls and television reports about Wall Street workers jumping the line ahead of pregnant women and children.
The H1N1 swine flu virus has picked up steam in the northern hemisphere and is expected to cause more serious infections and deaths as cold weather sets in, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
States and counties will be struggling to vaccinate people against the swine flu pandemic well into December and January -- long after the first peak of the virus in the United States, officials said on Wednesday. Federal health officials also said it will be years before things get any better, despite years of planning.
States and counties will be struggling to vaccinate people against the swine flu pandemic well into December and January -- long after the first peak of the virus in the United States, officials said on Wednesday.
U.S. employers who tell workers to stay home when they are sick will have to give them paid time off for up to five days under new federal legislation proposed on Tuesday. The emergency law would cover pandemic H1N1 flu or any other infectious disease, said California Representative George Miller, a Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee and who introduced the bill.
Up to 30 million doses of vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu virus have been delivered to the U.
Pregnant women and other people at high risk should be vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu virus as the cold weather begins to bite in the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Up to 30 million doses of vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 flu have been delivered to the U.S. government and production is now picking up, officials said on Monday. But they said more studies confirm that children under the age of 9 will need two doses to be fully protected.
Elton John is recovering in hospital from a serious case of e-coli bacterial infection and influenza that forced him to cancel a string of concerts, but he hoped to return to the stage soon, a spokesman said on Monday. British pop star John, 62, postponed five gigs in England and Ireland starting with an October 23 date in Sheffield, and has also pulled out of three U.
Five drug companies are now increasing production of the vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu, and 10 million more doses are expected next week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Saturday. President Barack Obama on Friday expressed frustration about the slow pace of production of the vaccine, which has resulted in just 26.
A quarrel between the U.S. government and swine flu vaccine makers reached the highest level on Friday, with President Barack Obama expressing frustration at the slow pace of production. Federal officials have slashed their initial estimates of how much H1N1 vaccine would be available -- from 40 million doses by the end of October to 26 million doses available as of Friday.
The World Health Organisation has launched a programme to give H1N1 flu vaccines to nearly 100 developing countries, with the first ones receiving the shots soon, its vaccine expert said on Friday. Marie-Paule Kieny, head of vaccine research at the U.
Only one dose of vaccine is needed for protection against pandemic H1N1 flu and the jabs have so far proved to be safe, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, citing immunisation experts. Health experts have been debating whether one or two shots are necessary to protect against H1N1, known as swine flu.
When pregnant women get vaccinated against flu, their babies are bigger, healthier and less likely to be premature, researchers reported on Thursday. The studies show that influenza vaccines protect not only women, who are extremely vulnerable to flu when pregnant, but also their babies before and after birth, the researchers said.
DC * 6 percent of hospitalized people die, study finds * CDC says 24.8 million doses of H1N1 vaccine available By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - As many as 5.7 million Americans were infected with the H1N1 virus between April and late July, U.
Waves of H1N1 swine flu spread by some three million pilgrims travelling to and from Mecca for next month's haj threaten to pile pressure on healthcare systems around the world, disease experts said on Thursday.
Patients taking statin drugs were almost 50 percent less likely to die from flu, researchers reported on Thursday in a study providing more evidence the cholesterol-lowering drugs help the body cope with infection.
The World Health Organisation will issue new guidance on tackling the H1N1 flu virus next week, based on talks between vaccine experts that began in Geneva on Wednesday.
The U.S. government may end up throwing away unused doses of swine flu vaccine if people cannot get it soon enough, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. Members of Congress questioned whether federal officials were too rosy in their estimates of how much vaccine would be available and when, and companies said they were still struggling to produce immunizations against H1N1.
GlaxoSmithKline has yet to get U.S. government approval for its swine flu vaccine, the company said on Tuesday, while Novartis said it was still struggling to make vaccines.
The H1N1 swine flu virus will have less impact on Germany's economy than previously expected, a study by Allianz insurers and the RWI economic research institute showed on Tuesday. The study said swine flu would cost Europe's biggest economy between 10 billion euros and 40 billion euros, equivalent to 0.
Despite long lines and limited supplies of the H1N1 flu vaccine, U.S. efforts against the disease are not too late, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Monday. Sebelius acknowledged frustrating waits to get the vaccine, but said some 16.
President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday. The declaration will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement.
H1N1 swine flu has become widespread in 46 of the 50 U.S. states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected, a top U.
Regular exercise may help reduce the misery of the flu by boosting the immune system's response to the virus, a study in mice hints. Studies have suggested that people who exercise moderately suffer fewer and less severe colds and flu infections than couch potatoes do -- while exhausting workouts may increase a person's vulnerability to these infections.
