The H1N1 Swine Flu death toll rose to 91 deaths and 11,168 cases of infection, though the WHO data shows 86 deaths and 12022 cases. In brighter news, the US Governemtn has now decided it will indeed pay for the development of a Swine Flu H1N1 vaccine. Experts are concerned about a second wave of the H1N1 Swine flu virus thta may return to the hardest hit part of the world, North America, in the Fall.
Eighteen U.S. soldiers have been confirmed as the first cases in Kuwait with H1N1 flu, the undersecretary of the ministry of health said on Sunday.
“They are 18 U.S. soldiers that were confirmed with the virus upon their arrival from their country to the military base (in Kuwait),” Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi told Reuters.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday the U.S. will spend $1 billion to start the process of making an H1N1 influenza vaccine.
The money, which comes from funds already set aside for pandemic influenza, will fund new and existing contracts with influenza vaccine makers such as Sanofi Aventis SA, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.
•The number of deaths caused by A/H1N1 virus has risen to 91, health officials said.
•More than 11,168 people in 44 countries and regions have reportedly contracted the virus.
New York Educator H1N1 Swine Flu Death Is Fourth US H1N1 Swine Flu Death.
A principal of a New York city school died of what are reported to be ‘complications of the H1N1 swine flu’ today, Sunday May 17 2009. This marks the 4th h1N1 Swine Flu related death in the US since the explosion of Swine Flu. or H1N1 virus last month. The h1N1 virus is now on the rise in New York city, and school closures are adding to the fire of speculation about the exact spread of H1N1 Swine flu in the largest US cities.
“We are now seeing a rising tide of flu in many parts of New York City,” said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden earlier Sunday.
“With the virus spreading widely, closing these and other individual schools will make little difference in transmission throughout New York City, but we hope will help slow transmission within the individual school communities.”
An New York middle school assistant principal who was hospitalized with the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, died Sunday apparently from flu complications, a hospital spokesman said.
H1N1 Swine Flu Warnings In New York Serious H1N1 Swine Flu Case In NY School Closures.
New York city has reported it’s first serious case of the Swine Flu H1N1 Virus, but the number of infections in the laregst city in the US has been increaisng at an alarming rate. New school closures are causing residents to become more nervous, and the Mayor of New York admits that the stories of H1N1 swine flu infection are “troubling”, and says that H1N1 Swine flu infection rates in New York are at “unusually high levels”. New York is potentially a prime candidate as a starting point for a pandemic wave of the H1N1 Swine flu. The combination of high population density, ability of the residents to leave, thereby dispersing the infections outward, and areas of poverty with limited access to doctors or medical facilities make it a breeding ground of a pandemic-like spread of H1N1 Swine Flu.
New York City closed three public schools for at least five school days because of “unusually high levels” of flu-like illness, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
“I know that many will find this information troubling, but information I’ve always thought is the best antidote to anxiety and we will continue to provide New Yorkers with clear, accurate and timely information as we have it,” Bloomberg said last night at a City Hall news conference, where he was joined by Governor David Paterson and city schools Chancellor Joel Klein. “By taking common sense precautions and not by overreacting we will get through this together.”
The male assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 in Jamaica, in the city borough of Queens, where more than 50 students have been sent home ill, may have had a pre-existing condition that worsened his illness, Bloomberg said.
Peru confirmed its first case of H1N1 Swine Flu, a 27-year-old woman who traveled to her Lima home from New York, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte said yesterday. Measures such as total shutdown and Social Distancing may not be as viable for containing H1N1 Swine Flu infection in New York as they were in Mexico - and this has the New York school system acting quickly to close down schools immediately.
School Closures
In addition to IS 238, or the Susan B. Anthony School, the schools shut in New York yesterday are Public School 16Q in Corona, Queens, where 29 students were documented with flu-like symptoms, and IS 5Q, the Walter Crowley Intermediate School in Elmhurst, Queens, where 241 students were reported absent.
“We have been carefully monitoring the H1N1 virus, and we’re taking this action today because there are unusually high levels of flu-like illnesses at three public schools,” Bloomberg said yesterday.
A total of 4,500 students attend the three schools. The earliest date the schools may reopen is May 22 under the order put in place after health officials discovered the influenza symptoms. Bloomberg said swine flu has been documented in the assistant principal and four students.
Swine Flu H1N1 Tracking The First Wave Worst Could Be Behind Us Vaccine Controversy Erupts.
The World Heath Organization (WHO). the CDC and other H1N1 Swine flu experts are cautiously optimistic that the worst of the first wave of H1N1 Swine flu virus is now behind us. Still, there is controversy around the Swine Flu H1N1 Vaccine. Some are saying that the cost of mass-producing a H1N1 Swine flu vaccine could be basically a waste of money, even when the H1N1 virus returns to North America in October during the second wave.
This is due to the relatively low mortality rate of the H1N1 Swine Flu. Others are sahying that it is imperative that we develop and distribute a vaccine now, in case the second or third wave of the H1N1 Virus comes roaring back in a deadlier form. Social Distancing and educative measures have been very effective during this first wave of the H1N1 Swine flu - however, this also limited people’s exposure to is, thus limiting people resistance to the deadly H1N1 Swine flu.
H1N1 Swine Flu Updates
As of 06:00 GMT, 13 May 2009, 33 countries have officially reported 5728 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.
Mexico has reported 2059 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 56 deaths. The United States has reported 3009 laboratory confirmed human cases, including three deaths. Canada has reported 358 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death. Costa Rica has reported eight laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Argentina (1), Australia (1), Austria (1), Brazil (8), China (3, comprising 1 in China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and 2 in mainland China), Colombia (6), Cuba (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (4), Finland (2), France (13), Germany (12), Guatemala (3), Ireland (1), Israel (7), Italy (9), Japan (4), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (7), Norway (2), Panama (29), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (98), Sweden (2), Switzerland (1), Thailand (2), and the United Kingdom (68).
Next Wave of H1N1 Swine Flu Now Concerns CDC.
The CDC is now modeling and planning for the next wave of H1N1 Swine Flu, which is expected to impact North America this fall. The question the CDC is dealing with it how much will the Swine Flu H1N1 virus mutate in the time it is active in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is now prime flu season. The situation seems to have stabilized now in North America, though more H1N1 Swine Flu cases and more H1N1 Swine Flu deaths are expected in the near future.
Because the new swine flu virus — technically called H1N1 — is a highly unusual genetic mix of bird, flu and human viruses, health officials worry that it could continue to mutate and return in a more virulent form for next winter’s flu season.
As the swine flu continues to spread across the United States — and most cases continue to be mild — federal health officials said Monday that they’re shifting their focus from individual cases of infection to trying to project what is likely to occur with the virus in the fall.
New H1N1 Swine Flu Death in Costa Rica 615 New H1N1 Swine Flu Cases Overnight In US
Another death from Swine Flu H1N1 has been reported, this time outside of North America, where all H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have so far taken place. The United States has had 2 deaths from h1N1 Swine Flu, Canada reports 1 death from H1N1 Swine Flu, and Mexicao reports 45 Swine Flu H1N1 Virus deaths.
Costa Rica reported the death of a 53-year-old patient with swine flu on Saturday, the first death from the epidemic outside of a North American nation, while Japanese authorities scrambled to limit contacts with their first confirmed cases of the disease.
H1N1 Swine Flu Cases Double Number of H1N1 Swine Flu Infections To Reach 1 Billion By July
H1N1 Swine Flu Cases Double In US Number of H1N1 Swine Flu Infections To Reach 1 Billion By July.
1639 confirmed cases of Swine Flu H1N1 virus.
2 Deaths
43 states have infections.
This is the hard news delivered by the normally conservative CDC today, Friday, May08 2009. The United States now has more H1N1 Swine Flu than any other country. The number of H1N1 Swine Flu virus infections in the United States doubled. Only mexico has more deaths from swine flu H1N1 Virus than the United States.
Are you ready for 1 billion cases of Swine Flu H1N1? Is your family ready? Are you ready to face a world where every thing you touch and every where you go could mean danger for you and your family? Visit the H1N1News.com pandemic supply store - we try to bring you the lowest prices but from reliable, dependable suppliers to get you N95 masks, gloves, disinfectant, and other heath care supplies that are going to keep you and your family safe during a pandemic. You can get information from the CDC on masks here explaining the proper selection and use of N95 NIOSH approved face masks and respirators.
The CDC is now estimating that the number of cases worldwide of H1N1 Swine flu could reach 1 billion cases by the summer. Normally, the summer is the time when influenza virii have the most problems reproducing and spreading, but apparently the H1N1 Swine Flu shares more traits than was previously thought with the 1918 Swine Flu H1N1 Pandemic. That Swine Flu strian was also more resistant to heat, and therefore was able to spread unabated during the summer months.
First Canadian H1N1 Swine Flu Death Reported
Canada, which has the 3rd largest case count of H1N1 Swine Flu, may have had its first fatality from the H1N1 Swine Flu. Reports emerging from the Canadian province of Alberta say an elderly woman, who may have been suffering from H1N1 Swine flu, died earlier today in northern Alberta.
7 May 2009, 24 countries have officially reported 2371 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.
Mexico has reported 1112 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths. The United States has reported 896 laboratory confirmed human cases, including two deaths.
As of 7 May 2009, 18:00 GMT
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (201), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (5), Germany (10), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (6), Italy (5), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (5), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (81), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (32).
WHO Says 2 Billion In Danger From H1N1 Swine Flu Virtus
The current global tally of H1N1 Swine FLu cases is now over 2000 (two thousand) with no signs of stopping, but according to the World Health Organization, the number of Swine Flu H1N1 Virus cases could get much much worse - they arepredicting 2 billion cases of H1N1 Swine Flu if the Swine Flu virus reaches pandemic levels - that’s 1 out of every 3 people roughly.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu if the current outbreak turns into a pandemic. The agency said a pandemic typically lasts two years.
WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda said the number wasn’t a prediction, but that experience with flu pandemics showed one-third of the world’s population gets infected.
“If we do move into a pandemic then our expectation is that we will see a large number of people infected worldwide,” Fukuda said. “If you look at past pandemics, it would be a reasonable estimate to say perhaps a third of the world’s population would get infected with this virus.”
The H1N1 Swine Flu is though to be on the decline right now in North America, where it is currently most prevalent - but based on past Swine Flu or H1N1 Flu infections, there will be multiple waves of the Flu, with varying levels of danger. Curreently the H1N1 Swine flu is invading South America, where it is prime flu season, sparking fears that the Swine Flu H1N1 Virus may mutate further and come back to North America later this year in a more virulent, contagious and dangerous form.