Newsletter 4 Februari 2010

New Issue

HHS Video: We Heard The Bells

This is an 8 minute trailer for a longer (1 hour) film on the 1918 pandemic. I’ve not seen any air dates for the completed film, but the transcript is available on the Flu.gov site.

You can watch this trailer on YouTube, or on the Flu.Gov site on the We Heard The Bells page.

Source: Avian Flu Diary

Read more: http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2010/02/hhs-video-we-heard-bells.html


Research

Association between Severe Pandemic 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection and Immunoglobulin G2 Subclass Deficiency

Background.Severe pandemic 2009 influenza A virus (H1N1) infection is associated with risk factors that include pregnancy, obesity, and immunosuppression. After identification of immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) deficiency in 1 severe case, we assessed IgG subclass levels in a cohort of patients with H1N1 infection.

Methods.Patient features, including levels of serum IgG and IgG subclasses, were assessed in patients with acute severe H1N1 infection (defined as infection requiring respiratory support in an intensive care unit), patients with moderate H1N1 infection (defined as inpatients not hospitalized in an intensive care unit), and a random sample of healthy pregnant women.

Results.Among the 39 patients with H1N1 infection (19 with severe infection, 7 of whom were pregnant; 20 with moderate infection, 2 of whom were pregnant), hypoabuminemia ( ), anemia ( ), and low levels of total IgG ( ), IgG1 ( ), and IgG2 (15 of 19 vs 5 of 20; ; mean value ± standard deviation [SD], g/L vs g/L; ) were all statistically significantly associated with severe H1N1 infection, but only hypoalbuminemia ( ) and low mean IgG2 levels ( ) remained significant after multivariate analysis. Follow‐up of 15 (79%) surviving IgG2‐deficient patients at a mean (±SD) of days (R, 38–126) after the initial acute specimen was obtained found that hypoalbuminemia had resolved in most cases, but 11 (73%) of 15 patients remained IgG2 deficient. Among 17 healthy pregnant control subjects, mildly low IgG1 and/or IgG2 levels were noted in 10, but pregnant patients with H1N1 infection had significantly lower levels of IgG2 ( ).

Conclusions.Severe H1N1 infection is associated with IgG2 deficiency, which appears to persist in a majority of patients. Pregnancy‐related reductions in IgG2 level may explain the increased severity of H1N1 infection in some but not all pregnant patients. The role of IgG2 deficiency in the pathogenesis of H1N1 infection requires further investigation, because it may have therapeutic implications.

Source: University of Chicago Press

Read more: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/650462


Risk Communication

Targeted prevention stopped spread of H1N1 at Alabama boys camp

Providing preventive Tamiflu and educating and emphasizing the need for repeated hand sanitizer use and disinfectant spray helped stop the spread of H1N1 influenza at a boys' summer camp in northern Alabama, according the co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Source: Eurekalert

Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-02/uoaa-tps020310.php


Photo

Chemists discover how antiviral drugs bind to and block flu virus

Researchers have determined where an antiviral drug binds to and blocks a channel necessary for the flu virus to spread. The team also discovered that the drug spins in the channel, meaning there could be room for developing drugs that do a better job blocking the channel and stopping the flu.

Source: ScienceDaily

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203131407.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News)


News Flash

H1N1 fears lead to worldwide garlic shortage

Baltimore Sun

The Dispatch is reporting that Chinese consumers believe that garlic will ward off the swine flu, so they've been stockpiling it. ...112 people dies of A/H1N1 influenza in Hungary

Xinhua

In all 112 people have died of the A/H1N1 influenza in Hungary, Hungarian Health Minister Tamas Szekely told a news conference in Budapest on ...

A/H1N1 flu deaths down for four straight weeks in China

Xinhua

China reported 13 new deaths from A/H1N1 influenza last week as more than 74 million people have been vaccinated to stem the spread of the ...

36 new H1N1 cases in one day (AsiaOne)

H1N1 Alliance™

THIRTY-SIX people tested positive yesterday for Influenza A (H1N1) in Brunei Darussalam. The new cases were recorded by the Ministry of Health in just one day.


Tidak ada komentar: