Photo
In this Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 photo, Quicken Loans Arena has signs up where water fountains used to be for fans, photographed after the NBA basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks in Cleveland. Citing concerns over swine flu, the team said Monday, Feb. 8, that all drinking water fountains have been removed from the arena to reduce the spread of bacteria and communicable diseases. The team did not consult the city's health department, which does not recommend removing fountains as a health precaution, said department director Matt Carroll.
Source: Daylife
Read more: http://www.daylife.com/photo/0a4q4zF8aK8RN?q=swine+flu
New Issue
Study finds lack of preparation for flu pandemics
One-quarter of Ontario hospitals don't have a plan for dealing with an influenza pandemic, says a survey in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Among smaller and rural hospitals, only about 60% had such a plan when the data were collected, a team led by Dr. Dick Zoutman, an infection control expert at Kingston General Hospital, discovered.
The study is based on data collected in 2007, well before the Spring, 2009 outbreak of H1N1 in Canada.
Zoutman said the figures are the most recent and are "highly relevant.
"They give us a very good idea as to the extent of some of the larger gaps in the level of preparedness. I have no reason to believe some of the gaps have been completely closed."[...]
Source: Toronto Sun
Read more: http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/02/09/12801946-qmi.html
Research
A rapid test for the detection of influenza A virus including pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009
A new rapid diagnostic test for detection of influenza A virus was evaluated with four sets of experiments: first, a comparison with a commercial diagnostic kit against a panel of virus strains was conducted; second, the kit was tested against a collection of 40 strains of influenza A virus isolated from five different host species and 26 strains of other respiratory viruses used as controls; third, the kit was tested against specimens collected in the field obtained from human and chicken; and fourth, the kit was tested against the novel pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 clinical specimens obtained from admitted to hospital patients. The test kit displayed a sensitivity of 88% for both human specimens and avian specimens. The corresponding specificity was 99.3% for human specimens and 96.5% for avian specimens. This test kit may be useful for rapid diagnosis of influenza A virus.
Source: Science Direct
Comment
Jennifer Aniston 'helping Mexico' with birthday holiday
Jennifer Aniston chose to celebrate her 41st birthday in Mexico to help boost the country's tourism industry.
The former "Friends" actress jetted off to the sun-soaked resort of Los Cabos last week with pals Courteney Cox, Sheryl Crow and rumored love interest Gerard Butler for a week of fun leading up to her birthday on Wednesday.
And Aniston has revealed she chose the destination to help encourage others to return to Mexico for holidays following the recent swine flu outbreak, which crippled the country last year.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle Blog
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=56912
Risk Communication
Swine flu service to be closed
A swine flu hotline and Internet service will be switched off this week as the number of cases dwindle, say health chiefs.
Was the threat of swine flu exaggerated? Use the poll on the bottom right of this page to have your say
Patients on Wearside are being advised that the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) will shut down at 1am on Thursday.
Source: Sunderland Echo
Read more: http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Swine-flu-service-to-be.6054712.jp
Quote
"Our study indicates that parental worries about H1N1 vaccine safety have limited national efforts to vaccinate kids against H1N1 disease".
SOURCE: Medical News Today
Read more: http://www.daylife.com/quote/0by55lkd1sauZ?q=h1n1
News Flash
Satu Lagi Warga Bekasi Tewas karena Flu Burung
Kompas
[...] kasus flu burung atau H5N1 masih terjadi di Indonesia. NL (25), warga Bekasi, Jawa Barat, meninggal dunia pada 25 Januari 2010 akibat virus H5N1.
Eggs Withdrawn at Markets after Flu Outbreak
The Irrawady
Burmese authorities have banned the sale of eggs in markets in Rangoon Division after the discovery of the A/H1N1 virus at a chicken farm, according to Rangoon sources.
Read more: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17768
Senegal confirms H1N1 outbreak
Africa News
The Senegalese Minister of Health and Preventive Medicine, Modou Diagne Fada, confirmed that the country had been hit by the epidemic AH1N1 influenza. According to earlier reports, the first cases were detected in the religious city of Touba and nearby Diourbel (located in the central part of the country).
Read more: http://www.africanews.com/site/Senegal_confirms_H1N1_outbreak/list_messages/29942
Public outcry over swine flu tests on Romanian children
WAZ Euobserver
Growing concern in Romania about the opaque circumstances in which a vaccine against swine flu is being tested on children has forced health authorities to postpone the launch of the vaccination campaign by at least one month.
Read more: http://waz.euobserver.com/887/29433
Swine flu vaccination study extended to children
Physorg
A study being run in Scotland to identify any rare side effects of the swine flu vaccine has now been expanded to include under-16s.
Read more: http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/27189311/swine-flu-vaccination-study-extended-to-children.html
Disclaimer: Newsletter ini hanya merupakan kumpulan dari artikel/liputan/tulisan yang diambil dari berbagai sumber mengenai situasi terkini pandemi influenza di seluruh dunia termasuk Indonesia. Namun demikian isi/ilustrasi/foto tidak mewakili kepentingan atau kebijakan KOMNAS FBPI secara langsung
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.
), 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 (
).