From Expatica.com: A sixth and seventh person in Belgium have been confirmed as having the A (H1N1) flu virus, otherwise known as swine flu. The two new victims are a Walloon woman and a man from Antwerp. The cases are independent of each other but both had been in the United States. The sixth person to be confirmed in Belgium of being infected with the H1N1 flu is a young woman from Walloon Brabant. She got back from a trip to the United States on Tuesday. Because she had clear flu symptoms she immediately went to the doctor and was confirmed to have swine flu. The seventh case is a man from Antwerp. He had also recently been to the United States, returning from Chicago. Both patients are in a special wing of the Sint Pieters Hospital in Brussels. People who have been in contact with the two patients have been given virus inhibitors. The other passengers who were with the patients on the airplane are being tracked down. Expatica.com – http://xr.com/rvm5
From Mexidata.info: In Mexico, the widespread shutdown of schools and businesses has ended, but H1N1 continues to spread in various regions of the country. As of May 24, 2009, the influenza had infected over 12,000 people worldwide and killed at least 86. In Mexico, nearly 4,000 have been infected and at least 75 have died. In the U.S., more people have been infected (over 6,500) but fewer (9) have died. In Canada, the influenza has infected 719 and claimed one life, while in the Central American nation of Costa Rica at least 20 have been infected and one has died. The epidemic has now reached 43 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), yet the country count could be as high as 58. mexidata.info/id2276.html
From Radio Netherlands May 23, 2009
The World Health Organisation warns that Mexican flu infections are likely to become worse and cause more deaths. It calls for the H1N1 strain to be watched closely on the southern hemisphere, where the winter season is beginning. Since its detection in Mexico last month, the new strain has spread to more than 40 countries, infecting more than 11,000 people and claiming 86 lives. The United States remains the epicenter of the disease with more than half of all cases. Russia has reported its first confirmed swine flu case. The person in question is a Russian national returning on a flight from the US. In Spain, 11 soldiers at a military academy have been diagnosed with the disease. The academy has been quarantined. The United States has announced it is investing one billion dollars to develop and produce a vaccine. The WHO expects a vaccine against Mexican flu to be ready by July. http://xr.com/ilzr
Another death from the Mexican Flu in the City of New York is being reported in the news wires this weekend. This one is of an unnamed woman in her 50’s and has been confirmed to have died from the Mexican Flu.
Following in the vein of reporting for all deaths being reported in the U.S. the official reports say that the person had underlying health conditions.
Assistant school Principal Mitchell Wiener was the first such death reported in New York about a week ago. Students that had been on a trip to Mexico about a month ago apparently brought the virus back from their vacation there.
An assistant principal of a school in Queens, New York City died on Sunday May 17th. Mitchell Wiener, age 55, who worked at intermediate school I.S.238 also known as the Susan B. Anthony School in Queens, died Sunday evening, The Flushing Hospital Medical Center spokesman Andrew Rubin said. Wiener, who had been hospitalized and on a ventilator, had been sick with the virus for nearly a week before his school was closed on Thursday. “Complications besides the virus likely played a part in his death”, Rubin said.
This official statement that is being released by the hospital spokesman is in direct opposition of that from Principal Wiener’s wife who was interviewed in the hospital a couple of days ago while her husband was still on a ventilator, who made it perfectly clear that the rumors about her husband as having previous medical conditions that were causing complications were “totally wrong”. She also said “that the rumor about her husband as having diabetes was also not true”.
Three weeks ago about 700 students and 300 other people associated with a Catholic high school in Queens began falling ill following the return of several students from vacations in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak. The school was closed. Five more city schools will be closed Monday because of concern for Mexican flu.
It has been just over a month since the first death of the Mexican flu 2009 began killing and spreading around the world. The WHO has categorized it as a Pandemic but yet the world does not want to over react.
A good example of an inconsistent policy maker is the mayor of New York City. Mr. Bloomberg went from closing schools to calling the Mexican a nuisance to once again this past week he is closing schools. I understand do not worry about anything, just don’t go to school or you may die.
The WHO annual meeting is stating today May 18, and Dr. Margret Chan will recommend that a vaccine be produced to fight off this new and deadly strain of the flu. But first many things must be decided like how much to make and who should receive the vaccine and where it should be distributed. I understand that these decisions are necessary before the 5 to 6 month process of creating a new vaccine should even starts
At last report there are over 8,480 people that have been infected in 39 countries with 75 deaths. The death toll in Mexico has been downsized since many of the earlier reported deaths are unconfirmed because the family members buried their dead without test out of fear.
One good thing has happened; China and Taiwan are willing to cooperate to help stop the spread of the flu virus in their countries. If the rest of the world can work together, this pandemic will not kill off a generation of young people. 200,000 deaths occurred in one month during the 1918 pandemic and it could happen again.
I just do not understand the WHO’s delay in the start of the manufacturing of the vaccine. The excuses for not starting it has to do with what to do with the vaccine once it is made not that it should be made. With a 5 to 6 month process, this should have already started. It will be November before any is ready for distribution but politics has stood in front of the welfare of people once again and this just might give the Mexican Flu 2009 the time it needs to kill more efficiently.
Today’s issue of the New York Times, May 10, 2009, reports on two more announced deaths in the world watch on the Mexican Flu 2009.
The Times website only keeps the links active for a few days, but you may read it here as of now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/health/23webflu.html?_r=1&hp
An unidentified Washington state man was in his 30’s and lived in Snohomish County, north of Seattle was one of the victims. The Washington Sate Department of Health said on its Web site that he had “underlying heart conditions and died last week with what appears to be complications” of swine flu.
In Costa Rica, a 53-year old man died after contracting the virus, that country’s Health Ministry said, adding that he also suffered from diabetes and chronic lung disease.
In both cases it appears as though there were other chronic conditions that might have been contributing factors.
There have been deadly strains of the H1N1 virus in the past that are related to this new Mexican Flu strain. This type A virus has caused deaths before.
In 2005 in the state of Wisconsin a 17 year old man tested positive for the swine flu virus. It was recorded that three day before he had assisted his brother in law with the butchering of several pigs
In 1988 another outbreak was in the state of Wisconsin. This was a person that visited a swine exhibit at a county fair that contracted it from the live stock. Human to human transfer of the disease was confirmed by the presence of antibodies to the virus that were detected in a hospital worker that was treating the infected patient. The patient, a 32 year old woman did die. There was no large outbreak of the disease and containment was simple but it did happen.
In 1976 there was an outbreak at the army base in New Jersey. There were only 4 confirmed cases and one death. The origin of the virus is still unknown but all of the victims were previously health young Americans.
In 1957 there was an outbreak that caused up to 2 million fatalities, but there is little known about this event other than it was of the swine flu strain.
The deadliest to date is still the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak that infected a quarter of the world’s population and killed close to 50 million people worldwide.
What most people need to realize is that the normal yearly flu virus kills up to 35,000 people a year. This yearly death toll is larger than all but two of the previous swine flu outbreaks. The major concern of the Mexican flu virus is the target group of young adults. How far it will spread and the death toll are still to be determined.
We use resources from the time periods discussed by using old newspaper articles that you may follow online also at www.old-newspaer-articles.com. There is a nominal annual subscription rate to gain access to these historical newspapers but it is a pittance in comparison to all of the news of the day that you can obtain from modern times way back to the 1700’s. This is just about the best resource available to read about the early strains of the flu virus of the 1900′s.
The first death from the Mexican flu was a previously health young adult age 39. It was recorded that when she arrived at the hospital her hands and feet were a shade of blue from lack of oxygen. She was treated with antibiotics but her condition got worse until she died days later. At this point the disease had still not been identified.
When the disease was identified as a variant of the swine flu now dubbed the Mexican flu, the hospital staff was tested for exposure. 18 staff members were tested and their samples sent to a lab. When the test results returned only 6 of the sample had been taken right and were able to be tested. All results were negative. The first victim was working as a temporary tax collector that required her to go door to door. After this first death over 400 people she came in contact with were questioned. None of the questioned were ever tested even though some had symptoms of the Mexican flu. Family members of the deceased were questioned 2 weeks after the first death. Again none were tested.
The patients that were in the same ward at the hospital of the first victim were quarantined until they were healthy enough to leave, again none were tested.
A neighbor near where the first victim lived had flu like symptoms but had recovered without treatment. His job was as a caterer to local hotels, he and his family were told that they would be tested but the medical personnel never returned and once again no testing was done.
Days after the first death two other patients died of respiratory illnesses in the same hospital. No tests were conducted to confirm what disease had killed them.
A pattern has emerged in Mexico, testing has not been a large part of the plan to contain this pandemic. Even when tests were conducted 2/3rd were not sampled correctly. Because of this an accurate number of persons infected and death from the Mexican flu will never be known. With a number of 172 reported (there are more reported now,) deaths, one can only speculate the true number of deaths from the Mexican flu 2009.
Some officials around the world are downplaying the seriousness of the threat that the Mexican Flu possess. The President of the United States has said “It may turn out that the H1N1 runs its course like ordinary flus, in which case we will have prepared and we won’t need all these preparations.” This sounds like a statement that someone would make if they were not worried about it and not all the proper preparations will be a priority.
The mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has described the Mexican Flu outbreak as “a relatively minor annoyance.”
When the first cases of the Mexican Flu were diagnosed the CDC were warning that this new strain had the same characteristics of the 1918 Spanish flu strain, now there are reports out of the CDC that it does not. CDC official Dr. Anne Schuchat has suggested that if a household has one infected person, only a quarter the people in that household will become infected. For not having the same traits or genetic make up as the Spanish flu, the same numbers are popping up. The Spanish flu infected a quarter of the world’s population.
What are the direct comparisons so far between the Spanish flu 1918 and the Mexican flu 2009. First both had initial outbreaks that were relatively mild and that the target group was young healthy adults. Both are of the H1N1 type A strain. Both are transmitted person to person very efficiently. Both infect a quarter of the people exposed to the virus. One alarming statistic is that the Spanish flu 1918 had a death rate of about 3%. The Mexican flu 2009 has had a death rate in Mexico of almost 10%.
This fall the world will find out if the Mexican flu 2009 is as deadly as the Spanish flu 1918. With all of the officials downplaying the seriousness of this outbreak, I hope this is not a form of population control. 6.77 billion is the present world’s population. If a quarter of the world becomes infected, that is 1.7 billion cases. 3 % death rate will be 200 million dead. A 10% death rate will be 670 million dead.
The threat from the Mexican flu 2009 is real, the world better be prepared.
The Mexican Flu epidemic is not over yet. For those persons that are claiming that it is not as dangerous as was made out to be, they should still remain on alert and take precautions against the spread of the Mexican strain of this virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) head, Margaret Chan indicates full flu pandemic to be declared. The WHO is likely to raise its flu alert to the top of its six-point scale and declare a pandemic, its director-general indicated in an interview published on Monday.
In remarks setting the scene for another alert increase, but without saying when, Chan warned against over-confidence following a stabilization in the number of new cases of the H1N1 strain that has proved deadly in Mexico.
“Level 6 does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level 6 it will cause an unnecessary panic,” she told Spanish newspaper El Pais. “Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive … We should not be over-confident. One must not give H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses. That is why we are on alert.”
Read the full report at Reuters: http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE5431R520090504?sp=true
One of the schools in Syracuse, NY has one student that contracted the Mexican Flu from association with a student in Queens, NY and the school announced that they will be closed for a week starting on Monday May 4th.
Quoted in part from the news announcement.
“Syracuse, NY — A student at Syracuse’s Ed Smith Elementary School has come down with swine flu, so the school will be closed all this week, Onondaga County Health Commissioner Cynthia Morrow announced today.
The student has a connection to the Queens school where the outbreak was first noticed after students there returned from a trip to Mexico.
The state Health Department laboratory confirmed the student has H1N1 swine origin influenza, Morrow said. The case is not official until the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the test, but the state finding is enough to warrant the school be closed, she said”
Link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/d3cggr
It would seem that the strain of Mexican Flu that is spreading around might not be as deadly as predicted, however it sure seems that it still is highly contagious and the public should definitely remain aware of it and take special care to lessen the transfer of the virus.
