influenza – News Stories About influenza - Page 5

Vaccine Delay
Aggravates
Swine Flu
Fears

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 18, 2009 5:15 PM CDT

Vaccine Delay Aggravates Swine Flu Fears

Uncertainty of supply makes scheduling immunization clinics tough

(Newser) - Production delays that are slowing the distribution of the H1N1 flu vaccine could hardly have come at a worse time, with the death toll in young people mounting and antivaccine activists seizing on any chance to make their position heard. Experts point out that the H1N1 version uses the same...

Swine Flu More Likely to Cause Pneumonia

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 16, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

Swine Flu More Likely to Cause Pneumonia

WHO urges doctors to treat suspected cases with antiviral meds

(Newser) - Swine flu is much more likely than seasonal flu to cause potentially life-threatening viral pneumonia, the World Health Organization said today, urging doctors to immediately treat even young and otherwise healthy suspected H1N1 cases with antiviral meds. “It’s not like seasonal influenza,” said a WHO officer. It...

County Will Fire Sick Employees for Working

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 16, 2009 1:13 PM CDT

County Will Fire Sick Employees for Working

Arizona municipality tries to put brakes on spread of swine flu

(Newser) - In a desperate attempt to curb the spread of swine flu, Pima County, Ariz., has notified its employees that they could be canned if they come to work sick. Any employee with a fever over 100.4 accompanied by any other flu symptom will be sent packing. “It seems...

Swine Flu Turns Critical With Deadly Speed, Taxing ICUs

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 12, 2009 4:20 PM CDT

Swine Flu Turns Critical With Deadly Speed, Taxing ICUs

Sickest H1N1 patients deteriorate rapidly, studies say

(Newser) - Swine flu can turn from mild to critical extremely rapidly, with the sickest patients needing to be moved to intensive care only a day or so after being admitted to the hospital, new studies show. The worst cases have the potential to overwhelm health care facilities in the event of...

Swine Flu Spreads to
'Virtually Entire Country'

h1n1 outbreak

Oct 9, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

Swine Flu Spreads to 'Virtually Entire Country'

H1N1 has claims 76 children since April

(Newser) - The swine flu is “widespread” in 37 states, the CDC says, and extended into 10 new states this week. And reports that areas where flu activity was relatively high last spring will be spared this winter are incorrect—in 50 such locations under study, "the vast majority of...

Fight Swine Flu: Wear
This Suit

Oct 9, 2009 12:32 PM CDT

Fight Swine Flu: Wear This Suit

Japanese company says its duds slay H1N1 virus on contact

(Newser) - Want to avoid the swine flu and look sharp doing it? A Japanese menswear company has just the thing. Haruyama Trading claims its latest suit, which goes on sale today for about $590, guards against H1N1 with a thin titanium dioxide coating. The chemical, found in toothpaste and makeup, reacts...

Flu Plan Directs Docs to Take Sickest Off Life Support

Sep 24, 2009 7:00 PM CDT

Flu Plan Directs Docs to Take Sickest Off Life Support

Plan could grant legal exemption to extreme rationing in case of disaster pandemic

(Newser) - Authorities planning for a severe flu outbreak are drawing up rules for life-saving ventilators that instruct doctors to take severely ill patients off life support and give the equipment to those with a better chance of survival. The plan, to be used in an outbreak comparable to the pandemic that...

Little Kids Still Need
2 Swine Flu Shots

Sep 21, 2009 3:41 PM CDT

Little Kids Still Need 2 Swine Flu Shots

Older kids, like adults, get effective H1N1 inoculation from just 1 dose

(Newser) - Kids over age 9 can safely join adults in receiving just one shot of swine flu vaccine, the Washington Post reports. A test of 650 subjects showed 76% of children between 10 and 17 had a response to a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, and it was strong enough that...

First Swine Flu Vaccine Will Be Nasal Spray

Sep 18, 2009 5:05 PM CDT

First Swine Flu Vaccine Will Be Nasal Spray

But pregnant women, newborns should wait for needle version

(Newser) - The first Americans to take a swine flu vaccine will be spraying it up the nose, NPR reports. About 3.4 million hits of the nasal spray will come out early next month, a couple of weeks ahead of 195 million by-the-needle doses. Dubbed FluMist, the spray carries a live...

Swine Flu Can Burrow
Deep Into Lungs: Docs

Sep 10, 2009 4:31 PM CDT

Swine Flu Can Burrow Deep Into Lungs: Docs

H1N1 can infect cells where seasonal flu can't: study

(Newser) - Swine flu can worm its way deeper into the body than seasonal flu, a dangerous capability that could result in increased fatalities if the virus mutates, AFP reports. Seasonal influenza is able to bind only to the tissues in the nose, throat, and upper airway—that’s why it causes...

Brit Nurses Fear
Swine Flu Vaccine: Poll

Aug 17, 2009 4:46 PM CDT

Brit Nurses Fear Swine Flu Vaccine: Poll

One third won't have it for fear of danger; one third undecided

(Newser) - A full two thirds of British nurses are undecided about or outright against getting vaccinated for swine flu, the Telegraph reports. Some 60% of those who plan to decline say they are concerned about the safety of the untested treatment. “I would not be willing to put myself at...

US Braces for Round 2
of Swine Flu

Aug 10, 2009 2:18 AM CDT

US Braces for Round 2 of Swine Flu

(Newser) - The US and other northern nations are steeling for a possible explosion in swine flu cases as the weather cools, the Washington Post reports. Experts believe the second round of H1N1 cases could cause a major disruption and strain the health care system. "The virus is still around and...

HIV Genome Decoded,
Raising Hopes for
Treatment

Aug 6, 2009 4:15 AM CDT

HIV Genome Decoded, Raising Hopes for Treatment

(Newser) - The entire structure of the virus that causes AIDS has been decoded for the first time, a breakthrough that may eventually lead to effective treatments for the disease and others like it, Reuters reports. University of North Carolina researchers, using a new method they liken to zooming out on a...

'Swine Flu Ship'
Docks In France

Jul 31, 2009 1:45 PM CDT

'Swine Flu Ship' Docks In France

France, Belgium see first swine flu deaths

(Newser) - A cruise ship carrying 60 crew members diagnosed with swine flu and 70 more showing symptoms has docked in southern France, the BBC reports. The infected will receive onboard treatment in Villefranche-sur-Mer. French officials say Spanish authorities confirmed the diagnosis, but Royal Caribbean, which owns the Voyager of the Seas,...

Pregnant Women Win Priority for Swine Flu Vaccine

Jul 30, 2009 2:58 AM CDT

Pregnant Women Win Priority for Swine Flu Vaccine

(Newser) - Pregnant women and people who care for infants will be first in line for the swine flu vaccine this fall, the Washington Post reports. Infants, children and young adults under 24, chronically ill adults aged 25 to 64, and health care workers are the other top priority groups under guidelines...

Brit Flights Will Bar 'Flu-ish' Passengers

Jul 20, 2009 4:05 AM CDT

Brit Flights Will Bar 'Flu-ish' Passengers

Docs blast 'nonsense' plan to keep ill off airplanes

(Newser) - British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will refuse to check in passengers with symptoms of swine flu unless they have doctors' notes saying they're healthy, reports the Times of London. Passengers with runny noses, headaches, or sore throats will be told not to board their flights. The new policy has outraged...

Swine Flu Soars in England

Jul 16, 2009 5:20 AM CDT

Swine Flu Soars in England

(Newser) - Diagnosed cases of swine flu have jumped sixfold in some parts of England over the last week, the Guardian reports. Suspected cases have risen almost 50% across the country. The pandemic has killed 16 people in the UK so far. British doctors say they are being overwhelmed by patients demanding...

Fears Mount as WHO Declares Swine Flu 'Unstoppable'

Jul 14, 2009 5:37 AM CDT

Fears Mount as WHO Declares Swine Flu 'Unstoppable'

Agency orders worldwide vaccines

(Newser) - Concerns continue to mount about swine flu in the wake of the World Health Organization's declaration that the illness is "unstoppable" and the deaths in Britain of two apparently strong individuals, a 6-year-old girl and a doctor. WHO officials are calling for worldwide vaccines to protect populations before they...

What if Swine Flu
Meets Bird Flu?

Jun 14, 2009 8:59 AM CDT

What if Swine Flu Meets Bird Flu?

A hybrid could stymie vaccines, increase disease's killing power

(Newser) - Among the scarier prospects for the future of swine flu, which has reached pandemic status but killed relatively few people, is that it mixes with bird flu to form a lethal hybrid. Jokes about flying pigs aside, a mix of the easily spreadable H1N1 and the especially virulent bird flu...

WHO Declares
Swine Flu Pandemic

UPDATED

Jun 11, 2009 10:20 AM CDT

WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic

H1N1 has spread to 74 countries, but may be milder than first thought

(Newser) - The World Health Organization has declared the first influenza pandemic since 1968, Reuters reports. Although the current outbreak has caused mostly mild cases of the illness, today's official declaration that the outbreak has hit phase 6, the highest level, means heightened prevention measures in 193 countries. The designation refers to...