H1N1 Virus

[jesuitsdidit]

Boston Biotech Firm Reports First Rise in 76 Years of Replikin Count* of H1N1 Lethality Gene

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-10-2009/0005042053&EDATE=


Lethality of H1N1 Influenza Virus Increasing According to Latest Analysis of Virus Peptide Genomic Data





Boston Biotech Firm Reports First Rise in 76 Years of Replikin Count* of H1N1 Lethality Gene

BOSTON, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- An analysis of the latest peptide genomic data for the H1N1 influenza virus indicates that the current global outbreak of H1N1 is increasing in its capacity for lethality. The new sequence data on PubMed of the past two weeks through June 10, 2009 showed an increase in the Replikin Count* of the Replikin Lethality Gene in the pB1 genomic area from a mean of 2+/-0.2 in 2008 to a mean of 3.2+/-3.7 in 2009 (p<0.001). The Replikin Count of the Lethality Gene in 836 previous H1N1 influenza virus isolates has remained essentially unchanged (at 2) since 1933.

These analyses were conducted by the Boston-based biotech firm Replikins, Ltd. (http://www.replikins.com) using its FluForecast(R) software. A year ago (4/7/08), using the same software, the firm predicted the current H1N1 virus outbreak, and last month (5/23/09) an increase in the Replikin Count of the Replikin Infectivity Gene in the hemagglutinin area indicated a marked increase in infectivity of the evolving H1N1 virus.

"Last month the H1N1 genomic data indicated some bad and some good news. While it indicated an increase in the infectivity of the H1N1 virus, its lethality appeared to remain relatively low," noted Sam Bogoch, MD, PhD, chairman of Replikins Ltd. "However, the FluForecast(R) analysis of new data of the past few weeks, through June 10th, on 144 new specimens published on PubMed, indicate an increase in the current H1N1 outbreak's capacity for lethality. Since the software also permitted the automated analysis of all sequence data available on PubMed for all previous years, it was noted that this is the first such significant increase in the Replikin Count of the H1N1 Lethality Gene in 76 years. This is cause for concern and an accelerated vaccine effort."

For both the Infectivity Gene and the Lethality Gene, a significant increase in Replikin Count has invariably been followed by an increase in infectivity or lethality in influenza. While both the Replikin Infectivity Gene and the Replikin Lethality Gene have been found to act independently in all common influenza strains in human, swine, and bird hosts, both of these genes have been inhibited by the Two-Punch(TM) vaccine system -- designed to be concurrently directed at both genes.

The company recently announced that it has made available for testing against H1N1 a Two-Punch(TM) PanFlu(TM) vaccine. The same vaccine system has been successfully tested against H5N1 in chickens.

Chart: http://www.ereleases.com/pr/June10-Lethality-Graph.png

About Replikins, Ltd.

Replikins, LLC (http://www.replikins.com), a Boston-based biotech company, and Replikins, Ltd., develop and market novel forecasting tools and synthetic vaccines to fight virulent rapidly replicating diseases including bird flu, malaria, and HIV. The company's predictive products and vaccines in development are based upon the company's discovery of Replikins, a new group of peptides related to the rapid replication function in viral and other diseases. The company has designed unique products to predict the emergence of virulent strains of particular diseases (FluForecast(TM)) and is designing synthetic vaccines specifically tailored to combat a given strain and against shared properties of several strains (Syntope(TM) vaccines). The company is partnering with governments and the private sector in providing predictive tools and vaccines in furtherance of the public health initiative to prevent and combat epidemics.

* The company's vaccines and predictive tools are based on the company's discovery of a new group of peptides related to rapid replication called Replikins, whose increase in concentration in virus or other organism proteins (Replikin Count(TM) = number of replikins per 100 amino acids) is associated with rapid replication.

Contact:

John McKenney
jmckenney@replikins.com
617-536-0220

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.


SOURCE Replikins Ltd.

[jesuitsdidit]

you see
if they realise there's strong opposition to the vaccine
theyll release a batch of good vaccines (if there is such a thing)
prob just H2O
so evry1 recovers

that wd neutralise our case
then they can proceed..

not always black n white..

i still say hold out
do not take the vaccine
yr body can handle it

but it wont with an infected vaccine
n u rnt gonna know if its infected or not
plus resistance wd make it a public issue
which means ppl wd wake up
n they dont want that..

[jesuitsdidit]

The swine flu virus is rapidly making its way around the world, but it has been relatively mild so far, causing only 139 confirmed deaths. Could it mutate into something more lethal?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/health/09flu.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1244779200&en=7d3c3a6c549a733a&ei=5087%0A


How a Mild Virus Might Turn Vicious

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: June 8, 2009

The swine flu virus is rapidly making its way around the world, but it has been relatively mild so far, causing only 139 confirmed deaths. Could it mutate into something more lethal?

Scientists looking at its genetic structure say there is no obvious pressure for it to do so — no reason for this virus to “want,” in the Darwinian sense, to kill more of its hosts.

It is already doing a near-perfect job of keeping itself alive by invading human noses and inducing humans to cough it from one to another, said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“A really aggressive flu that quickly kills its host” — like SARS and H5N1 avian flu — “gives itself a problem,” Dr. Lipkin said.

But flu viruses are highly mutable, and anything could happen in the next two years, the time a new strain normally takes to circle the globe. After all, Spanish influenza began as a mild strain, then turned horrifically virulent, killing 20 million to 100 million people in 1918-19.

But Dr. Peter Palese, head of microbiology at Mount Sinai Medical School and part of the team that rebuilt that virus in 2005 from fragments found in old lung tissue, said that strain was a “once-a-millennium or once-every-10-millennia event — things like it don’t happen very often.”

Nor is it clear, he added, that viruses really “want” a particular outcome.

“For me, that’s too much anthropomorphic thinking,” Dr. Palese said. “Look, I believe in Darwin. Yes, the fittest virus survives. But it’s not clear what the ultimate selection parameter is.”

A mutation that confers lethality, he explained, may confer another advantage scientists have not pinned down.

The new virus has been described as “a real mutt” by Walter R. Dowdle, the former chief of virology for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because of its unique mix of Eurasian and American swine, human and bird genes.

Flu chromosomes are quite simple — eight short strands of RNA that issue the genetic code for a grand total of 11 proteins. They break apart in a jumble inside cells they infect, and then they reassemble, picking up random bits of other flus, which makes the results unpredictable.

The current swine flu strain lacks several genes believed to increase lethality, including those that code for two proteins known as PB1-F2 and NS-1, and one that codes for a tongue-twister called the polybasic hemagglutinin cleavage site.

PB1-F2 appears to weaken the protective membrane of the energy-producing mitochondria in an infected cell, ultimately killing the cell. Specifically, it attacks dendritic cells, the sentinels of the immune system. Its lethality could be accidental — a protein good at killing sentries might just go on killing other cells once inside the fort.

All pandemic flus, including those of the Spanish, Hong Kong and Asian flus, make PB1-F2. So does the H5N1 bird flu. The current swine strain does not.

The NS-1 protein also maims the immune response by blocking interferon, an antiviral protein made by cells.

Very lethal bird flus also have the unusual cleavage site, which allows the hemagglutinin spike on the virus’s shell to split and inject its genetic instructions into different kinds of cells, like those in the lungs and the gut.

Such an addition to the novel H1N1 would be very dangerous. But because it has been found only in avian flus, it is unlikely to become a component of a human flu, Dr. Palese said. Even the 1918 virus, which was avian in origin, lacked it.

A much more likely change, scientists have said, is that the H1N1 swine flu will become resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu. A gene for Tamiflu resistance is now almost universal in seasonal H1N1 flus.

If that happens, the world’s Tamiflu stockpiles will be all but worthless, and doctors may have to switch to Relenza, which is a powder used with an inhaler, which makes it more expensive and harder to take.

Depending on the mutation, older antiviral drugs like rimantidine may be useful, but so much resistance to them developed in seasonal flu that they were largely abandoned a few years ago.

Dr. Palese was asked about another notion concerning likely mutations. There has been outrage at Egypt’s decision to kill all the pigs belonging to its Coptic Christian minority. It has been depicted as misguided and motivated by religious bigotry, because the “swine flu” is really now a human flu.

But Egypt is also in an especially dangerous situation. The new swine flu reached it just last week. The H5N1 avian flu has circulated in its backyard chickens since 2006, defying all eradication efforts. In the last year, dozens of H5N1 cases have been confirmed in toddlers, almost all of whom have survived — which led some experts to speculate that those are cases of a less lethal version of H5N1 that is better adapted to humans.

In that case, might it be wise to get rid of the country’s relatively small pig population, since pigs are “mixing vessels” that can catch both human and bird flus?

“I agree with the premise, if you really could eliminate an animal reservoir,” Dr. Palese said. “But the virus is out of pigs now — and it’s more important that those poor people have something to eat.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 10, 2009
An article on Tuesday about the potential for the swine flu virus to mutate into a more lethal form misstated part of the name of a research center led by one expert, Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, who said the virus was effective at keeping itself alive in its present, mild form. Dr. Lipkin is director of the Center for Infection and Immunity — not Immunology — at Columbia University. (The error also appeared in an article on Sept. 7, 2007, about a virus suspected in mass die-offs of honeybees.)

[jesuitsdidit]

Global health officials underestimated the risk that pig herds might be a source of new influenza strains, choosing instead to focus on the threat of bird flu, researchers in Mexico said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSN04237568


Pigs an underestimated source of flu - study
Thu Jun 4, 2009 3:51pm EDT

*Genetic analysis shows new H1N1 came from pigs

*Better surveillance of viruses in pigs is needed

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - Global health officials underestimated the risk that pig herds might be a source of new influenza strains, choosing instead to focus on the threat of bird flu, researchers in Mexico said on Thursday.

They analyzed samples from people infected with the new H1N1 swine flu virus, which has been confirmed in more than 19,000 people in 64 countries, killing about 120. U.S. health officials say this number reflects only a fraction of the true number of cases.

"This virus most likely evolved from recent swine viruses," Gerardo Nava of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the online journal Eurosurveillance.

"These findings indicate that domestic pigs in North America may have a central role in the generation and maintenance of this virus."

The global pork industry has rushed to defend pig products, saying pig meat is no danger to people. But health experts have also noted there is very little surveillance done to track influenza among pigs -- even though the virus is very common in the animals and just as transmissible as it is among people.

Flu viruses have also been shown to pass from pigs to people and from people to pigs.

"These observations also reiterate the potential risk of pig populations as the source of the next influenza virus pandemic," Nava and colleagues wrote.

"Although the role of swine as 'mixing vessels' for influenza A(H1N1) viruses was established more than a decade ago, it appears that the policy makers and scientific community have underestimated it."

GENETIC ANALYSIS

Nava's team looked at all available genetic sequences of H1N1 viruses circulating in North America for the last two decades. H1N1 has been around since the 1918 pandemic, infects both people and pigs, and mutates regularly.

They did not find very many samples, something Nava said reflects how little testing is done to monitor influenza in swine herds.

"I think that we forgot about swine farms," Nava said in a telephone interview.

Experts began calling for better surveillance of influenza in swine in 1998, he said.

He called for stepped-up testing of swine and said farmers, producers and government officials will have to consider the expensive possibility of mass slaughters of infected swine.

Quick slaughter of entire poultry flocks has been credited with helping to control outbreaks of avian influenza, but pork farmers usually wait out outbreaks of influenza among herds, because it rarely makes pigs very sick.

"The problem is not that the pig is going to die or even pass the virus to a human," Nava said. "The problem is that the virus is recombining (in the pig's body) and getting new sequences, new genes."

By concentrating on avian flu, Nava and colleagues said, officials ignored a possibly bigger source of new influenza viruses -- pigs and the people who work with them.

Global health experts have been warning of a pandemic of influenza and the chief suspect has been H5N1 avian influenza, which has infected 433 people since 2003 and killed 262.

Nava said fears of damaging the pork industry may have led animal and human health officials to be too cautious.

"We understand the commercial interests," Nava said.

This week the U.S. Agriculture Department said it would launch a pilot surveillance project to look for new strains of flu virus in pigs.

[jesuitsdidit]

THE change of seasons in the Asia-Pacific region could make it easier for swine flu to spread, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials warned on Friday May 23, 2009.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_380298.html


May 23, 2009
Asia-Pacific to enter flu season

MANILA - THE change of seasons in the Asia-Pacific region could make it easier for swine flu to spread, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials warned on Friday.

'The southern hemisphere is about to enter its influenza season,' officials at the WHO Western Pacific office said, warning that the 'factors that contribute toward the spread of (ordinary seasonal) influenza will also enable the spread of A(H1N1)'. The greater prevalence of ordinary flu will also make it harder to detect swine flu, said the officials in a briefing at the WHO regional office in the Philippines.

WHO infectious diseases expert Julie Hall warned that vaccines against seasonal influenza did not appear to protect people from A(H1N1).

Some Asian countries are better equipped to deal with an outbreak of swine flu, thanks to precautions taken during Sars and bird flu alerts over the last few years, Dr Hall said.

'The health systems are a lot stronger than before. The investment that went into preparing for bird flu and Sars are starting to yield the benefits,' she said.

However she warned that Sars and bird flu were different from influenza A(H1N1) as bird flu was less likely to infect humans while Sars was spread mainly by people who were already showing symptoms.

In contrast, A(H1N1) can be spread by people who do not appear to be infected, she said.

She also cautioned that the new virus was infecting mainly young people, the largest demographic in some Asian countries.

'Countries with a more robust health system will be able to cope with the (increased) demand' created by an outbreak, but other countries may not do so well, Dr Hall said. She declined to identify any country.

She warned that any vaccine to the new virus would not be available until August, at the earliest.

The WHO said on Friday there have been 11,168 cases of influenza A(H1N1) worldwide with 86 confirmed deaths. -- AFP

[jesuitsdidit]

4. JuneThe White House requested new funding for swine flu from Congress late Tuesday and also sought an additional $3.1 billion from the unspent stimulus funds in case of a pandemic emergency, according to various news sources.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20090604/White-House-seeks-more-money-in-case-of-a-H1N1-pandemic-emergency.aspx


White House seeks more money in case of a H1N1 pandemic emergency
4. June 2009 21:12
The White House requested new funding for swine flu from Congress late Tuesday and also sought an additional $3.1 billion from the unspent stimulus funds in case of a pandemic emergency, according to various news sources.

The Wall Street Journal reports that "President Barack Obama requested $2 billion to prepare for a possible resurgence of the H1N1 swine flu this fall. But he also asked for the authority to take a 1% across-the-board cut to stimulus programs allocated at Congress's discretion, or $3.1 billion out of the $311 billion in discretionary stimulus funds."

The proposal to take stimulus money "immediately prompted criticism from Republicans that Mr. Obama and the Democrats want to turn the stimulus package into what Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Republicans, called an all-purpose 'slush fund,'" The Wall Street Journal reports. It added, "With a budget deficit nearing $2 trillion, the stimulus plan is becoming an alluring pot of money. As of May 22, $37 billion, or about 5%, of the total $787 billion plan had been spent, mainly in assistance to states for Medicaid and checks cut by the Social Security Administration" (Weisman, 6/4).

Meanwhile, it appears unlikely that Congress will approve Obama's request for an additional $2 billion to fight the swine flu with U.S House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer expressing doubt Wednesday about the request, Reuters/Washington Post reports. "A pending war funding bill that has already passed the House of Representatives included $2 billion while the Senate version had $1.5 billion," the newspaper writes. "If ... that's insufficient there's obviously an opportunity to pass an additional supplemental" at a later date, Hoyer said, adding, "We want to make sure that we have the funds necessary to respond to this pandemic" (6/3).

[jesuitsdidit]

Amid concerns about a pandemic of swine flu, researchers from Nebraska report for the first time that poultry carcasses infected with another threat — the 'bird flu' virus — can remain infectious in municipal landfills for almost 2 years.

http://www.physorg.com/news162666620.html

Bird flu virus remains infectious up to 600 days in municipal landfills
May 27th, 2009


Amid concerns about a pandemic of swine flu, researchers from Nebraska report for the first time that poultry carcasses infected with another threat — the 'bird flu' virus — can remain infectious in municipal landfills for almost 2 years. Their report is scheduled for the June 15 issue of ACS’ semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt and colleagues note that avian influenza, specifically the H5N1 strain, is an ongoing public health concern. Hundreds of millions of chickens and ducks infected with the virus have died or been culled from flocks worldwide in efforts to control the disease. More than 4 million poultry died or were culled in a 2002 outbreak in Virginia, and the carcasses were disposed of in municipal landfills. Until now, few studies have directly assessed the safety of landfill disposal.

“The objectives of this study were to assess the survival of avian influenza in landfill leachate and the influence of environmental factors,” says the report. The data showed that the virus survived in landfill leachate — liquid that drains or “leaches” from a landfill — for at least 30 days and up to 600 days. The two factors that most reduced influenza survival times were elevated temperature and acidic or alkaline pH.

“Data obtained from this study indicate that landfilling is an appropriate method for disposal of carcasses infected with avian influenza,” says the study, noting that landfills are designed to hold material for much longer periods of time.

More information: Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Article: “Survival of the Avian Influenza Virus (H6N2) After Land Disposal”

Source: American Chemical Society

[jesuitsdidit]

A Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Friday it has a swine flu vaccine ready for trial as governments stepped up precautions to counter the newly-declared influenza pandemic.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090612/twl-swine-flu-vaccine-ready-for-tests-af-4bdc673.html


Swine flu vaccine ready for tests after pandemic declared

Yesterday, 09:35 pm

A Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Friday it has a swine flu vaccine ready for trial as governments stepped up precautions to counter the newly-declared influenza pandemic.

While millions could catch the flu, governments and health experts around the world have sought to play down fears that the A(H1N1) virus could become a major killer.

Swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures.

The Swiss company Novartis stole a march on competitors by announcing it has completed a first batch of its vaccine for pre-clinical trials. A spokesman told AFP it hoped to have a vaccine in production by September or October.

"Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations," the company said in a statement.

Novartis said it hopes to start trials on patients in July and to gain a licence soon after. It said more than 30 governments had already asked for A(H1N1) virus "vaccine ingredients."

The US government gave Novartis 289 million dollars (205 million euros) to help develop a vaccine. It also placed an order with Sanofi-Pasteur of France which said it hopes to have doses ready for clinical trials in coming weeks.

British-controlled GlaxoSmithKline said Friday that it could produce a vaccine in four to six months and that it was ready to convert a donation of 50 million doses of vaccine against H5N1 bird flu for the WHO to swine flu doses.

The UN health agency raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday saying it had reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the declaration of a "moderate" pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the A(H1N1) death toll would rise sharply.

She said raising the alert "means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century."

The WHO said it would ask drug-makers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines once the production of seasonal flu vaccine ends.

The southern hemisphere is currently heading into winter and the height of its flu season. Northern hemisphere countries expect to see a swine flu surge when their winter starts later.

Mexico has been worst hit. Its government on Thursday increased the country's death toll to 109 with 6,294 A(H1N1) infections. The United States comes next. Its health authorities have reported 27 deaths and 13,217 cases.

Australia, the worst hit in the Asia-Pacific region, was mulling raising its national flu alert and adopting powers to cancel sports events, restrict travel and even shut national borders. There are currently 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care.

In Hong Kong, which was hit hard by the 2003 SARS outbreak, authorities closed all primary schools after a group of children became the Chinese city's first "cluster" of cases.

Israel's health ministry raised its alert to the highest level following the WHO decision, ordering the stocking of vaccines to inoculate up to 25 percent of the country's 7.2 million population.

Britain is Europe's worst hit country with 909 recorded cases, but the total has risen significantly in recent days.

In Spain, where there are 488 confirmed cases, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez called for calm after WHO raised its alert, saying that the symptoms were "slight" and the flu could be easily treated.

France, where there are 80 cases, and Germany (95) said they are not changing their alert levels.

The risk of the spread of an influenza pandemic is greatest in Britain, closely followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and South Korea, according to a ranking of 213 countries released Friday.

But even if most rich countries are vulnerable, despite the rapid transmission of the disease, they are far better equipped to cope with its impact, said Alyson Warhurst, a professor at Warwick Business School in Britain and main architect of the global ranking.

[motleyhoo]

Let me get this straight, a company that "develops and markets novel forecasting tools and synthetic vaccines to fight virulent rapidly replicating diseases including bird flu, malaria, and HIV" is reporting that H1N1 is becoming more deadly? Does anyone else see the conflict of interest here, or the money this company stands to make by spreading fear? This is classic PRS.

.

[jesuitsdidit]

Australia said on Sunday that it is set to raise its swine flu alert level as the number of victims hit by the pandemic continued to mount while Thailand urged calm after a sharp increase in cases.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090614/twl-australia-set-to-raise-swine-flu-ale-4bdc673.html


Australia set to raise swine flu alert level

1 hour 4 mins ago

Australia said on Sunday that it is set to raise its swine flu alert level as the number of victims hit by the pandemic continued to mount while Thailand urged calm after a sharp increase in cases.

Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon said that, with the national tally nearing 1,500 cases, the whole country would soon move to the "sustain" phase in line with hotspot state Victoria.

The "sustain" phase, Australia's second-highest, gives authorities the power to cancel sports events, close schools and restrict travel, although officials say extreme measures such as closing national borders are unlikely.

The World Health Organization raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday, saying swine flu had reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread.

Swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April, according to the latest WHO figures released Friday.

A total of 1,458 cases of the A(H1N1) virus have been counted in Australia, the worst-hit Asia-Pacific country, with the fifth highest number of cases worldwide.

"As the numbers gradually increase in jurisdictions there will be steps over the coming days to move to a consistent alert level," Roxon said.

"It's inevitable that the disease will spread. That's the nature of this type of flu," she added.

Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva urged the country not to panic after swine flu cases suddenly soared and a cluster emerged in a key tourist hub.

Health authorities reported 150 confirmed cases of the virus Sunday -- almost 10 times the tally just three days earlier.

Officials last week said 21 of the new infections were found among nightclub workers in the coastal city of Pattaya, who were tested after two Taiwanese tourists said on returning home they had contracted the disease there.

"People should not panic. The death ratio for the new flu is probably lower than normal flu," Abhisit said in his weekly television programme.

He said the government was taking extra measures whenever cases were reported to stop the spread of the disease.

Health authorities in Canada announced Saturday that a fifth person had died of swine flu and reported 540 additional cases, bringing the country's total since the start of the outbreak to more than 3,500.

But while millions could catch the flu, governments and health experts around the world have sought to play down fears that the A(H1N1) virus could become a major killer.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Friday stole a march on competitors by announcing it had completed a first batch of its vaccine for pre-clinical trials.

A spokesman told AFP it hoped to have a vaccine in production by September or October.

Novartis said it hopes to start trials on patients in July and to gain a licence soon after. It said more than 30 governments had already asked for A(H1N1) virus "vaccine ingredients."

The US government gave Novartis 289 million dollars (205 million euros) to help develop a vaccine. It also placed an order with Sanofi-Pasteur of France which said it hopes to have doses ready for clinical trials in coming weeks.

British-controlled GlaxoSmithKline said it could produce a vaccine in four to six months and that it was ready to convert a donation of 50 million doses of vaccine against H5N1 bird flu for the WHO to swine flu doses.

The southern hemisphere is currently heading into winter and the height of its flu season. Northern hemisphere countries expect to see a swine flu surge when their winter starts later.

[jesuitsdidit]

although officials say extreme measures such as closing national borders are unlikely.

yeah coz if you close the borders it wont spread

oops
it already has
arent we stupid??

[jesuitsdidit]

"People should not panic. The death ratio for the new flu is probably lower than normal flu," Abhisit said in his weekly television programme.

yeah
it will be until u start
the vaccinations
then watch

sky-rocket anyone??

[jesuitsdidit]

Swiss drug maker Novartis AG has announced that an experimental swine flu vaccine could be on the market by the autumn of 2009.

http://www.presstv.ir/classic/Detail.aspx?id=98073&sectionid=3510208


Swine flu vaccine could be ready soon
Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:35:50 GMT

Specialty drug makers in Switzerland and the US offer a gleam of hope during the UN pandemic alert with a H1N1 virus vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed nearly 29,669 cases of the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, in 74 countries.

Swiss drug maker Novartis AG has announced that an experimental swine flu vaccine could be on the market by the autumn of 2009.

The pharmaceutical company claims: “Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A-H1N1 vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations.”

In a statement, Novartis said it is quicker to make the vaccine through cell-based production than having to adapt the virus strain to grow in eggs, which is usually the case.

Baxter International Inc., a global, diversified healthcare company, says it is in "full scale" production of a swine flu vaccine that will be commercially available in July.

Based in the American state of Illinois, Baxter International said its patented technology cuts the usual time it takes to develop a vaccine in half, from 26 weeks to 13 weeks, and the vaccine is now in full-scale production.

The World Health Organization believes all pharmaceutical manufacturers must be ready to start producing the vaccine as soon as they are receive the word to go into full-scale manufacture.

[jesuitsdidit]

Swine flu has claimed the life of another person in Canada to raise the death toll in the country to fifth, according to a health official.

http://www.presstv.ir/classic/Detail.aspx?id=98066&sectionid=351020701


Another person dies of swine flu in Canada
Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:43:15 GMT
Swine flu has claimed the life of another person in Canada to raise the death toll in the country to fifth, according to a health official.

"It was a man in the Montreal region who was under quarantine," Canadian physician Alain Poirier told AFP on Saturday.

The man suffered from chronic health problems that weakened his immune system, Poirier added.

Some 540 additional cases of the outbreak of the A(H1N1) virus was reported by Canadian health authorities on Friday.

Since the start of the outbreak, more than 3,515 cases have been infected with the virus in Canada.

The World Health Organization earlier this week declared the first influenza pandemic in four decades and warned the further spread of swine flu was inevitable.

Swine flu has so far spread to 74 countries. The WHO has confirmed 141 deaths from the nearly 30,000 people infected with the virus.

[ronisron]

"The man suffered from chronic health problems which weakened hi immune system"

The common cold can kill someone like that, no need for a designer flu. Anyone that dies in Canada will be dead from the swine flu I guess.... and all will be linked to the "Holocaust museum shooter" and "9/11 truth".

[jesuitsdidit]

MIAMI, June 13 (UPI) -- Visitors were barred from an immigration detention center near Miami after three detainees tested positive for the swine flu virus, officials said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/13/Swine-flu-reported-in-detention-center/UPI-12801244945751/


Swine flu reported in detention center

Published: June 13, 2009 at 10:15 PM

Related Stories

* Baxter to release flu vaccine in July
* Britain prepares for flu surge in fall
* WHO: World at start of N1H1 pandemic
* Napolitano: U.S. expected pandemic alert
* New York has eighth swine flu death

MIAMI, June 13 (UPI) -- Visitors were barred from an immigration detention center near Miami after three detainees tested positive for the swine flu virus, officials said.

Another 13 inmates at the Krome detention center showed symptoms of the disease, The Miami Herald reported. They could not be tested for the H1N1 virus because they had been given anti-viral medication.

"As a precautionary measure, and in the health interest of all detainees and visitors, we have temporarily suspended social visits at Krome through this weekend," Nicole Navas, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, told the newspaper in an e-mail. "However, detainees are still able to contact friends and family via telephone."

More than 500 detainees are housed at Krome, west of Miami. The sick detainees had been isolated and all were being treated with antiviral, officials said.

[jesuitsdidit]

New York City officials on Wednesday reported the deaths of three more people with swine flu, and estimated that more than half a million New Yorkers may have become sick from the virus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/nyregion/11flu.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion


12 Flu Victims Have Died, and Ill May Total 550,000

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: June 10, 2009

New York City officials on Wednesday reported the deaths of three more people with swine flu, and estimated that more than half a million New Yorkers may have become sick from the virus.

The latest deaths bring the city’s total to 12 since the outbreak began in late April. The city health department said that one of the latest victims was 30 to 39 years old, one was 50 to 59 years old and one was over 65.

The city also announced 102 new hospitalizations since its last report on Monday, bringing the total hospitalizations to 530.

Dr. Don Weiss, director of surveillance for the Bureau of Communicable Disease, said that what looked like a spike in hospitalizations actually represented catching up from a lag in reporting over the weekend. He said that hospitalizations were running at the rate of 35 to 40 a day, and “don’t appear to be going up or down appreciably.”

Health officials said that in a telephone poll of New Yorkers, 6.9 percent of those surveyed reported having flulike illness, like fever and cough or a sore throat, between May 1 and May 20.

Extrapolated to the general population, that would mean that about 550,000 people could have become sick with the virus. The 500 who have been hospitalized make up a tiny proportion — about one-tenth of 1 percent — of those who became ill, an indication of how mild the virus generally has been, officials said.

“The findings don’t tell us exactly how many New Yorkers have had H1N1 influenza,” Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city’s new health commissioner, said in a statement. “But they suggest it has been widespread and mild in most people.”

The survey of 1,005 households found that the prevalence of flulike illness was highest in Queens, where the outbreak began, with 9.4 percent, and lowest in Manhattan and the Bronx with just below 4 percent.

Officials cautioned that some of those who reported flulike symptoms may have had seasonal flu, strep throat or similar illnesses.

In an ordinary flu season, Dr. Weiss said, 5 to 20 percent of the population becomes ill, and using a conservative estimate of 10 percent of the population, that would be 800,000 people.

The city’s descriptions of those with swine flu who have died have become progressively vaguer, dropping information like exact age, sex and home borough. By Wednesday, the city had stopped saying if victims had an underlying health problem that put them at more risk from the virus.

Jessica Scaperotti, a health department spokeswoman, said the city had become less specific to guard patient confidentiality, but also because the disease had become so widespread that officials were more interested in the big picture. “We’re not really focused on individual cases,” she said.

[jesuitsdidit]

4.6 Mexico has seen the worst of swine flu, but the virus will likely continue to spread worldwide as flu season ramps up in the Southern Hemisphere.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxkl-bfeN-nUlN5MczlLHpVHhdmAD98K4VTO0


CDC: Swine flu to spread in Southern Hemisphere

By MICHAEL E. MILLER – Jun 4, 2009

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has seen the worst of swine flu, but the virus will likely continue to spread worldwide as flu season ramps up in the Southern Hemisphere.

The epidemic peaked in Mexico, the center of the outbreak, in late April, and now has spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

But it will continue to be a threat south of the equator, where countries are entering the winter months and traditional flu season, according to the CDC report, one of the most comprehensive yet on the effect of the virus on people.

South America already has had more than 600 cases, including one death in Chile, while Australia has reported more than 500.

Swine flu has hit more than 60 countries, with the United States reporting the most cases — more than 11,400, including at least 19 deaths, according to the CDC.

Mexico's Health Department on Friday said the nation's confirmed swine flu cases had risen to 5,717, including 106 deaths, as scientists test a backlog of samples from patients.

The CDC report said children and adults under 60 are at greater risk of dying, judging from confirmed cases. One reason could be that younger people and children haven't built up immunities to seasonal flu as older people have. About one-third of U.S. adults aged 60 and older who were tested had antibodies from vaccines or exposure to other flu strains that could also keep them from contracting swine flu, the report said.

In Mexico, only 2 percent of confirmed cases have been 60 years old or older. But 42 percent of patients were under the age of 15 and 32 percent were between the ages of 15 and 29. The remaining 24 percent were aged 30-59.

A huge backlog of suspected cases has made long-term predictions for the epidemic difficult, the CDC said, but "data suggest the outbreak likely has moved beyond its peak nationally" in Mexico.

The CDC has praised Mexico for its response. Mexico ordered schools closed April 27 and then followed up with a five-day national shutdown of nonessential businesses to curb the spread of swine flu.

"I think in retrospect some people might look back and say well maybe that was extreme. But from the public health perspective, we would say in the face of uncertainty that's erring on the side of being safe," said Dr. Scott F. Dowell, who heads the CDC's international swine flu team.