Could California already be experiencing the forerunners of the dreaded second wave of H1N1 Swine Flu? A mysterious H1N1 Swine flu death in San Diego county has medical officers there concerned.
San Diego County health officials are investigating the swine flu death of a 20-year-old Escondido woman, trying to determine why the virus quickly became fatal to a seemingly healthy person.
Palomar Medical Center director Dr. Don Herip said Wednesday that the woman, identified by the coroner’s office as Adela Chevalier, began experiencing mild flu symptoms on Friday, including a cough and fatigue. He says by Monday she was running a high fever, having trouble breathing and suffering severe muscle aches. She died at the hospital’s emergency room later that night.
Are deaths on the rise in California? Two Counties have recorded deaths just today, and more cases are still emerging at an alarming rate. Remember, California was the first major H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak in the USA when it first came out of Mexico.
H1N1 Swine Flu Influenza News – H1N1 Swine Flu Influenza continues to flourish in Latin America, with a new rash of deaths and cases of H1N1 Swine Flu infection reported in all Latin American countries. One new H1N1 Swine Flu Influenza Death and 2 Deaths from H1N1 Swine Flu were reported in Honduras and Chile, respectively, at the beginning of this week.
Places like Central and South America will be the breeding grounds for the second wave of H1N1 Swine Flu Influenza , which will strike North America and Europe in the Fall of 2009.
Three more deaths and 118 new cases of the A/H1N1 influenza were confirmed in Latin America on Monday.
Honduran Health Minister Carlos Aguilar confirmed the first death of the A/H1N1 flu in the country, meanwhile the positive cases in the country rose from 108 to 118.
In Chile, the death toll rose to seven with two new deaths confirmed, the health authorities said, but they did not reveal new infection cases.
The Brazilian Health Ministry reported 25 new cases, which brought the number of the infected in the country to 240, with Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Rio do Janeiro being the most affected states.
Australia has now recorded it’s first confirmed death from H1N1 Swine Flu. The H1N1 Swine Flu appears to be on the increase in Australia as well as other countries in the Southern hemisphere, as it is now flu season. H1N1 Swine Flu experts are currently watching places like Australia carefully, as these places will be the breeding grounds for the second wave of H1N1 Swine Flu, which will strike America and Europe in the Fall of 2009.
AUSTRALIA’S first death of a person with swine flu has been confirmed in Adelaide, as the virus appears to be on the march in the nation’s most remote regions.
The 26-year-old man who died is believed to be from the remote West Australian community of Kiwikurra, more than 600km west of Alice Springs in the Gibson Desert, and close to the Northern Territory-South Australian border.
WHO is still concerned with the unknown quantities and properties that may be present along with the H1N1 Swine Flu – especially when taking the putative second wave into consideration.
Here is how the World Health Organization classifies the level 6 pandemic alert for H1N1 Swine Flu.
At this time, WHO considers the overall severity of the influenza pandemic to be moderate. This assessment is based on scientific evidence available to WHO, as well as input from its Member States on the pandemic’s impact on their health systems, and their social and economic functioning.
The moderate assessment reflects that:
* Most people recover from infection without the need for hospitalization or medical care.
* Overall, national levels of severe illness from influenza A(H1N1) appear similar to levels seen during local seasonal influenza periods, although high levels of disease have occurred in some local areas and institutions.
* Overall, hospitals and health care systems in most countries have been able to cope with the numbers of people seeking care, although some facilities and systems have been stressed in some localities.
WHO is concerned about current patterns of serious cases and deaths that are occurring primarily among young persons, including the previously healthy and those with pre-existing medical conditions or pregnancy.
As of June 15, 2009:
74 countries have officially reported 29,669 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection (Swine Flu), and 145 deaths have been attributed to H1N1 Swine Flu worldwide. The H1N1 Swine Flu is now pandemic status.
The now pandemic disease H1N1 Swine Flu continues to rage through the US, particularly in the Northeast, where it has been particularly virulent. New York was one of the first hotspots for H1N1 Swine Flu virus, when the Swine Flu first emerged from Mexico.
Nearly 5,000 new U.S. swine flu cases have been reported in the last week, due partly to its continuing spread in the Northeast.
The number of deaths rose from 27 to 45. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which released new figures Friday. There are nearly 18,000 probable and confirmed cases now, found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
[...] cases continue to spread in New England, New York and New Jersey.
It’s official, the Swine Flu H1N1 Virus has been declared a global pandemic. The reach of the deadly H1N1 Swine flu now extends to over 70 countries, with over 27000 people infected worldwide. The H1N1 Swine Flu mortality rate is thankfully low, though experts are warning of much more severe cases of H1N1 Swine Flu during the second wave.
The second weave of H1N1 Swine Flu is expected in North America in the fall, especially as the CDC and WHO are not advocating travel restrictions or border crossings.
The World Health Organization says the spread of swine flu has created the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.
The announcement by WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan came Thursday as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere to near 30,000 cases.
Chan said she decided to raise the pandemic alert level from phase 5 to 6, meaning that a global outbreak of swine flu has begun, after an emergency meeting on swine flu with top experts.
Despite this bad news, WHO is cautioning countries that the response to the Pandemic threat level reaching 6 should not be overboard:
“At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity,” WHO said in the statement, urging nations not to close borders or restrict travel and trade.
We haven’t heard as much about H1N1 Swine flu in the past week and a half or so – many authorities are blaming news overload for the backlash against Swine Flu H1N1 reporting. Cases of H1N1 Swine flu are still rising, and do not appear to be slowing down in terms of number of new infections. The mortality rate has leveled off, but with the southwest US and Mexico back to pre-flu activity, is the chance for a more deadly second wave of H1N1 Swine Flu on the rise?
WHO is reporting:
3 June 2009, 66 countries have officially reported 19,273 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 117 deaths.
What are experts saying about this new more relaxed attitude towardsH1N1 Swine flu? Could it lead to a more deadly or more dangerous second wave of H1N1 Swine flu in the fall?
The novel influenza A (H1N1) virus “sneaked in the door while health authorities who should have known better were busy closing windows,” said Carol J. Cardona, DVM, PhD, ACPV, from the Department of Population Health and Reproduction, and professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, to an overflow crowd of thoracic and critical-care physicians.
“This virus has followed the pattern of all historic pandemics, and we’ve missed some precursors out there and we’ve missed some signals,” Dr. Cardona said. She is a virologist and an expert in determining how disease-causing agents damage their hosts. Dr. Cardona’s segment of the presentation was entitled “Swine Flu: Molecular Clues to the Origin, Transmission, and Pathogenesis of the Virus.”
Swine Flu H1N1 Slows To A Crawl With Less Than 100 Deaths From Swine Flu H1N1 Avian Flu In Egypt Heats Up.
H1N1 Swine Flu is slwoing worldwide, though this applies only to the 1st wave of the disease. The second wave of H1N1 Swine Flu is expected to return to North America next Fall. WHO reports the following:
As of 06:00 GMT, 29 May 2009, 53 countries have officially reported 15,510 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 99 deaths.
However, the Avian Flu situation in Egypt is quickly ovetaking H1N1 Swine Flu as the leading candidate for a pandemic now:
The Ministry of Health of Egypt has reported two new confirmed human cases of avian influenza on 26 May 2009. Of the 76 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 27 have been fatal.
This means the current emerging Egypt strain of Avian flu has a mortality rate estimted to be 35%.
