(PhysOrg.com) — A new, highly detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that the pathogen is more virulent than previously thought.

And it is possible, he adds, that the virus could become even more pathogenic as the current pandemic runs its course and the virus evolves to acquire new features. It is now flu season in the world’s southern hemisphere, and the virus is expected to return in force to the northern hemisphere during the fall and winter flu season.

Eighteen U.S. soldiers have been confirmed as the first cases in Kuwait with H1N1 flu, the undersecretary of the ministry of health said on Sunday.

“They are 18 U.S. soldiers that were confirmed with the virus upon their arrival from their country to the military base (in Kuwait),” Ibrahim al-Abdulhadi told Reuters.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday the U.S. will spend $1 billion to start the process of making an H1N1 influenza vaccine.

The money, which comes from funds already set aside for pandemic influenza, will fund new and existing contracts with influenza vaccine makers such as Sanofi Aventis SA, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.

·The number of deaths caused by A/H1N1 virus has risen to 91, health officials said.
·More than 11,168 people in 44 countries and regions have reportedly contracted the virus.

Swine FLu H1N1 News - H1N1 Swine Flu Cases Top 5000

The number of H1N1 Swine Flu infections continues to rise, and despite the recent cooling on the pandemic panic, WHO and CDC researchers are still concerned about the possibility of mutations in the H1N1 Swine Flu Virus that could lead to secondary waves culminating in a pandemic.

The number of worldwide swine flu cases on Tuesday passed 5,000, according to the World Health Organisation, as the virus spread to three more countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The highest number of cases has been reported in the United States with 2,600 infections, including three deaths, and Mexico with 2,059 cases, including 56 deaths. The global total stood at 5,251, the latest data posted on the WHO website showed.

The WHO raised its alert to five on a scale of six two weeks ago, signalling that a pandemic was “imminent” after Mexico and the United States showed sustained local transmission of the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

With the WHO confirmed death toll at 61, Costa Rica reported its first fatality from the flu — believed to be a mix of bird and human flu which came together in pigs — and the United States confirmed a third death.

Because the new swine flu virus — technically called H1N1 — is a highly unusual genetic mix of bird, flu and human viruses, health officials worry that it could continue to mutate and return in a more virulent form for next winter’s flu season.

As the swine flu continues to spread across the United States — and most cases continue to be mild — federal health officials said Monday that they’re shifting their focus from individual cases of infection to trying to project what is likely to occur with the virus in the fall.

1639 confirmed cases of Swine Flu H1N1 virus.
2 Deaths
43 states have infections.
This is the hard news delivered by the normally conservative CDC today, Friday, May08 2009. The United States now has more H1N1 Swine Flu than any other country. The number of H1N1 Swine Flu virus infections in the United States doubled. Only mexico has more deaths from swine flu H1N1 Virus than the United States.

Are you ready for 1 billion cases of Swine Flu H1N1? Is your family ready? Are you ready to face a world where every thing you touch and every where you go could mean danger for you and your family? Visit the H1N1News.com pandemic supply store – we try to bring you the lowest prices but from reliable, dependable suppliers to get you N95 masks, gloves, disinfectant, and other heath care supplies that are going to keep you and your family safe during a pandemic. You can get information from the CDC on masks here explaining the proper selection and use of N95 NIOSH approved face masks and respirators.

The CDC is now estimating that the number of cases worldwide of H1N1 Swine flu could reach 1 billion cases by the summer. Normally, the summer is the time when influenza virii have the most problems reproducing and spreading, but apparently the H1N1 Swine Flu shares more traits than was previously thought with the 1918 Swine Flu H1N1 Pandemic. That Swine Flu strian was also more resistant to heat, and therefore was able to spread unabated during the summer months.

7 May 2009, 24 countries have officially reported 2371 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.

Mexico has reported 1112 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 42 deaths. The United States has reported 896 laboratory confirmed human cases, including two deaths.

As of 7 May 2009, 18:00 GMT

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (201), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (5), Germany (10), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (6), Italy (5), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (5), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (81), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (32).

The fatality would mark the 3rd in North America outside the Mexican hot zone.

Reports emerged Thursday night that an elderly woman who had swine flu has died in northern Alberta.

It’s not clear whether she had any other underlying conditions.

CBC News put the question to Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert at 2:30 p.m. MT Thursday, and he stated then that he had no information about the case.

There are 214 confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada, including 33 in Alberta, the Public Health Agency of Canada says. Cases have been detected in every region except Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northern territories, with most cases found in B.C., Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta.

Almost all Canadian cases have been mild.

Worldwide, there are now 2,371 confirmed cases of swine flu in 24 countries, according to the World Health Organization. Forty-four people have died of the infection — 42 in Mexico and two in the United States.

On Thursday, Saskatchewan announced its first two cases of swine flu.

It seems logical: Why not try to get sick with swine flu now, and get some immunity in case it comes roaring back this fall in a deadlier form? Sort of like those “pox parties” to get your kids exposed to a childhood disease.

Bad idea, flu experts say. It’s too risky.

It’s true that once your body has encountered a particular virus strain, it is generally better able to fight it off later on. Vaccines work by masquerading as germs, priming the immune system to attack particular bugs.

The current swine flu appears no deadlier than ordinary flu, but scientists worry that it could return in a more lethal form during the regular flu season in fall and winter. That’s what happened in the deadly pandemic of 1918, and there’s evidence that people who got sick earlier that year had protection when the lethal wave came.

This new trend is questioned by one doctor, who warns that people cannot control the type of H1N1 Swine Flu infection they are likely to get.

“I understand the logic (but it) leads you astray,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University.

He said there’s no way to predict how bad a case of flu will be in a particular person. Given the risk of life-threatening complications, “this is not something where you want to do a biological experiment,” he said.

“You can’t control the infection that you’re going to get, and you may be the one, or your child may be the one, that gets a severe infection.”

What’s more, a person who decides to get sick can accidentally pass it along to other, more vulnerable people, even before any symptoms show up, he said.

The United States has reported 403 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

Besser said the CDC was even reconsidering the strategy of closing schools where cases turn up. More than 500 U.S. schools have been closed because of outbreaks.

Schools are closed to protect children, and to keep children from being “amplifiers” who spread an infection in the community. But this virus is looking to be as mild as seasonal flu, which only rarely kills children.

“We are seeing over 700 probable cases in a total of 44 states,” Besser said. So far, 99 percent of probable cases have, upon further testing, turned out to be the new H1N1 strain, Besser said.

“This likely represents an underestimation of the total number of cases across the United States,” Besser added, because most people with flu-like symptoms — fever, aching muscles and cough — are not even getting tested.

The latest CDC figures bring the number of confirmed worldwide cases to 853.

The World Health Organization reported 787 cases of swine flu, known to scientists as influenza A (H1N1), before the latest U.S. numbers. The WHO said the virus has been confirmed in 17 countries and has contributed to 20 deaths, 19 of them in Mexico.

New York has the most confirmed U.S. cases, with 63; Texas is second, with 40; and California is third, with 26. A Texas case — a Mexican toddler who was visiting relatives in the United States — is the only U.S. fatality.

The controversy is how dangerous the H1N1 Virus Swine Flu is: the mortality rate in Mexico continues to drop, where the number of confirmed cases wordlwide seems to be trending upwards at a fairly dramatic rate. The question is, will this trend upward allow for a quick enough mutation of the H1N1 Virus/Swine Flu that will increase the mortality rate? It seems its a race against time to create a vaccine and distribute it worldwide before the vaccine becomes worthless due to either the H1N1 virus being too widespread, or mutated too far to have any effect.

h1n1 virus shuts down mexico

Saturday : South Korea, Italy and the Irish Republic: most recent countries to confirm H1N1 Virus Swine Flu infections. In what may be a global first, Mexico has shut down for five days, starting may 1, to slow the spread of H1N1 Virus Swine flu. Only key services such as public transport, supermarkets and hospitals are being kept open.