New deadly flu hits

[pledm]

New, deadly swine flu hits Mexico, may spread

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A deadly strain of swine flu never seen before has broken out in Mexico, killing as many as 60 people and raising fears it is spreading across North America.

The World Health Organization said it was concerned about what it called 800 "influenza-like" cases in Mexico, and also about a confirmed outbreak of a new strain of swine flu in the United States. It said about 60 people had died in Mexico.

Mexico's government said it had confirmed that at least 16 people had died of the swine flu in central Mexico and that there could be another 45 fatal victims.

The government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas on Friday after it noticed a higher number of deaths involving flu-like illness than normal in recent weeks.

"It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told the Televisa network.

He linked the disease in Mexico to the new kind of swine flu that made seven people ill in California and Texas.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus in the United States was a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans. All seven American patients have recovered.

Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year.

The White House was closely following the new cases in the United States and Mexico, and President Barack Obama has been informed, an administration official said.

The Mexican government warned people not to shake hands or kiss when greeting or share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of contracting the flu.

Mexico City, one of the world's biggest cities and home to some 20 million people, was quieter than usual on Friday morning. Normally choking traffic was less chaotic in the absence of school buses and parents driving kids to school.

Many people waiting to enter subway stations had their faces covered with surgical masks.

The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA typical to avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.

The Geneva-based U.N. agency WHO said it was in daily contact with U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities and had activated its Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC) -- its command and control center for acute public health events.

Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped up since 2003, when H5N1 bird flu reappeared in Asia. Experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic that could kill millions.

The CDC said it will issue daily updates at www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/investigation.htm.

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This stuff always scares me because it can spread so quickly around the world.

[Summer]

I am not really all that far away from Mexico myself, living on the same side of the Pacific Ocean. So this is a bit scary for me too.

[Bob]

Similar to the bird flu thingy a few years back...

[pledm]

Yes it is spreading around the earth and the 1st death was announced in the USA,so I thought this would break the tension.

[Summer]

Good one, Pledm! ;D Even though my daughter Lizz is actually extremely worried that one of us in the family might catch this, I have made up my mind not to worry about it. IF it ever happens, we can deal with it then. Period. I already have enough on my plate, and the last thing I need in life is more worries than I already have.

[pledm]

Hi all,honestly I have been reading on this subject,this one is new;



H1N1 pandemic spreading too fast to count: WHO

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that the H1N1 flu pandemic was the fastest-moving pandemic ever and that it was now pointless to count every case.

The United Nations agency, which declared an influenza pandemic on June 11, revised its requirements so that national health authorities need only report clusters of severe cases or deaths caused by the new virus or unusual clinical patterns.

"The 2009 influenza pandemic has spread internationally with unprecedented speed. In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks," it said in a statement on the new strain, commonly known as swine flu.

It has become nearly impossible for health authorities and laboratories to keep count of individual cases -- which have mostly been mild -- as the virus spreads, according to the 193 member-state agency.

The new flu strain can be treated by antivirals such as Roche Holding's Tamiflu or GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza, but many patients recover without medical treatment.

Flu experts say at least a million people are infected in the United States alone, and the WHO says the pandemic is unstoppable.

"It is very much agreed that trying to register and report every single case is a huge waste of resources," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.

Such tracking has limited authorities' capacity to investigate serious cases and is no longer essential to monitor the level or nature of the risk posed by the virus, WHO said.

However, all countries should still closely monitor unusual clusters of severe or fatal infections from the pandemic virus, clusters of respiratory illness requiring hospitalization or unexplained or unusual clinical patterns.

"Signals to be vigilant for include spikes in rates of absenteeism from schools or workplaces, or a more severe disease pattern, as suggested by, for example, a surge in emergency department visits," it said.

Britain reported on Thursday that 29 people had died to date after contracting the virus. Health Minister Andy Burnham said this month the government was projecting more than 100,000 new cases a day of the flu in the country by the end of August.

The WHO will no longer issue global tables showing the numbers of confirmed cases for all countries -- which stood at 94,512 cases with 429 deaths as of its last update on July 6.

Instead, it will issue regular updates on the situation in newly affected countries, which should report the first confirmed cases, weekly figures and epidemiological details.

Countries should still test a limited number of virus samples weekly to confirm that disease is actually due to the pandemic virus and to monitor any virological changes that may be important for the development of vaccines, it said.

At least 50 governments have placed orders for vaccines against the new H1N1 strain or negotiating with drug makers, WHO vaccine chief Marie-Paule Kieny told Reuters.

The WHO does not report figures for cases of seasonal influenza, which it says is linked to 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year globally.

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Let`s just call it ``In the beginning``,

still to early to tell but so many cases,mild cases.