Flu Avian Flu Update.... You might want to read this....

PM....

 

Got this off Survival Blog....
Get your vac's updated folks.... not just flu this season ( I normally never get it but I stood in line this time).... but your Pneumonia and Tetanus.....
Heck... make sure they are all updated..... good practice anyway.....

"Thursday, October 27, 2005
Pneumonia Risk--Time for Your Pneumovax? (SAs: Emerging Threats, Disaster Preparedness, Asian Avian Flu, Inoculation, Pneumovax)
With all of the recent conjecture about the possibility of an Asian Avian flu pandemic, the subject of pneumonia inoculations has come up. (Because pneumonia co-infections are the biggest killer associated with the Asian Avian flu.) Merck makes a widely used pneumonia vaccination called Pneumovax 23. It is administered intramuscularly before exposure to pneumococci (streptococcus pneumoniae), and reportedly only rarely has adverse reactions. The threat of Asian Avian flu mutating into a strain that easily transmissible by humans constitutes a novel threat. In this particular instance, I have come to the conclusion that it is worthwhile to have everyone in my family vaccinated with Pneumovax. [But Jim is always a worst case scenario kinda guy! - The Memsahib.] I predict that if a readily transmissible strain does break out into a pandemic that there will be a huge rush for the relatively few available doses of Pneumovax. Give it some serious thought and prayer. If you feel convicted to get your family vaccinated, do not hesitate. Do so while Pneumovax is still readily available.
"

 

I would say that the vacsination for phnumonia may not be a bad thing in this case but the one for the flu wouldnt do anything for the avion variety. One think to consider on any vacniations though is that many of them have mercury used in them as a preservative and the mercury can cause problems. Its the main reason I normaly dont get ANY vacinations other than tetnus every 6 or 8 years, and thats only because Im constantly gettting scraped up on rusty barbed wire and nails and such. Just an FYI to figure into the equation.

 

Remember if you do get the pneumonia shot...and you've had one before this...you are only supposed to get one every 8-10 years. It can cause problems if you get them too frequently.

So....I'm not due for another pneumonia shot yet (and I have to have them).

I can not have a flu shot period! I react bad to them. I had 3 of them in my entire life (2 of them were free at the hospital where I work). The last one was very, very bad reaction wise.

So now everytime they tell me to get in line at the hospital I remind them what happened the last time. Then they leave me alone (until the next year).

Now if I could just get my boss to quit having me blow up latex balloons - and she knows I'm allergic to latex...it's enough to drive me to drink...

 

[nothome]

 

http://starbulletin.com/2005/11/04/news/story05.html



Hawaii begins first program to detect avian flu at airport
New surveillance is designed to stop and react quickly to a possible pandemic
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Hawaii is the first state to establish airport surveillance of avian flu or other viruses that may be introduced by travelers, health officials report.

The program is expected to improve the state's ability to rapidly detect, characterize and respond to the threat of pandemic flu, said Catherine Chow, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical officer assigned to the state Health Department.

Enhanced airport surveillance was initiated through an agreement Oct. 31 between the state Department of Health and the Queen's Medical Center, said Janice Okubo, Health Department spokeswoman.

The program will enable public health officials to collect nose or throat specimens from sick passengers for influenza testing, with detailed passenger information to trace contacts and begin disease control/containment activities if warranted, Chow said.

Queen's operates a round-the-clock airport clinic under contract with the state Department of Transportation. Registered nurses trained to respond to emergencies staff the clinic on a rotating basis, said Kara Hughes, hospital spokeswoman.

She said Queen's Airport Medical Services is doing flu surveillance on a volunteer basis "as part of our leadership and commitment to the health and safety of the Hawaii community."

The airport clinic will assess a patient or someone who shows up feeling ill to see if he or she meets criteria for regular or avian flu, Hughes said. Respiratory specimens will be collected with the person's consent for testing by the state laboratory.

Okubo said passengers could be referred to the airport clinic by the CDC's airport quarantine station, by an airline or from anywhere in the airport requesting medical assistance.

The nurses have a mini-van to travel within the airport area bounded by the ocean, Nimitz Highway, Lagoon Drive and Elliott Street.

The CDC quarantine station at 300 Rodgers Blvd. also is being expanded to screen arriving passengers who may be ill. For the first time, a full-time doctor, Will Jackson, has been assigned there.

State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said President Bush's proposed spending of $7.1 billion to prepare the nation for a potential flu pandemic "is a very positive thing for public health."

Hawaii's health, hospital, health care and civil defense leaders have been working on preparedness plans for early detection and response to avian flu or other infectious diseases.

But only the federal government can handle certain things, Fukino pointed out, such as encouraging development of technology to produce vaccines rapidly.

"One problem with viral illnesses or flu is they are very smart," Fukino said. "They modify themselves to survive," she said, which is why vaccinations are needed every year.

Outbreaks of avian influenza, mostly influenza A or H5N1, have been reported largely in poultry, ducks and migratory birds. The few human cases are believed to be due to direct contact with infected live poultry.

Fukino noted there is controversy in the medical community about the need to stockpile a vaccine, such as Tamiflu. If the virus introduced is resistant to it, "you've got a whole stockpile that won't work for a pandemic," she said.

Dr. Duane Gubler, director of the Asia-Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, said: "The key is to get programs on the ground in Asia that would allow them to monitor this."

He pointed out that genetic changes in the virus that could result in a pandemic strain most likely will occur in Asia.

Some U.S. dollars should be used to support Asian nations in developing disease detection systems to monitor what's happening, he said. "It's best to get it before it gets on an airplane and travels around the world."

Gubler said he hoped Hawaii would be high on the list for more funding, since it is the gateway to the United States from Asia.

Money would be most efficiently used to shore up the Health Department's disease detection system, improve the state's laboratory capability and emergency response contingency plans in case a disease is introduced, he said, adding that the department is working hard on the problems. "It may never happen, but you can't be sure."

While avian flu hasn't reached Hawaii or the mainland, seasonal flu kills an average of 35,000 Americans annually, Fukino said. She urged residents -- especially those at risk because of age or medical conditions -- to get flu shots.

In preparing for a possible pandemic or natural disaster, Hawaii is fortunate for "very good relationships" between the Health Department, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Hawaii Medical Association and other concerned agencies, Fukino said.

DISASTER MEETING
Hawaii's level of disaster response will be discussed by professionals at a free public meeting from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Queen's Conference Center, Punchbowl and Beretania streets. Residents are asked to call 586-4400 to register.

 

Pandemic Alert Level 3 folks.....

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html

Current WHO phase of pandemic alert
November 2005




Current phase of alert in the WHO global influenza preparedness plan


- WHO global influenza preparedness plan

Experts at WHO and elsewhere believe that the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century's three pandemics occurred. WHO uses a series of six phases of pandemic alert as a system for informing the world of the seriousness of the threat and of the need to launch progressively more intense preparedness activities.

The designation of phases, including decisions on when to move from one phase to another, is made by the Director-General of WHO.

Each phase of alert coincides with a series of recommended activities to be undertaken by WHO, the international community, governments, and industry. Changes from one phase to another are triggered by several factors, which include the epidemiological behaviour of the disease and the characteristics of circulating viruses.

The world is presently in phase 3: a new influenza virus subtype is causing disease in humans, but is not yet spreading efficiently and sustainably among humans.

 

quote="melbo"]What kind of reaction t?[/quote]

Melbo, latex is an allergen.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051110/hl_afp/healthfluchina_051110032626

BEIJING (AFP) - Two more bird flu outbreaks have broken out in China's northeastern Liaoning province, the government said, a day after warning the virus there was not under control and could lead to a "disaster".

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The two new areas of infection are at Daling village in Jinzhou city and Chaoyangsi village in Fuxin city, the Ministry of Agriculture said, bringing to six the number of bird flu outbreaks to strike China in just over three weeks.

An earlier outbreak in Liaoning's Heishan county, between about 45 and 90 kilometres (30 and 55 miles) from the two new virus sites, was reported on November 4.

The ministry said initial investigations indicated no direct link between the latest two outbreaks and the first one, citing the source of the more recent epidemics as "contact with wild animals."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in an impromptu visit to the province on Wednesday, issued stern orders that the situation in Liaoning must be quickly brought under control.

"We must steadfastly control and stamp out the epidemic, the quarantine of the affected areas must be resolute, we cannot have any leaks," Wen said while meeting locals.

"Extermination and the destruction (of poultry) must be thorough, we do not want future trouble. Disinfection must be strict, no area can be left untouched."

Wen said bird flu had not been "totally controlled".

"The danger of its spread still exists in some areas," he warned.

"Local governments (should) pay attention to the epidemic situation and focus on preventing the disease from jumping to humans."

Health officials fear that the more the H5N1 virus spreads, the greater chance it has to mutate -- picking up genes from ordinary flu that could lead to a global pandemic highly contagious among humans.

"Preventing the disease from jumping to humans is the key in the prevention and control work," Wen said.

Agriculture Minister Du Qingling also warned on Wednesday that the bird flu problems in Liaoning risked turning into a "disaster", mainly due to the unscrupulous use of sub-standard and fake poultry vaccines.

"The use of fake and shoddy vaccines will result in a disaster," Du told the China News Service.

"If the vaccines are not up to standard, then immunization to the virus will not be uniform or effective. This could bring huge losses.

"If we miss the chance to exterminate the virus in the early stages, then the difficulty in wiping it out will increase by several times, as will the spread of the epidemic."

The agriculture ministry said 1,100 poultry had died and another 2,150 had been infected with the bird flu virus in the two new outbreaks at Chaoyangsi and Daling.

Another 500,000 farmed birds have destroyed within a three kilometer radius of the villages, it said.

According to a report submitted by the ministry to the International Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which is monitoring the spread of bird flu internationally, the new outbreaks first appeared on November 6.

The OIE report said some 198 million poultry in Liaoning province had already been vaccinated for the bird flu.

Earlier outbreaks in the Inner Mongolian region and Hunan and Anhui provinces have been deemed effectively controlled by the government.

Although no human cases of bird flu have been documented in China, the WHO is currently investigating whether three Chinese, one of whom has died, caught the disease in central Hunan province last month.

Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003.