Swine flu virus spreads its tentacles
With estimated one million cases of swine flu in the US alone, the virus is showing no signs of letting up. In Middle East, the number of cases is also growing with many new suspected and confirmed cases reported in the past few days.
As many as one million Americans now have swine flu, US health officials said yesterday, adding that 6% or more of some urban areas are infected.
The estimate voiced by a government flu scientist on Thursday was no surprise to the experts who have been closely watching the virus.
- The A(H1N1) virus is thought to originate from pigs/ Photo credit: IRIN
“We knew diagnosed cases were just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert who was in Atlanta for the meeting of a vaccine advisory panel.
Lyn Finelli, a flu surveillance official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made the one million estimate in a presentation to the vaccine panel. The number is from mathematical modeling, based on surveys by health officials.
Regular seasonal flu sickens anywhere from 15 million to 60 million Americans each year. The United States has roughly half the world’s swine flu cases, with nearly 28,000 reported to the CDC so far. The US count includes 3,065 hospitalisations and 127 deaths.
The percentage of cases hospitalised has been growing, but that may be due to closer scrutiny of very sick patients. It takes about three days from the time symptoms appear to hospitalisation, Finelli said, and the average hospital stay has been three days.
Other health problems have been a factor in most cases: About one in three of the hospitalised cases had asthma, 16% diabetes, 12% have immune system problems and 11% chronic heart disease.
The numbers again highlight how the young seem to be particularly at risk of catching the new virus. But data also show that the flu has been more dangerous to adults who catch it.
The average age of swine flu patients is 12, the average age for hospitalised patients is 20, and for people who died, it was 37. It seems to be deadliest to people 65 and older, with deaths in more than 2% of elderly people infected, Finelli said.
Also at the meeting, CDC officials made projections about flu vaccines expected to be available to protect against both seasonal and swine flu this fall.
Roughly 10 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine should be available by early September, and production for the whole flu season should be around the 143 million doses produced for the 2008-09 season, said Dr. Anthony Fiore, a CDC flu specialist.
For the swine flu vaccine, health officials outlined possibilities for a campaign urging people to get the shot. The vaccinations might be given as two shots, spaced 21 days apart, but the vaccine has to be tested and licensed before it’s made available to the public.
The story has been originally sourced from Associated Press.
The number of swine flu cases is growing in the Middle East, with many new suspected and confirmed cases in the past few days, but so far no one has died of the disease.
According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) latest A(H1N1) update on 24 June, the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide reached 55,867, with 570 in the Middle East. The number of deaths from the disease globally is 238.
Bahraini Health Ministry said on 14 June that seven Bahraini students – five girls and two boys – had tested positive for the A(H1N1) virus. The cases were among a 13-member Bahraini student group, which had returned from the USA after a 10-month exchange programme.
Egyptian Ministry of Health (MoH) reported a new case, bringing total to 41.
Israel has identified about 271 cases so far. On 22 June the MoH transferred the primary care for A(H1N1) to national health management organisations. On 21 June MoH lifted restrictions imposed nearly two months ago on travel to Mexico.
Iraq's MoH has just confirmed the first cases, saying seven members of the women's national basketball team were being treated in hospital. One member of the US-led multinational force in Iraq had also been confirmed as having the disease, Health Minister Saleh Al-Hasnawi said.
Jordanian health minister announced on 21 June the discovery of a new case (a 27-year-old Filipino woman who had arrived in Jordan from Manila on a Kuwait Airways flight), bringing the total to 13.
Kuwait health authorities said on 20 June that a Lebanese had been diagnosed with swine flu, bringing the total number of cases to eight.
Lebanon’s MoH said on 24 June the number of diagnosed cases had risen to 30 after the detection of five new cases.
Oman's Health Ministry confirmed its first three cases - students studying in the USA.
Saudi health officials announced three more cases on 24 June, bringing the total number of reported cases to 48.
United Arab Emirates confirmed its eighth case on 25 June. The infected person, who had arrived from abroad, was being treated in hospital.
Occupied Palestinian Territories – Five cases so far in the West Bank, none in Gaza.
Yemen’s Health and Population Ministry announced a new case on 23 June, bringing the total to six. The first case was registered on 16 June.
Qatar – In line with WHO recommendations, the Supreme Council of Health has warned the public against taking Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) and Relenza (Zanamivir) for the treatment of flu-like symptoms, or as a preventive measure against A(H1N1), without a prescription from a health care practitioner. There were 10 confirmed cases in Qatar as of 24 June, according to WHO.
