Swine flu rears its ugly little head under the radar.

Pigs on the loose and under the radar. 

A woman in Ohio dies after exposure to a pig at an agricultural fair…   Pigs in Korea carry H1N2.

An article in New Scientist provides a worrisome look at the potential for the global resurgence of Swine Flu (H1N2). 

Author Debora MacKenzie points to examples from Korea to Ohio to show the dangers of this strain of the flu. MacKenzie describes how Robert Webster, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, placed "H1N2 flu virus, from the lungs of a pig slaughtered in South Korea in 2009, into the noses and windpipes of three ferrets. " The ferrets perished.  This is a cause for concern as ferrets process influenza in much the same way as humans.

Of the experts contacted by New Scientist, all agreed that further research is needed to find out what mutations will make the Swine Flu dangerous to humans. 

British Members of Parliament react to swine flu hysteria created by Chief Medical Officer

Members of Parliament react to hysteria created by Chief Medical Officer

The House of Commons Science & Technology Committee (UK) released a report in which they questioned the methods with which the public was informed about the threat of the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009. The UK’s Chief Medical Officer held a press conference (on July 16, 2009) in which he suggested that up to 65,000 people in the UK could die during the pandemic.

According the to the report, “On 16 July 2009, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, held a press briefing that led to media reports suggesting up to 65,000 people in the UK could die from swine flu in a worst case scenario. At that time, the number of actual deaths stood at around 30, and by the time the pandemic was over in April 2010, the total number of UK deaths was 460.

Dr Justin McCracken, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency (HPA), commented that: it shows how difficult communication is because it was not just the reasonable worst case scenario that was communicated to the press. It was, actually, the range of both the best and the worst. But, inevitably, I think the figure that the press focused on was the worst case scenario.”

Of course, the media ran with the report, and offered up scary headlines, which were echoed around the globe.

The committee’s recommendation:

“We recommend that there should be a single portal of information for every emergency, along the lines of flu.gov in the USA. This should be of use to members of the public as well as emergency responders and should be the primary source of all information, linking to other websites as necessary. We consider that maintaining this portal should be the responsibility of the Lead Government Department, and should be located within its departmental website.”

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmsctech/498/49808.htm#a24

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmsctech/498/49802.htm

Cold F-X producer, Afexa Life Sciences (TSX: FXA) announces third quarter results, and fewer colds.

Cold F-X producer Afexa Life Sciences (TSX: FXA) announces third quarter results, and fewer colds.

Afexa reports earnings of one penny a share.

"As we have stated previously, revenue from our lead product, COLD-FX is highly dependent on the frequency and severity of colds and flu experienced in Canada," commented Jack Moffatt, Afexa's Chairman and CEO. "The incidence of cold and flu will continue to fluctuate and contribute to quarter-to-quarter volatility in our revenue. This year retailers entered calendar 2010 well stocked with product, in anticipation of a normal cold and flu season. However, in calendar 2010 incidence of colds and flu were much lower than the prior year. In particular, the January to April 2010 period, post H1N1, was very light and continued to be light well into the fall 2010 cold and flu season."

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/afxsf_fxa_afexa-announces-2011-third-quarter-results-1485736.html

Oldie but goodie: crazy Swine Flu video from 1976

Swine flu scare piece from 1976. So bad it's funny.

"Dottie had a heart condition and she died."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASibLqwVbsk

Swine flu video (funny, sort of).

UK Department of Health forced to disclose Swine Flu spending

The BBC’s Martin Rosenbaum reports that the UK Department of Health (DOH) spent £ 239 million (approx. US $ 382 million) on the swine flu vaccine last year.

The Department of Health initially resisted requests for the information with flimsy claims of commercial confidentiality. As we now know, the swine flu “pandemic” was vastly over hyped, and much of the swine flu vaccine had to be discarded (at taxpayer’s expense).

Rosenbaum reports that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) received the lion share of the bounty for its Pandemrix vaccine, with the rest going to Baxter Int’l (BAX) for Celvapan.

Still, it wasn’t easy getting the information. At first DOH refused to respond to a freedom of information request. BBC then had to appeal to the information commissioner. As Rosenbaum points out, this “case illustrates the limits of commercial confidentiality under FOI. It shows how claims sometimes made by public authorities about possible damage to commercial interests are not necessarily strong enough grounds for refusing freedom of information requests.“

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2011/02/bbc_forces_disclosure_of_swine.html

Universal Flu Vaccine - too good to be true?

Testing of universal flu vaccine has found early success. A small scale study at Oxford's Jenner Institute found promising results for tests of the feasibility of a possible universal vaccine that could one day replace the yearly flu shot.

According the to report on the medical site, WebMD, "such a vaccine could also help prevent pandemics such as the recent outbreaks of H1N1 swine flu.

Traditional flu vaccines target proteins that sit on the virus’s outside coat and harness the body’s existing antibodies to fight infection. However, these proteins tend to mutate, meaning that manufacturers have to develop new vaccines.

The new treatment targets proteins inside the flu virus that are common across all strains and use existing antiviral T cells to attack the virus."

http://www.webmd.boots.com/cold-and-flu/news/20110207/early-success-for-universal-flu-vaccine

Longer article about this research via The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/06/flu-universal-vaccine-test-success?CMP=twt_gu

Swine flu spread boy-to-boy and girl-to-girl, in public school

Scientists have discovered that the swine flu was transmitted to the same gender at three times the rate of opposite gender infections, according to a story in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/115036389.html).

"Researchers in the U.S. and England are reporting that in the 2009 swine flu pandemic, boys most often infected other boys, while girls tended to infect other girls.

The study examining how swine flu spread in an elementary school was conducted by scientists at Imperial College London, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pennsylvania Department of Health and appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers looked at how social networks influenced the way in which the H1N1 pandemic spread through an elementary school in Pennsylvania. Their findings could help health officials plan responses to future epidemics.

The scientists found that children were three times more likely to transmit the flu to children of the same gender than to children of the opposite gender. They also found that the rate of flu transmission was five times higher between children in the same class than it was between children in the same grade but different classes. The rate of transmission was 25 times high between children in the same class than between children in different grades.

However, the scientists found that a child's risk of catching the flu did not rise significantly when he or she sat next to a child with the flu.

In all, 370 children were involved in the study. They attended a school that closed 18 days after the swine flu outbreak began. At the time, 27% of the students were showing symptoms.

"The data from this study will help us make more accurate models, which can help public health officials to handle epidemics effectively," said Simon Cauchemez, who works at Imperial College London and led the study. "For example, these new models could help us better understand whether and when it would be appropriate to close a school, or whether it might be better to close individual classes or grades.""

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/115036389.html

If you survived Swine Flu, you may now have super immunity, reports National Institute of Health

A study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (http://jem.rupress.org/content/208/1/181) indicates that people previously exposed to Swine Flu (H1N1) may have a super immunity to multiple strains of the flu, reports the National Institute of Health (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2011/Pages/H1N1Bcell.aspx).

Thus, the potential for developing a "pan influenza vaccine" is theoretically possible.

According to the report on the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases website: "The investigators speculate that multiple exposures to seasonal influenza viruses and influenza vaccines over the years have given rise to memory cells that recognize the conserved regions of the virus. After a person is infected with 2009 H1N1, these cells become the source of antibody-producing plasmablasts. While broadly neutralizing antibodies have rarely been seen in people after exposure to seasonal viruses or vaccines, this study suggests that the outcome of 2009 H1N1 infection is different. Overall, the study shows that 2009 H1N1 can induce broadly protective human antibodies that bind to parts of the influenza virus that vary little from strain to strain, providing a potential immune target for use in a universal influenza vaccine."

And, mice used in experiments were found to be protected from lethal doses of Swine Flu and two other strains of flu. Thank goodness the mice are safe!

Is a serious swine flu outbreak heading to the US? Or, is this just more crappy journalism?

According to US News & World Report, H1N1 flu ("swine flu") is hitting the UK hard, and may be headed to the US.

Apparently, planes travel from the UK to the US. Thus, the report conjectures that the US may be hit.

Of course, this is based on nothing other than a need to create a sensational headline and is typical of the fear mongering that goes along with the topic.

So, reader be warned, US News & World Report continues to set the bar extremely low.


http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/research/articles/2011/01/20/h1n1-flu-is-raging-in-britain-could-us-be-next?PageNr=1