Health Spectator

A Utah man who died today is the ninth U.S. victim

The worldwide death toll from swine flu had already reached 80 when a man who local officials said died of swine flu succumbed in Salt Lake City Wednesday. (more…)

The swine flu claimed its sixth U.S. victim yesterday evening. A New York City man, 55, who was the assistant principal at the Susan B. Anthony Intermediate School, succumbed while undergoing care at the Flushing Hospital Medical Center. Mitchell Wiener was also suffering from other complications, a hospital spokesman said, but did not elaborate on what they were.

That brings to 76 the global death toll from swine flu.

The past two days have seen a substantial increase in swine flu cases, with the state of Illinois announcing 555 cases on Tuesday. That count was 67 more than Monday’s total—a 14% increase in one day. Meanwhile, Cuba, Finland and Thailand announced their first cases yesterday. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 06:00 GMT Tuesday, 33 countries have officially reported 5728 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection. (more…)

Swine flu spreads; another American dies

Electron micrograph of swine flu virus.

Although present dangers from swine flu may be less severe than originally feared, victims continue to die from the disease as it spreads across the globe. The latest developments place new cases in Australia, China and Japan, while new deaths linked to the disease have occurred in Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States. A Washington state man was the third confirmed casualty (more…)

As of Friday, May 8, The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are reporting 1,639 cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) found in 42 states and Washington, D.C. There have also been two deaths, both in Texas. The total number of U.S. confirmed cases has nearly doubled from the 896 cases reported on Thursday.

Canada also reported its first death from the influenza virus. (more…)

The World Health Organization reported today that should the current North American swine flu outbreak become a pandemic, it might affect a third of the world’s population. WHO’s Keiji Fukuda, an influenza expert, said that while there was no predicting at this point what will actually happen, a pandemic would probably infect about 2 billion people. To become a pandemic and thereby move the WHO’s health alert status for the disease outbreak to level 6—the top level—it would have to spread to another region of the world. (more…)

While swine flu captures most of the health-related headlines in the U.S., most Americans are probably not aware that a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria has already claimed over 2,000 lives. (more…)

The first death in the U.S. from swine flu was a Mexican toddler whose family was visiting in Texas. Now the disease has claimed the life of a U.S. citizen as well, that of 33-year-old teacher Judy Trunnell of Cameron County, Texas. Cameron County is on the Mexico border. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Trunnell suffered from “chronic underlying health conditions.” The 22-month-old Mexican child was similarly reported to be suffering from health complications. (more…)

The World Health Organization released its annual report today, with emphasis on the changing world situation regarding communicable diseases. In her report, Inspector General Dr. Margaret Chan noted that since 1951, when the WHO issued its first set of legally binding regulations to prevent the international spread of disease, much has changed.

In 1951, Chan noted, the disease situation was “relatively stable,” with only six quarantinable diseases of relative concern: cholera, plague, relapsing fever, smallpox, typhus, and yellow fever. “New diseases were rare,” Chan said, “and miracle drugs had revolutionized the care of many well-known infections.”

Fast forward to 2007 (more…)

The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. A 28-year-old female from Tabanan District, in Bali Province, developed flu symptoms on August 14, was hospitalized on August 18, then died in hospital on August 21. She was a poultry trader.

Case investigators found that she collected poultry from villages where outbreaks of avian influenza had occurred.

Of the 105 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 84 have been fatal.