Memphis Children's Hospital Erects Tent To Handle Influx of Patients With Swine Flu

From:   The Associated Press

10:43 AM CDT, September 12, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Medical officials at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center have erected a tent to handle a growing influx of patients stricken with swine flu.

The 2,400-square-foot tent set up Friday night will allow nurses will conduct health screenings on flu patients to determine if they're in need of hospital care.

Dr. William May, chief medical officer at the hospital, told The Commercial Appeal that many people are coming into the emergency room without emergency conditions.

The hospital's emergency room, which will be replaced by one twice as big under new renovations, normally receives about 160-180 children a day. But on some days, the patient load has exceeded 350 — at least half of them being children with flu-like symptoms.

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com

iPhone Pinpoints Swine Flu Outbreaks

Offbeat News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

If you want to steer clear of Swine Flu outbreaks, a new iPhone App will help you pinpoint problem areas and avoid other contagious diseases.

Created by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, the app tracks and reports outbreaks of infectious diseases in real time, including the latest baddie, H1N1 (Swine Flu).

You'll still have to get to a social networking site to get updates on the latest Swine Flu party.

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US Says Tamiflu For The Sick, Not A Preventive

(AP) ATLANTA

Federal health officials put out new guidelines Tuesday that say the flu medicines Tamiflu and Relenza should only be used to treat people who are sick with the flu and at high risk for complications.
The new advice tries to close a door that government doctors had left open in May. Back then, they didn’t rule out sometimes using the drugs to stop swine flu’s spread and prevent illness even in children who had no symptoms.
Now that swine flu is so common, health officials say the medicines should be reserved for people at higher risk of complications.

U.S. Races To Get Millions Of Swine Flu Doses Ready

New technologies could speed up production

By Mark Johnson and Kathleen Gallagher of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Sept. 5, 2009 11:33 p.m.

In a contest that pits human against virus, the U.S. government is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of swine flu vaccine in hopes of having millions of doses ready for use before the next wave of the pandemic H1N1 sweeps across the nation.

This week the virus struck first, infecting a handful of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; an additional 25 to 30 are awaiting results of a swine flu test.

Across the United States, thousands of other students have reported influenza symptoms, though many have not been tested for swine flu, according to college officials and a survey by the American College Health Association.

"Well, I think it's going to be a race," said Douglas Reding, vice president of the Marshfield Clinic. "It could potentially be neck and neck depending on when the next outbreak occurs."

At the Milwaukee Health Department, Medical Director Geoffrey Swain said: "I've got my fingers crossed. I'm hopeful that the swine flu outbreak will not have picked up a lot of steam before we get a lot of vaccine."

The race comes at a time when the federal government is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar effort to boost America's flu vaccine capacity and just as vaccine makers are moving into new technologies. Read the rest of the story.

Be A Swine-Flu Fighter: Keep It Clean

Linda Shrieves
Sentinel Staff Write

Worried about the spread of swine flu?

Join the crowd.

Already, there are reports coming from schools across Florida that kids are being diagnosed with swine flu (also known as the H1N1 virus ). And in Georgia, Alaska and Puerto Rico, health officials say swine flu already is widespread.

The good news is this: Although swine flu is highly contagious, the World Health Organization says it generally causes "very mild illness" in healthy people.

But there are ways to prevent the flu from spreading, mainly by washing your hands.

If doctors sound like your mom, who keeps bugging you to wash your hands before you eat, there's a reason.

"Whenever you're contaminated by touching things that other people have touched — desks or tabletops in the lunchroom — you really should wash your hands before eating or drinking or touching your face," said Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New Yorks University's Langone Medical Center. Eighty percent of all infections are spread when you touch germs and then touch your mouth, eyes and nose. Read More

China Approves Single-Dose Swine Flu Vaccine

By: RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

The Associated Press

BEIJING — The answer may be at hand to a crucial question about vaccination for the advancing swine flu — one shot or two? Chinese officials approved a vaccine Thursday that they say prevents the new flu in a single dose.

If they're right, it would be good news. Many health researchers fear it will take two shots to protect people, vastly complicating efforts to stem the spread of the illness.

The World Health Organization says it is encouraged after reviewing the test details from the vaccine by Beijing-based drug maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. — one of several being developed in China. However, experts said more results are needed from other vaccine makers to determine if one dose would be potent enough.

Australia-based CSL should know within days whether one dose of its vaccine, administered to volunteers in that country in late July, was enough. CSL to date has been mum.

In about two weeks, the US expects to announce initial test results from its vaccine, which is the same type as one of the Chinese versions, said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the US National Institutes of Health.

"From what I've seen and heard of the data, it looks encouraging," Fauci said of the clinical trials of Sinovac vaccine. "This is very good news. Let's hope the material that we're using has similar results."Most experts agreed." Read The Rest Of The Story

Obama Urges Swine Flu Precautions

The Washington Post
By: Michael A. Fletcher
Wednesday, September 2, 2009

President Obama called on Americans on Tuesday to take common-sense steps to help contain the expected impact of swine flu, including staying home from work when they are sick, frequently washing their hands, and covering their sneezes with a sleeve instead of a hand.

Obama told reporters in the Rose Garden that the federal government is taking a coordinated approach to fighting the expected outbreak, including ramping up what he says will be a "voluntary but strongly recommended" H1N1 flu vaccination program.

The president has received regular briefings on the flu pandemic, including one Tuesday from several Cabinet members and other top officials. He has asked officials to "spare no effort in addressing this national security challenge," according to the White House.
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