Monday, November 2, 2009
The story of two little pigs
Not surprisingly, flu was a major topic of the IDSA meeting. I'll be writing a full article about the information presented, but in the meantime, a funny story from the CDC about pigs and H1N1. The first two cases of the novel flu were identified in kids in Southern California last April. Both children had been in contact with pigs, so the CDC wanted to determine whether the swine had been the source of the flu.
The 9-year-old girl had visited pigs at the state fair, but when the authorities went there, they found that the pigs had been butchered. The 10-year-old boy had met his pig on a leash at the San Diego Zoo, and when the CDC went to test that pig, they ran into a legal tussle with the zoo. So, concluded CDC expert Dan Jernigan, MD, "This is the story of two pigs--one had been slaughtered, and one had a lawyer."
Labels: H1N1, infectious disease, swine flu
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
10:37 AM
0 Comments
Friday, August 28, 2009
ACP Master speaks his mind on H1N1 vaccines for health care workers
Following studies on Canadian and Hong Kong health workers unsure about getting vaccinated for H1N1, William Schaffner, MACP, now questions whether American health workers will, as well.
"There isn't a doubt that it's a severe challenge," Dr. Schaffner told MSNBC. "It's primarily a patient safety issue."
He's not only a Master of the College but also chairman of the infectious diseases division at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and is in a position to encourage others. Clinical trials for it appear safe, he said, and health care workers should protect themselves and their patients.
"It's a professional and ethical responsibility of every health care worker to be vaccinated," he said.
Labels: flu, H1N1, infectious disease, swine flu, vaccination
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
4:00 PM
1 Comments
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
More health workers unsure about H1N1 vaccination
In a follow-up to Tuesday's post that found Canadian health workers might refuse an H1N1 vaccine during a pandemic, another report finds about half of Hong Kong's health workers would refuse the swine flu vaccine. According to the BMJ, when the World Health Organization raised the H1N1 flu alert level to 5 in May, only 47.9% of 2,255 Hong Kong surveyed health workers were willing to get vaccinated, up from 28.4% surveyed a few months prior. An accompanying editorial in BMJ gently encourages vaccination while quelling fears of potential harms from vaccination.
Labels: H1N1, infectious disease, swine flu, vaccination
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
12:11 PM
0 Comments
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Worrisome statistics
Ever wonder what all those presidential pollsters do when it's not an election year? Based on today's health news, it looks like they spend their time asking Americans about their worries.
First, from CQ Politics, "Consumer Worry Grows on Health Care Access." The health care consumer confidence level (whatever that is) dropped more than 10 points among people 65 and older and 4 points in those 50-64 last month. The pollsters didn't bother to ask people whether they were worried that health care reform would pass or that it wouldn't, so it's a little hard to figure exactly what you could actually learn from these statistics.
On the other hand, people are not troubling themselves about swine flu, according to the Washington Post. "Only about one in eight Americans is very worried that swine flu will affect his or her family," the article reports. Six in eight are "not too worried" or "not at all worried," which we guess leaves that last guy sorta worried? The survey does teach us one thing. Despite the media's best efforts, it seems like the pandemic paranoia plan has been a failure.
Labels: health care reform, statistics, swine flu
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
2:39 PM
0 Comments
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A reason not to worry about the flu.
When experts are predicting the future, you can be guaranteed that someone will take the other side, if only so they can say "I told you so" when things go contrary to expectations. But let's hope that the experts writing in JAMA this week really know what they're talking about.
These NIH scientists use data from past pandemics to argue that swine flu isn't likely to get more fatal or more transmissable this fall. Basically, they say that the 1918 pattern of infection and death growing from one season to the next isn't very well understood and wasn't repeated in later pandemics. Another expert, who supports their analysis, was ready to go even farther. "It's hard to conceive that if the H1N1 should reappear in the fall in the Northern Hemisphere that we would have a more severe epidemic," he told HealthDay.
But don't start sneezing on your friends and licking doorknobs just yet. The NIH guys warn, of course, that "it is difficult to predict the future course of the present H1N1 pandemic." At least now, though, we have one Pollyanna-perspective pandemic prediction.
Labels: swine flu
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
1:29 PM
0 Comments
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Scary statistic of the week
The CDC is predicting that, without vaccination, up to 40% of Americans could catch swine flu and hundreds of thousands could die this winter, the Washington Post recently reported. Aah! What are they trying to do? Make us panic?
I don't think the CDC would do that, but then when I read this other article--about the government's plans for the biggest vaccine promotion campaign ever--I started to wonder. "Everything is going to be done to try to encourage people to get it," an official told AFP. Everything...including the distribution of apocalyptic statistics?
Labels: CDC, swine flu, vaccination
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
12:41 PM
0 Comments
Friday, May 1, 2009
Capitalizing on swine flu, part 2
Speaking of opportunistic use of swine/H1N1 flu, the FDA and FTC just released an alert to warn the public about fradulent products and Web sites which "claim to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus":
"These fraudulent products come in all varieties and could include dietary supplements or other food products, or products purporting to be drugs, devices or vaccines....
"The last thing any consumer needs right now is to be conned by someone selling fraudulent flu remedies," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "The FTC will act swiftly against companies that resort to deceptive advertising."
If you run across such sites or products, you are kindly requested to contact the FDA/FTC here.
posted by Jessica Berthold at
3:07 PM
0 Comments
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Most egregious abuse of a pandemic
It's not surprising that many groups have taken advantage of the swine/H1N1 flu publicity to promote their own agendas. Some are calling for health care reform, or better vaccine funding and research, or increased sales of their own patient education materials--all ideas at least tangentially related to the issue at hand.
But today I received the press release that crossed the line. It began, "The worst case scenario for a Swine Flu epidemic looks grim, according to government sources. Two million dead. Hospitals overwhelmed. Schools closed."
Are you scared yet? Don't worry, this being a press release, everything will work out happily in the end. And yes, it turns out that these terrifying predictions can be avoided simply by the purchase of a new book, "Free Yourself from Sinus and Allergy Problems--Permanently." If that scientific-sounding title hasn't sucked you in already, perhaps a glimpse at the book's advice will: drink tea and eat chicken soup. Apparently these helpful tips are as effective at preventing pandemic flu as they are at eliminating allergies.
Wow. Stop the presses and tell Joe Biden to get back on Amtrak. Problem solved--Permanently.
Labels: swine flu
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
9:53 AM
0 Comments
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Not a minute too soon.
Yesterday, news broke about two kids in California contracting swine flu.
Today, ACP's Board of Governors voted for more collaboration between human and veterinary medicine, in order to prevent disease transmission across species.
Are they on the ball or what?
(Ok, so the measure was originally inspired by West Nile virus, which was recognized by vets in animals before anyone noticed it in humans. Still.)
Specifically, the Governors' measure supports cross-species disease surveillance, and joint efforts to develop new diagnostic methods, medicines and vaccines to prevent and control the diseases.
I, for one, am comforted by the fact that this may prevent any of us from ever knowing what hippopotamus flu feels like.
Labels: internal medicine 2009, swine flu, West Nile
posted by Jessica Berthold at
1:00 PM
0 Comments
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