COMPILED FROM REPORTS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dec. 31, 2009

How contagious is the swine flu? Less than the novel viruses that have caused big world pandemics in the past, new research suggests.

If someone in your home has swine flu, your odds of catching it are about 1 in 8, although children are twice as susceptible as adults, the study found. It is one of the first big scientific attempts to find out how much the illness spreads in homes versus at work or school.

Results of the study — conducted by the Imperial College London and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — are published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

Swine flu has sickened an estimated one-sixth of Americans since April.

GUANTáNAMO DETAINEES: Court: Surveillance info can stay secret
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that professors and attorneys who represent Guantánamo Bay detainees cannot force the government to reveal whether an antiterrorism program eavesdropped on their conversations.

The National Security Agency and the Department of Justice had refused to comply with the plaintiffs' 2006 Freedom of Information Act request.

Valdība atteicās apstiprināt vai noliegt visus ierakstus iegūta saskaņā Teroristu uzraudzības programma, ko atļauj prezidents George W. Bush pēc 11.septembra uzbrukumiem.

RADIO SHOW HOST: Limbaugh ziņots, uz slimnīcu
Konservatīvo radio sarunu šovs uzņēmējas Rush Limbaugh tika nogādāts slimnīcā ar sāpes krūtīs trešdien, Honolulu TV stacija ziņots.

Vidējā medicīnas atbildēja uz zvanu no viesnīcas, kurā Limbaugh ir vacationing, KITV ziņots. Stacija, atsaucoties nenosaukts avotiem, teica Limbaugh, 58, tika ņemts Queens medicīnas centra nopietna slimība.

Pārstāve N. Makana satricināja teica slimnīcā nevarēja izteikt savu viedokli.

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PARIS - Katram gadījumam cūku gripa izraisa augstu drudži un crippling muskuļu sāpes varētu būt četras citiem bez Galvenie simptomi, franču eksperti ir ziņots.

Infekcija likmes pandēmijas H1N1 vīrusa Francijā, kur pētījums tika veikts, var būt daudz lielāks, nekā iepriekš domāts, ja šos ts "asimptomātiski" lietas - viegli sajaukt saaukstēšanās - tiek ņemtas vērā, saskaņā ar ievietojis pētījumu online pirmdiena.

Rezultāti liecina paši varētu piemērot visiem pasaules reģioniem, kur tikko parādījās vīruss ir skārusi.

Pētniekiem, ko vadīs Xavier de Lamballerie, direktors no jauniem vīrusiem nodaļa University of Aix-Marseille, analizēja datus, kas savākti no asins paraugiem, ko vairāk nekā 1000 sievietes kļūst regulāras pārbaudes pirmajā grūtniecības trimestrī.

Paraugi no visā valstī vairāk nekā divas nedēļas beigās, novembra un decembra sākumā, teica pētījumu, kas publicēts PLoS straumes: gripas, pētniecības koplietošanas platformai stingri pārbaudījušas gripas eksperti.

Pēdas cūku gripas antivielu parādīja izveidots vairāk nekā 10 procentiem no sievietēm. Tas nebija zināms, cik bija smagas gripas simptomi.

Ekstrapolējot uz visu tēviņu un mātīšu populācijas pieaugušo starp 20 un 39 gadus veci kontinentālās Francijas, pētnieki aprēķināja, ka vairāk nekā 1,7 miljoni cilvēku šajā vecuma grupā būtu inficēti.

Šis skaitlis ir piecas reizes vairāk pacientu ar paša vecuma, kuri apspriedās ārsts ar lielu gripas simptomus trīs mēnešu periodu līdz novembra beigām, kas liecina, ka četri-in-piecos gadījumos gāja nereģistrētu vai - drīzāk - bija nav izlauzties uz smagu gripu.

Eksperti saka, ka H1N1 vīruss, kas parādījās Meksikā martā, gandrīz pilnībā aizstāj "normālu" sezonas gripu, parakstu iezīme gripas pandēmijas 20.gadsimtā, kā arī.

"Cilvēku inficēti ar [cūku] gripa skaits ir lielāks nekā mēs būtu novērtēts, skaitot līdz aprakstīto gadījumu," sacīja Lamballerie.

"Neparasti augsts līmenis" ir asimptomātiski gadījumos - daudz augstākas nekā sezonas gripu - varētu paskaidrot šīs pretrunas, viņš teica.

Tajā pašā laikā viņš brīdināja secinot, ka nav nepieciešams vakcinēties pret jauno gripas vīrusa celmu.

"Lai gan tā var būt taisnība, ka ir vairāk cilvēku, kuriem gripa ir mazāk nopietni un asimptomātiska, tā ir arī taisnība, ka ir vairāk cilvēku, kuriem ir nopietnas vai ļoti nopietnas slimības formas", salīdzinot ar kopējo gripu, viņš teica aģentūrai AFP .

Viņš piebilda, ka nav pat nebija pārliecināta, ka tie ir inficēti ar vājākais veidu vīrusu paredzēts aizsardzībai pret bīstamas vīrusu tiem, lai arī sagatavošanās stadijā pierādījumi liecina par daudz.

Francijas institūts sabiedrības veselības uzraudzību, kas arī piedalījās pētījumā, brīdināja ekstrapolējot rezultātus uz visu Francijas iedzīvotāju ārpus 20-to-39 vecuma grupā.

Agrākie pētījumi, no Meksikas un citur ir norādījuši, ka vecāki iedzīvotāji var būt daži in-built imunitāte pret cūku gripu, kas ir saistīta ar spriedzi, kas dominēja līdz pandēmiju 1957.

Pasaules Veselības organizācija (PVO) otrdien paziņoja, ka cūku gripa ir nogalināti vismaz 12.220 cilvēku visā pasaulē.

Amerikā, it īpaši ASV un Kanādā, ir visvairāk cietušas vismaz ar 6670 upuriem, bet 2422 apstiprināts bojā gājušo skaits ir ziņots Eiropā, PVO.

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December 31, 2009

Women should avoid getting pregnant until after the swine flu pandemic is over, reports today's Beijing News in its top headline.

In a government report published yesterday, the Ministry of Health advised that women who wanted to be pregnant now or in the near future should consider postponing their plans to avoid getting pregnant in the flu season.

According to the ministry, pregnant women who contract the disease, especially the overweight ones will face high risks to develop serious complications including miscarriage, premature birth, fetal distress, and stillbirth; death incidence is also higher among the pregnant women, who account for about 13.7% of the death toll caused by H1N1 flu.

The ministry announced that there were a total of 4,448 newly diagnosed H1N1 flu patients in the last week, among whom, 1,380 were hospitalized. Meanwhile, 93 patients who were diagnosed earlier died.

The ministry warned that with the Chinese new year approaching, increasing population movement will also increase the chances of catching the disease. People who have developed symptoms such as fever and respiratory infection should avoid contact with others.

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Questions to Ask Your Doctor
Here are a few questions to consider asking your health care provider about flu antivirals

* Do I need antiviral treatment if I have flu symptoms?
* When should I call back if I don't feel better?
*What do I do if my child is prescribed oseltamivir and can't swallow capsules? Click here for instructions on how to open capsules and mix the medicine with liquids.
Treatment Is Important for High Risk Groups
People in high risk groups should talk to their health care provider as soon as possible if they think they may have the flu because they have a greater chance of getting serious flu complications than other persons. Flu antiviral drugs can make you feel better, shorten the time you are sick, and prevent serious flu complications, especially if treatment is begun within 2 days of getting sick. Flu antiviral drugs must be prescribed by a physician.

Don't Delay Treatment
If your doctor prescribed Tamiflu® (oseltamivir) or Relenza® (zanamivir) for you, don't delay filling the prescription, and start taking the medication as soon as you get it. This way you will get the most benefit. It's very important that antiviral drugs be started as soon as possible for the flu, ideally within 2 days of getting sick.

Don't Confuse Tamiflu® (oseltamivir) with Theraflu®
Tamiflu® is the brand name and oseltamivir is the generic name of a prescription antiviral drug used to treat the flu and should not be confused with Theraflu®, which is an over-the-counter medication. Antiviral drugs are not sold over-the-counter. You can only get them if you have a prescription from your health care provider.

Side Effects of Flu Antiviral Drugs
The most common side effects of oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) are nausea and vomiting, which can also be symptoms of the flu. Nausea and vomiting can be minimized by taking the medication with food. The most common side effects of zanamivir (Relenza®) are dizziness, sinusitis, runny or stuffy nose, cough, diarrhea, nausea, or headache, also symptoms that can be due to the flu. Zanamivir may also cause wheezing and trouble breathing in people with lung disease; therefore, persons with a history of asthma or another lung disease should not be prescribed zanamivir.

Treatment May Be Needed Even if Test Results are Negative
Your health care provider may diagnose you with flu based on your symptoms and their clinical judgment or they may choose to use an influenza diagnostic test. Health care providers can use rapid flu tests (15 minutes or less) to test a specimen from your nose or throat in their offices. Unfortunately, these tests are less than perfect in telling who really has the flu. Therefore, you could still have the flu, even though your rapid flu test result is negative. Health care providers may prescribe antivirals if they suspect flu, even if the rapid flu test is negative.

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Spicy Indian curries could prevent swine flu and common cold just like any prescribed medicine available with the chemists, claim Russian doctors.

“You can strengthen immunity by consuming spicy food like curries, as spices like turmeric, ginger and cumin also posses excellent therapeutic effect,” an unnamed official of the Moscow [ Images ] anti-epidemics committee was quoted as saying by news agency RIA Novosti.

As panic grips Moscow residents over the spread of seasonal influenza and swine flue in the eastern parts of the country and neighbouring Ukraine, authorities are focusing on prevention and have ordered the use of masks at work place.

Besides the intake of spicy food, people have been advised to consume raw onions and garlic, which contain anti-viral properties.

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In findings that may lead to better ways to prevent and treat influenza and other viral infections, researchers report the discovery of a family of naturally occurring antiviral agents in human cells.

In experiments in human and mouse cells, the flu-fighting proteins prevented or slowed most virus particles from infecting cells at the earliest stage in the virus lifecycle. The anti-viral action happens sometime after the virus attaches itself to the cell and before it delivers its pathogenic cargo.

“We've uncovered the first-line defense in how our bodies fight the flu virus,” said Stephen Elledge, the Gregor Mendel professor of genetics and of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a senior geneticist at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). “The protein is there to stop the flu. Every cell has a constitutive immune response that is ready for the virus. If we get rid of that, the virus has a heyday.”

“When we knocked the proteins out, we had more virus infection,” said geneticist Abraham Brass, an instructor in medicine at HMS and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), who led the study first as a postdoctoral fellow in the Elledge research group and then in his own lab at the Ragon Institute. “When we increased the proteins, we had more protection,” Brass said.

The native antiviral defenders are also crucial after the cells are infected, Brass and his co-authors found. In the cells, the proteins accounted for more than half of the protective effect of the interferon immune response. Interferon orchestrates a large component of the infection-fighting machinery.

“Interferons gave the cells even more protection, but not if we took away the antiviral proteins,” Brass said. The study is published online Dec. 17 in the journal Cell.

The potent interferon response is what makes people feel so sick when their bodies are fighting the flu or when receiving interferons as therapy. “If we can figure out ways to increase levels of this protein without interferon, we can potentially increase natural resistance to some viruses without all the side effects of the interferons,” Elledge said.

In the study, the surprisingly versatile antiviral proteins protected cells against several devastating human viruses – not only the current influenza A strains including H1N1 and strains going back to the 1930s, but also West Nile virus and dengue virus. While IFITM did not protect against HIV or the hepatitis C virus, experiments suggested the protein may defend against others, including yellow fever virus.

The researchers do not know how the antiviral proteins deflect this variety of viruses, which use different mechanisms of entry into the cell. The protein family, called interferon-inducible transmembrane proteins (IFITM), was first discovered 25 years ago as products of one of the thousands of genes turned on by interferon. Since then, not much else has been discovered about the IFITM family. Versions of the IFITM genes are found in the genomes of many creatures, from fish to chickens to mice to people, suggesting the antiviral mechanism has been working successfully for millions of years in protecting organisms from viral infections.

In Elledge's lab, Brass began the study as a genetic screen to learn how the body blocks the flu. The researchers had previously run similar screens with hepatitis C virus and with HIV. In the screen, the researchers used small interfering RNA to systematically knock down one gene at a time by depleting the proteins the genes were trying to make. Then they examined what effect each blocked gene had on a cell's response to influenza A virus.

The screen revealed more than 120 genes with potential roles in different stages of infection. Four of those genes, when knocked down, allowed for a robust increase in the infection of cells by influenza A virus. Of these four candidate “restriction factors,” the research team concentrated on the IFITM3 protein because of its known link to interferon and found two closely related proteins in the IFITM family with similar activity.

The most distinctive property of the first-line IFITM3 defense is its preventive action before the virus can fuse with the cell, said co-author and virologist Michael Farzan, associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at HMS and the New England Primate Research Center. “The virus is unable to make a protein in the cell to counteract the IFITM proteins, because the cell is already primed against the virus,” Farzan said. “To find something that hits the flu and hits it so close to the entry stage of the viral life cycle is really interesting and unusual among viral restriction factors.”

The researchers have more questions than answers about how the IFITM restriction factors actually work, but they are excited about the range of inquiry the discovery opens up. For example, variations in the protein from person to person may explain differences in people's susceptibility to flu and other viral infections, as well as its severity, the researchers speculate.

And if scientists can understand the mechanism of action, they may be able to design new therapies with even better antiviral actions. The proteins themselves may be useful for defending against infections in animals, like birds and pigs, which might prevent the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous influenza A strains.

In another potential application, if IFITM3 has a role in the chicken embryos or canine cells used to make flu vaccines, inhibiting the proteins may speed up vaccine production, which has been an issue this year with the manufacture of the H1N1 pandemic vaccine.

The research was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, New England Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense, Cancer Research UK the Wellcome Trust, and the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Foundation. BWH and MGH have filed a US patent application for this technology that relates to the identification and use of host factors to modulate viral replication/growth.

Full Citation

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Date: 27 Dec 2009

The millions of people who benefit from the care and support that social care workers provide day in, day out see you as one of their most important assets and we are committed to protecting you and your families during the current swine flu pandemic.

“Many of the people you care for and support could become seriously ill if they catch swine flu. We fully support the swine flu vaccination programme – it will reduce the risk to staff, protect their colleagues and families and those they care for and support and help sustain services during the pandemic. The vaccination programme covers councils' directly managed eligible frontline social care workers, as well as eligible independent sector workers and personal assistants to people receiving direct payments.

“It's important that staff can make an informed decision about the vaccination and social care organisations will provide you with information to enable you to do this. The vaccine has been thoroughly tested and is entirely voluntary. We call on social care organisations to ensure that all eligible staff are given suitable and reasonable access to the vaccination during working hours to protect themselves, their families and those they care for and support from swine flu.

“While we recognise that the decision to be vaccinated is a personal matter, we encourage staff to protect themselves with the swine flu vaccine, in addition to the seasonal flu immunisation. It is your best defence against flu this winter.”

Source
UNISON

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