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Total 69 results found since Jan 2013.

The flu shot saves children ’s lives
Follow me on Twitter @drClaire Of the 358 children who died from influenza between 2010 and 2014, only 26% had been vaccinated against it, according to a study just released in the journal Pediatrics. That means 74%, or three out of four of them, had not. And maybe if they had been vaccinated, they’d be alive right now. Of all the vaccines I give as a pediatrician, the flu shot is the one that families refuse most. Parents don’t think they need it. They don’t think it works. They think it is dangerous. This frustrates me, because none of these reasons for refusing the flu shot are true. Influenza can be a dangerous d...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 4, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Claire McCarthy, MD Tags: Children's Health Cold and Flu Infectious diseases Parenting Prevention Vaccines Source Type: blogs

WHO Says H7N9 is One of the Most Lethal Flu Strains
There continues to be new cases of the H7N9 bird flu strain in China. An image of the H7N9 virus from the CDC is pictured above. So far there have been 108 lab-confirmed cases and 22 deaths. Taiwan has also confirmed a case, but the person did not catch it in Taiwan. He was hospitalized after returning from Shanghai. He is in critical condition. Reuters reports that a World Health Organization (WHO) expert called H7N9 a very dangerous virus at a briefing. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security, said, "When we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans. This i...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 24, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: flu h7n9 avian-influenza Source Type: blogs

Avian influenza, bird flu, H5N1
A bird flu pandemic has killed thousands of wild birds over the last couple of years. Scientists have now seen infection in mammals, and very recently a person died from avian influenza and several close contacts show signs of  infection. The concern is that we might be headed for another H5N1 pandemic. Previous strains of H5N1 that infected people had a mortality rate of 60 percent. Avian influenza, bird flu, H5N1 There are fifteen known variants of avian influenza. The most virulent, and usually fatal in birds, are the H5 and H7 strains. There are then nine variants of the H5 strain and the type of most concern because ...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - February 27, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Bird Flu Health and Medicine Vaccines Source Type: blogs

Influenza A(H7N9) Cases in China Increase to 38
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced ten new cases of influenza A(H7N9) virus in China today. This brings the total number of cases to 38. WHO says 10 of the 38 infected people have died. WHO says in a FAQ that the exact source of A(H7N9) is unknown. The virus was found in a pigeon in a Shanghai market. There is still no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission. 760 close contacts with the confirmed cases are being monitored. Permalink | Facebook | Twitter | Recent Headlines | News Feeds
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 12, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: flu bird-flu influenza Source Type: blogs

CDC to Prepare Vaccine for A(H7N9) Bird Flu Strain Just in Case
The World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been monitoring an outbreak of avian influenza A (H7N9) in China. The cases are the first time the virus has been detected in humans. There have been 11 lab-confirmed cases and four deaths according to the last WHO update. The first cases were announced on April 1st. So far, there have been no cases involving human-to-human spread of the bird flu. WHO says people in close contact with the infected are being closely monitored, but none have developed any symptoms to date. NBC reports that the CDC has announced plans to star...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 4, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: flu bird-flu a-h7n9 Source Type: blogs

Influenza A(H7N9) Cases Increase to 60 in China
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cases of influenza A(H7N9) have increased to 60. This is nearly double the number from five days ago. 13 of the 60 patients have died. The WHO says over a thousand close contacts of the patients are being monitored for symptoms. So far there has thankfully been no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. WHO's case data is coming from the Chinese National International Health Regulations (IHR) Focal Point. The WHO says there have been some relatively mild cases reported, which could mean there are more cases than the 60 cases officially confirmed. Permalink...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 16, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: influenza bird-flu a-h7n9 Source Type: blogs

Bird Flu Death Toll Reaches 20 in China, Source of Infection Unknown
The death toll from the avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak in China has reached 20. The total number of cases has grown to 102. 70 of these patients remain at the hospital, while 12 have been discharged. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been providing updates based on data supplied by health authorities in China. An NPR report says the source of the virus is still a mystery. The NPR story says one source for transmission could be dust at the market. It is possible there is human-to-human transmission going on, but this has not been confirmed and the WHO says there is no evidence for it. The WHO says more cases are ...
Source: HealthNewsBlog.com - April 21, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: influenza avian-influenza h7n9 Source Type: blogs

The risks and benefits of influenza H5N1 research
Both Nature and the New York Times have weighed in on the resumption of influenza H5N1 research. In an editorial from 23 January 2013, Nature opines that “Experiments that make deadly pathogens more dangerous demand the utmost scrutiny”: As several critics point out, the assessments of the relative risks and benefits of such research remain restricted to largely qualitative arguments. The formal, quantitative risk assessment common in the nuclear power and other industries could have helped to nail down and quantify risks, and would have informed the debate better. One year on, an irreproachable, independent ri...
Source: virology blog - January 29, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary aerosol transmission avian influenza H5N1 bioterrorism ferret fouchier kawaoka risk benefit analysis viral virus Source Type: blogs

Incidence of asymptomatic human influenza A(H5N1) virus infection
When virologists Fouchier and Kawaoka were isolating avian influenza H5N1 viruses that could transmit among ferrets by aerosol, there was consternation from some quarters that such viruses might escape from the laboratory and cause a pandemic in humans. Part of the fear came from the fact that the case fatality ratio for human infections with the H5N1 virus exceeds 50%. This number could be substantially higher than the lethality ratio, which is the number of symptomatic cases divided by the total number of infections. Divining the latter number has been difficult. Results of a meta-analysis published in 2012 suggest that...
Source: virology blog - October 1, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information asymptomatic avian Bangladesh case fatality ratio fouchier influenza A(H5N1) kawaoka mortality ratio viral virus Source Type: blogs

Human infections with influenza H5N1 virus: How many?
The lethality of avian influenza H5N1 infections in humans has been a matter of extensive debate. The >50% case fatality rate established by WHO is high, but the lethality of the virus might be lower if there are many infections accompanied by mild or no disease. One way to answer this question is to determine how many individuals carry antibodies to the virus in populations that are at risk for infection. A number of such studies have been done, and some have concluded that the results imply a low but substantial level of infection (even less than one percent of millions of people is a lot of infections). The conclusio...
Source: virology blog - February 7, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information antibodies avian influenza H5N1 bioterrorism case fatality ratio fatality rate infection pandemic serological survey serosurvey viral virus Source Type: blogs

WHO report on human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) infection
The World Health Organization has been publishing weekly reports on the avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak which include the geographical location of each case, the cumulative number of cases, and the epidemiological curve. Go to this page at the WHO website for an archive of the weekly reports (there you will also find other useful information on the H7N9 outbreak). Images for report #3 of 24 April 2013 are reproduced below. Click each image for a larger view.
Source: virology blog - April 25, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information avian influenza H7N9 China pandemic Shanghai viral virus WHO world health organization Source Type: blogs

8 Damn Good Reasons Not to Get the Flu Shot
Are you thinking about getting the flu vaccine? Every year the mainstream media war drum beats for you to get vaccinated against the flu. They rarely discuss anything but the benefits of the vaccine. Why? Maybe it is because many people are already skeptical about the flu vaccine. I’m going to be very up front with you here. You rarely hear about the adverse reactions or about the toxic chemicals being injected into you. My goal is to get you to investigate vaccines more closely. Here are eight reasons to question the flu shot. Let’s begin… REASON #1: NEUROTOXIC INGREDIENTS A common urban myth is that the mercury ha...
Source: vactruth.com - February 1, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Jeffry John Aufderheide Tags: Jeffry John Aufderheide Top Stories American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Dr. Gary Goldman Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Thimerosal vaccine ingredients Vaccine Safety Viral Shedding Source Type: blogs

Tamiflu For All? Evidence Of Morbidity In CDC’s Antiviral Guidelines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has boiled down its public health campaign against influenza to a single slogan: “Take 3.” Vaccines, everyday preventive actions like handwashing, and influenza antivirals. Last year, because of a mismatch between the vaccine and circulating virus, the message was reduced to—essentially—“Take 1,” as the CDC emphatically promoted oseltamivir (Tamiflu) for treating disease. The agency has stated: “Antiviral flu medicines are underutilized. If you get them early, they could keep you out of the hospital and might even save your life.” The CDC is one ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 31, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Peter Doshi, Kenneth Mandl and Florence Bourgeois Tags: Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Global Health Health Professionals Public Health Quality CDC clinical trials drug safety FDA influenza Physicians Prevention Research vaccines Source Type: blogs

As coronavirus spreads, many questions and some answers
The rapid spread of the coronavirus now called COVID-19 has sparked alarm worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency, and many countries are grappling with a rise in confirmed cases. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising people to be prepared for disruptions to daily life that will be necessary if the coronavirus spreads within communities. Below, we’re responding to a number of questions about COVID-19 raised by Harvard Health Blog readers. We hope to add further questions and update answers as reliable information becomes available. Does t...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 27, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Todd Ellerin, MD Tags: Children's Health Cold and Flu Infectious diseases Men's Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs