Flu Scan for Apr 07, 2014

News brief

China reports 2 more H7N9 cases

China has reported two more cases of H7N9 avian flu, according to a provincial health report posted by the infectious diseases news board FluTrackers.

Both patients are from Jiangsu province, and their cases were confirmed on Apr 5. The first is a 73-year-old man from Taizhou City who is hospitalized in critical condition.

The second is a 28-year-old woman who is hospitalized in critical condition in a Suzhou hospital. She had bought live chickens from a market and slaughtered and cooked them at home, the report said.

The cases push the outbreak's overall total to 413, according to FluTrackers. The unofficial number of deaths remains at 124. So far 277 cases have been reported in the outbreak's second wave, which started in October, compared with 136 in the first wave last spring.
Apr 5 FluTrackers post
FluTrackers human H7N9 case list

 

Elderly Egyptian woman contracts H5N1

An 86-year-old Egyptian woman is in intensive care with H5N1 avian flu, The Global Dispatch reported yesterday.

The woman, who has diabetes, is from Beheira governorate's capital city of Damanhur and is hospitalized in "poor condition." She is receiving oseltamivir (Tamiflu). The country's previous two cases, reported on Mar 22, were also from Beheira governorate. The story said one of those earlier patients was also from Damanhur.

Egypt has had 173 confirmed H5N1 cases since 2006, not including this year's cases, and 63 deaths, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data. The country is second in the world in both cumulative cases and deaths.

But the country's WHO-confirmed cases have dropped substantially in recent years. Egypt had 39, 29, and 39 cases in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. In 2012 the nation had 11 cases, 5 of which were fatal, and in 2013 it reported just 4 cases and 3 deaths.
Apr 6 Global Dispatch article
Mar 24 CIDRAP News scan on previous two cases
WHO cumulative case count, as of Jan 24

 

WHO says flu approaching interseasonal levels

The Northern Hemisphere appears to be approaching interseasonal influenza levels in most countries, the WHO reported today, with influenza B surging in many areas, which is a common late-season occurrence.

The agency reported low flu circulation in North America, Asia, North Africa, the Caribbean, and the Southern Hemisphere. It said that Mongolia and Thailand were exceptions, experiencing elevated levels.

From Mar 9 through Mar 22, national flu centers had tested 65,498 respiratory specimens, of which 10,986 were positive for influenza; two thirds were influenza A and one third were influenza B. Among flu A viruses, 57% were 2009 H1N1 and 43% were H3N2.
Apr 7 WHO update

News Scan for Apr 07, 2014

News brief

Chikungunya cases in the Caribbean approach 20,000

Cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean have reached 19,682, according to data today from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), up from 18,493 cases a week ago.

Martinique continues to report the largest numbers, with 11,400 suspected and 1,284 confirmed or probable cases, the ECDC said. The French side of St. Martin is next, with 2,840 suspected and 790 confirmed or probable cases. Guadeloupe rounds out the top three with 2,737 suspected and 802 confirmed or probable cases.

Also reporting cases are St. Barthelemy, 432 suspected and 135 confirmed or probable cases; Dominica, 487 suspected and 72 confirmed cases; the Dutch side of St. Martin, 224 confirmed cases; French Guiana, 25 confirmed locally acquired and 11 imported cases; Anguilla, 14 confirmed cases; British Virgin Islands, 7 confirmed cases; and Aruba and St. Kitts/Nevis, each with 1 confirmed case. Those numbers have changed little since the ECDC's previous update a week ago.

The chikungunya outbreak is the first known in the Americas and began in December 2013 on the French side of St. Martin.
Apr 7 ECDC update

In related news, the Global Virus Network (GVN) today announced the formation of a 16-member global task force of virologists to address the mosquito-borne disease. The announcement coincides with World Health Day, whose theme this year is vector-borne diseases, according to a GVN press release.

"Being able to quickly bring together the most knowledgeable researchers without regards to borders and political agendas to address viral threats such as chikungunya is paramount," said Global Virus Network co-founder and scientific director Robert Gallo, MD.

The GVN Chikungunya Task Force comprises virologists from nine countries, the GVI said. It will be headed by Scott Weaver, PhD, of the University of Texas Medical Branch, John K. Fazakerley, PhD, at the UK's Pirbright Institute, and Marc Lecuit, MD, PhD, at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. All members are affiliated with GVN Centers of Excellence.
Apr 7 GVN press release

 

FDA fast-tracks group B meningococcal vaccine Bexsero

Swiss-based Novartis said today that its group B meningococcal vaccine, Bexsero, has received a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means the agency will expedite its review, according to a company news release.

The FDA recently approved the vaccine under an Investigational New Drug designation to address meningitis outbreaks at Princeton University and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) caused by serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis. Current FDA-approved vaccines cover only serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135.

Bexsero is already approved for use in Europe, Canada, and Australia.

In the past 4 months, Novartis has provided nearly 30,000 doses of Bexsero to students and staff at Princeton and UCSB, Novartis said.
Apr 7 Novartis news release

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