H1N1 FLU BREAKING NEWS: Bombay schools closed, Costa Rica's president, TV lessons for students in France, 'confusing clues' in past pandemics

H1N1 2009 Pandemic Influenza

Officials close schools in Bombay
Government officials in India's Maharashtra state have ordered all schools and colleges in Bombay to close for a week to slow the spread of novel flu, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today. The state has the country's highest number of confirmed pandemic H1N1 cases and has reported four deaths over the past 10 days. India's cable news channels are reportedly devoting hours to novel flu coverage, but the health minister told reporters this week other diseases are more serious and costly.

 

Costa Rica's president has novel flu
Costa Rica's president, Oscar Arias, said in a statement yesterday that he was sick with the pandemic H1N1 flu, AFP reported today. He is the first world leader known to have been sickened by the virus. His brother said the 67-year-old president has asthma and had flulike symptoms for days. Tests yesterday confirmed that he had the novel flu virus. Arias is in home isolation but has not delegated power.

France prepares TV lessons for school shutdowns
France's education minister said officials have prepared lessons that can be broadcast on state television and radio if novel flu outbreaks spark flu closures after classes resume this fall, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. Schools in France resume in late August and September. The minister said the country's national distance learning agency developed the lessons. He said school-closure decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Researchers question predictive value of past pandemic waves
Health officials are being prudent to plan for a more severe second pandemic wave, but a historical review of previous pandemics offers confusing clues about patterns with no evidence that virus mutations led to increased transmissibility, two federal researchers wrote today in a commentary appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The authors are Dr David Morens and Dr Jeffrey Taubenberger from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/302/6/679?home
Aug 12 JAMA commentary extract

This week's top reads

  1. Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers

    The most common symptom reported by healthcare workers was fatigue.

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  2. Top virologists urge world leaders to act on rising avian flu threat

    Global Virus Network scientists highlight the need for robust surveillance, enhanced biosecurity, and readiness for potential human-to-human viral transmission.

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  3. CIDRAP launches Vaccine Integrity Project to help safeguard US vaccine use

    The steering committee will make recommendations on how non-governmental groups can help ensure that vaccine use is evidence-based.

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  4. US measles cases climb higher, approach 900

    Thirty states have cases, and 83% of infections are part of outbreaks, the largest centered  in West Texas.

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  5. USDA withdraws proposal to reduce Salmonella in poultry

    The Biden-era rule would have prevented the sale of raw chicken or turkey with certain levels or strains of Salmonella.

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  6. Tick-borne meat allergy may be related to urbanization in mid-Atlantic US

    The study identified open-space development and low population density as risk factors for Alpha-gal syndrome. 

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  7. Long COVID has unique symptoms, persistence not seen in flu, pneumonia, research suggests

    With increasing time since diagnosis, only the severe infections continued to cause symptoms. 

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  8. New agreement geared toward universal avian flu vaccine

    The mRNA vaccine targets all major clades of the H5 avian flu subtype.

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  9. Measles cases in Europe, the Americas skyrocket

    Almost 90% of the European cases were reported in Romania.

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  10. Quick takes: Mpox outbreak in Malawi, more H5N1 in Idaho and California dairy cows

    The cases in Malawi bring the number of African countries affected by mpox to 23.

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