Feds eye schools as potential flu vaccination sites
US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that schoolchildren may be a top priority if federal officials decide to use novel H1N1 flu vaccines and that children might be immunized at school, the Associated Press (AP) reported today. Sebelius is meeting with school superintendents to ask them to collaborate on plans for possibly using schools for mass vaccination sites.
[Jun 16 AP story]
US poll finds pandemic declaration raised little worry
The World Health Organization's Jun 11 pandemic declaration did not prompt new worries about novel H1N1 in the United States, according to a Gallup poll conducted just after the announcement. Only 8% of Americans said they worried "yesterday" about getting the novel flu, down from 13% in mid-May and 25% in late April. Gallup said Americans have had 2 months to assess the effects of the disease, which appears to be similar to seasonal flu. The findings were based on calls to 998 adults.
[Jun 15 Gallup poll report]
Qatar, Jordan, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Samoa report first cases
Five countries have reported their first cases of novel H1N1 flu. Qatar identified cases in two 2-year-old children, one a New Zealander and the other an American, according to Reuters. The same story said Yemen's case involved a Yemeni student who had returned from the United States. Other press reports said the cases in Jordan involved two young girls from the United States, the Sri Lanka case was in an 8-year-old boy from Australia, and Samoa's first case was in a visiting Australian student.
[Jun 16 Reuters report]
FDA says many sites have quit selling illegal H1N1-related products
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that since May 1 it has sent warning letters to more than 50 Web sites that promote illegal products related to the novel H1N1 flu, and two thirds of them have removed the offending claims or products. The illegal products said to protect against or cure the illness included a shampoo, dietary supplements, an antimicrobial hand spray, and several unapproved tests for the virus, among others, the FDA said in a Jun 14 press release.
[Jun 15 FDA statement]
California students in China hospitalized for novel flu
Chinese officials have hospitalized six students and a teacher from a California high school in Yingchang after they tested positive for the novel H1N1 virus, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported yesterday. Four others from the group are also hospitalized but apparently don't have the virus. The rest of the school group, 26 students and 5 teachers, are quarantined at a hotel near the hospital, and all from the school have received antiviral treatment.
[Jun 15 Union-Tribune story]
