Apr 2, 2010
CDC: Southeast sees rising flu hospitalizations
Flu activity last week stayed steady, although increases in flu-related hospitalization occurred in the Southeast, an area that has seen sustained local and regional flu activity over the past several weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today. Doctor's visits for flu-like illnesses were below the national baseline, but deaths from pneumonia and flu increased slightly above the epidemic threshold. One pandemic H1N1 pediatric death was reported.
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm/?date=040210
Apr 2 CDC weekly flu update
Taiwan cites good vaccine safety
In a letter published today in The Lancet, officials from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control reported a good safety profile for the H1N1 pandemic vaccine. Researchers had projected that they would see about 27 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) after 6 weeks of vaccination. However, with more than 4 months' of data, the country has confirmed only four GBS cases in vaccinees.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960515-6/fulltext
Letter in Apr 3 Lancet
Study ID's array of PCR tests to detect flu
A German research team reports good results for a bundled PCR assay in quickly and accurately detecting influenza B and key influenza A strains: seasonal H1N1 and H3N2, avian H5N1, as well as pandemic H1N1. Reporting in Public Library of Sciences (PLoS) ONE, the authors state that the nine-assay bundle enables "a fast and precise determination of virus type and subtype in respiratory specimens." These assays have been used successfully at the German national reference lab since 2007.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009966
Apr 1 PLoS ONE study
IV zanamivir for patients in respiratory distress
German physicians writing in Clinical Infectious Diseases detail two cases of critically ill H1N1 patients on ventilators who had pneumonitis and acute respiratory distress, were treated with intravenous zanamivir (Relenza), and had good outcomes. The patients, a 39-year-old man with no underlying conditions and a 49-year-old man with type 2 diabetes, received the drug 5 and 8 days, respectively, after hospitalization and were taken off the ventilator after 6 and 9 days, respectively.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/651604?rss
Mar 31 Clin Infect Dis abstract
