March 18, 2010
Many lower-risk people got first H1N1 shots
An investigation by the Associated Press using government documents tendered under the Freedom of Information Act reveals that, though the first wave of H1N1 shots were designated for high-risk groups, many were diverted to lower-risk healthy adults in firms, refineries, jails, and other sites. There is no complete record of where or to whom the vaccine was administered, the wire service said.
Hong Kong records seasonal, H1N1 flu rise
Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection is detecting rising numbers of flu cases during its traditional flu-season peak, with half the isolates turning out to be H1N1 pandemic flu. The remainder of isolates are influenza B, not other seasonal influenza A strains. The centre said Thursday that it recorded 268 new flu cases last week, compared with 177 the week before, and added that visits to doctors for flu-like illnesses are rising.
Japanese researchers: Blood may transmit H1N1
In a letter to the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the blood service of the Japanese Red Cross Society has expressed concern that blood transfusion may transmit pandemic H1N1 flu. Forty out of 96 people who gave blood last fall were diagnosed with H1N1 within 2 days of donation. Testing of retained segments did not reveal H1N1 nucleic acids; the researchers say flu viremia may be too brief to be detectable.
http://tinyurl.com/eid-031710-blood
Mar 17 EID letter
Texas: Thousands of flu shots may be thrown out
The Tarrant County, Texas, heath department, which serves Fort Worth, is rushing to administer its remaining 20,000 H1N1 flu vaccine doses before they expire. KSDK-TV reported that the department was administering 300 shots per day during the winter but that demand has dropped by 80%.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=198158&catid=9
Mar 17 KSDK-TV report
Scientists call for "one health" flu analysis
Two specialists in zoonotic diseases, one of them a founder of the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), have called for a new approach to flu surveillance and analysis that would pay equal attention to nonhuman species. Ilaria Capua and Giovanni Cattoli say in a letter to Emerging Infectious Diseases that analyzing the flu gene pool as one cross-species entity will improve early detection of new strains such as pandemic H1N1 flu.
http://tinyurl.com/eid-031710-oneflu
Mar 17 EID letter
