influenza – News Stories About influenza - Page 6

May 13, 2009 4:22 AM CDT

Swine Flu Came From Lab: Researcher

WHO investigates claim that H1N1 arose from human error

(Newser) - The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus may have been created in a laboratory as a result of human error. Adrian Gibbs, who helped develop Tamiflu, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the new strain may have evolved in...

Flu Spreads, Kills US Man

May 10, 2009 7:30 AM CDT

Flu Spreads, Kills US Man

Australia, Japan see cases

(Newser) - Health officials have confimed that a 30-year-old Washington state man died last week of the H1N1 flu strain, raising its US death toll to three, Reuters reports. He had suffered from heart problems. The disease has now been found in some 2,200 Americans and has spread to Japan and...

Experts: Don't Blame Pigs
for Swine Flu

May 9, 2009 6:09 AM CDT

Experts: Don't Blame Pigs for Swine Flu

H1N1 virus likely arose among jet-setting humans

(Newser) - The humble porker shouldn't be the one taking the blame for the H1N1 virus, scientists tell the Los Angeles Times. Pigs provided some of the raw material for the virus, experts say, but so did birds and humans. The most likely incubators and spreaders of the virus, according to scientists,...

Flu-Phobic Consider Intentional Infection

May 7, 2009 9:31 AM CDT

Flu-Phobic Consider Intentional Infection

(Newser) - With panic over the H1N1 flu virus on the wane, some Americans are pondering allowing themselves to become infected in hopes of building immunity against potentially more virulent strains, the New York Times reports. Doctors are split on the idea. "I think it's totally nuts," says a flu...

Seasonal Flu Strain
May Have Mutated

May 6, 2009 2:48 PM CDT

Seasonal Flu Strain May Have Mutated

Canadian researchers say H3N2 virus mutated from vaccine strain

(Newser) - A mutated version of the seasonal strain of flu targeted by this season's vaccine has surfaced in a traveler entering Canada from Mexico, Reuters reports. The development complicates the tracking of the virus in Mexico, which has suffered the majority of infections and deaths. The variant was previously found in...

Flu Fear Swamps US Hospitals

May 1, 2009 4:37 AM CDT

Flu Fear Swamps US Hospitals

System strained as people with mild symptoms demand swine flu tests

(Newser) - Hospitals and clinics across the country are being overwhelmed by panicky people seeking to be tested for swine flu, reports the Los Angeles Times. Experts warn the signs of strain already show that the system is ill-equipped to deal with a full-scale outbreak. Health officials struggling to cope with the...

States' Flu Readiness Comes Up 10M Doses Short

May 1, 2009 1:37 AM CDT

States' Flu Readiness Comes Up 10M Doses Short

Stockpiles of antiviral medication are 10 million doses short

(Newser) - Dozens of states have failed to stockpile enough medication to treat a full-blown flu outbreak, the Washington Post reports. The federal Strategic National Stockpile program has vast amounts of antiviral medication stashed in secret locations around the country, but records show that state governments have 10 million fewer dosages than...

Confirmed Swine Flu
Cases Jump

Apr 30, 2009 8:00 PM CDT

Confirmed Swine Flu Cases Jump

WHO investigators find 257 confirmed cases in 11 countries

(Newser) - The number of confirmed swine flu cases worldwide jumped from 147 to 257 yesterday, according to the World Health Organization. Hundreds more suspected cases are still being investigated. The jump in confirmed cases is likely attributable to investigators working through their backlog of specimens rather than rapidly mounting incidents of...

Swine Flu Not So Tough: Scientists

Apr 30, 2009 8:09 AM CDT

Swine Flu Not So Tough: Scientists

Strain could be less lethal than seasonal flu, analysis shows

(Newser) - Scientists are gradually downgrading their worst-case scenarios for the swine flu outbreak, the Los Angeles Times report. The H1N1 strain initially appeared to have disturbing similarities to the 1918 flu virus, but researchers analyzing genetic data released this week say the strain is less lethal than feared—and may in...

Making Swine Flu Vaccine Now Could Backfire

ANALYSIS

Apr 30, 2009 7:34 AM CDT

Making Swine Flu Vaccine Now Could Backfire

Move could cause global shortage of seasonal flu vaccines

(Newser) - The world's leading flu vaccine maker is on standby, ready to start cranking out a swine flu vaccine—but doing so might not be the smartest move, Carol Matlack writes in BusinessWeek. Vaccine makers can't shift or expand production easily, Matlack notes, meaning that a switch now could lead to...

Mexico Shuts Down
to Stem Outbreak

Apr 30, 2009 6:32 AM CDT

Mexico Shuts Down to Stem Outbreak

Calderón orders citizens to stay home for 5 days

(Newser) - The Mexican president told citizens to stay home tomorrow through May 5 for a five-day partial shutdown of the country's economy to reduce the risk of spreading swine flu, Reuters reports. In his first televised address since the outbreak, Felipe Calderón said that "there is no safer place...

Mexico Fears 1st Fatality
Spread Flu Widely

Apr 29, 2009 6:38 AM CDT

Mexico Fears 1st Fatality Spread Flu Widely

Census-taker visited hundreds of homes before falling ill

(Newser) - Mexican authorities fear that the first person known to have died from swine flu may have been a modern-day Typhoid Mary, the Independent reports. The woman, a government census-taker whose door-to-door home visits in late March and early April put her in contact with some 300 people when the flu...

Child in Texas Is
1st US Swine Flu Death

Apr 29, 2009 5:58 AM CDT

Child in Texas Is 1st US Swine Flu Death

Fatality is first outside Mexico since outbreak began

(Newser) - A 23-month-old child in Texas has become the first person in the US to die of swine flu, a government official said today. The death of the boy, who traveled from Mexico to seek medical treatment, is the first to take place outside Mexico, where the outbreak began, Reuters reports....

Swine Flu Shuts 2nd NY School

Apr 29, 2009 2:25 AM CDT

Swine Flu Shuts 2nd NY School

Dozens of children call in sick in second major outbreak in Queens

(Newser) - A second school in Queens has been shut down after dozens of students suffered symptoms of swine flu, reports the New York Daily News. Cases have also been found in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and an outbreak is suspected at a Catholic school in Manhattan. The public school closed yesterday,...

All Flu Is Bird Flu: Scientists

ANALYSIS

Apr 28, 2009 3:44 PM CDT

All Flu Is Bird Flu: Scientists

... even swine flu

(Newser) - People, pigs, and birds aren’t alone in their influenza woes. Horses, whales, and seals catch the virus, but scientists think all flu is actually avian flu, explains Brian Palmer in Slate. Birds carry each of the 144 types of influenza, which is able to jump species by mutating to...

Unlike, Say, Iran's Nukes,
Flu Is Worth
Real Worrying

OPINION

Apr 28, 2009 9:29 AM CDT

Unlike, Say, Iran's Nukes, Flu Is Worth Real Worrying

Pandemic possible, and closer to home

(Newser) - In the modern world, it’s hard to know what to be scared of, writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. We watch the flashy threats—Russia, Pakistan, terrorists—and end up worrying about the wrong disaster. “But we also should think about other threats that could potentially cause...

Officials Fear Flu Drug Resistance

Apr 28, 2009 6:40 AM CDT

Officials Fear Flu Drug Resistance

Misuse of antivirals by panicked public could breed stronger strains of disease

(Newser) - Pharmacies are stocking up on Tamiflu and other anti-influenza drugs as fears grow of a swine flu outbreak, but health officials warn that the antivirals could do more harm than good if administered incorrectly. Taking the drugs in the wrong dose or for too short a time can lead to...

Flu's 'Ground Zero'
May Be Mexican 5-Year-Old

Apr 28, 2009 5:44 AM CDT

Flu's 'Ground Zero' May Be Mexican 5-Year-Old

4-year-old boy survived flu in village near huge pig farm

(Newser) - Mexican authorities have tracked the first known case of a mutant strain of swine flu to a boy in a village near a huge pig farm, the Guardian reports. Edgar Hernandez, 4, survived the outbreak of illness in the eastern Mexico village of La Gloria in February, but two babies...

Mexico Prepares
to Shut Down Capital

Apr 28, 2009 3:23 AM CDT

Mexico Prepares to Shut Down Capital

Schools closed as Mexico scrambles to contain outbreak blamed for 149 deaths

(Newser) - Mexican authorities scrambling to contain the swine flu outbreak have closed schools and universities across the country and are considering a total shutdown of the capital, reports the Financial Times. Some businesses have remained open in Mexico City, but people are avoiding bars and restaurants, and the public transport system...

With 41 Sick, US Moves 'As If'
Flu Is 'Full Pandemic'

Apr 27, 2009 4:29 PM CDT

With 41 Sick, US Moves 'As If' Flu Is 'Full Pandemic'

(Newser) - With up to 41 people sickened by swine flu in five states and 149 dead in Mexico, the Obama administration is treating the outbreak like a full pandemic, the AP reports. Officials warned Americans against traveling to Mexico—where more than 1,600 have been infected—and sent flu-fighting medications...