I personally will never forget April 24, 2009. I was on a conference call at 5:00am Pacific Time with an east coast client and we were well into the planning of a pandemic conference for the transportation industry. He started the call by asking me, “Regina, what the hell is going on in Mexico???…I am hearing about this widespread respiratory illness and people wearing masks in the streets?!?!” Thank goodness for the internet as I [...]
H1N1 (Swine Flu): Human Infection with a Pandemic H1N1 and Seasonal H1N1 Flu Reported from Canada in Three Workers
Reported in current issue of The Journal of Infectious Disease, is an interesting report from Canada and clearly demonstrates several principals that we already know but probably need to be reminded of: Vigilance is essential with influenza. Ongoing global surveillance is critical. Reassortment is always possible and the virus can change literally at any moment. Humans working in close proximity to “signature” animals known for disease transference and mixing (pigs, ferrets, birds) allow infinite opportunities [...]
H1N1 (Swine Flu): Myocarditis Associated With Pandemic H1N1 Virus in Children
A highly scientific and well-written and documented paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported an unusual complication of H1N1 in children. Acute myocarditis is a well-recognized, however rare, manifestation of numerous viral infections with a broad spectrum of symptoms and clinical features. Fulminant myocarditis may present with fatal arrhythmias and blocks, and/or varying degrees of cardiogenic shock. The prevalence of myocardial involvement in influenza infection ranges from 0 to 11% depending [...]
H1N1 (Swine Flu): WHO Update On Human Cases Of 2009 Avian Influenza (H5N1) Infections
The World Health Organization (WHO) just issued the report of the 2009 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus. There were 73 cases reported to the WHO from five countries. Geographical Distribution The 73 laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 virus infection were reported from: Cambodia (1 case) China (7) Egypt (39) Indonesia (21) Viet Nam (5) All of these countries had reported human cases of H5N1 previously. Circulation of highly [...]
