Monday, July 6th, 2009
This is an update on the status of the H1N1 ( Swine ) Flu information since my post on Swine Flu and Autoimmune Disease (click here to view previous post). One June 11, 2009 Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the World Health Organization(WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert to a Phase 6 ( also known as the pandemic phase). This phase is characterized by community level outbreak via human-to-human spread of the virus in multiple parts of the world.
Currently more than 70 countries have reported cases of H1N1 (swine flu) infection. This number has been steadily increasing in recent weeks. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to raise the alert level to Phase 6 means that the spread of the disease is worldwide. At this time it is unclear how serious or intense this pandemic will be. It is difficult to predict how many people will become infected and how serious the complications from this disease will be.. Because this is a new strain of the influenza virus many people have little or no immunity against it. As of this post there is no vaccine to protect against the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. However the U.S. Government is taking steps to process and manufacture a H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine. The CDC (Centers for Disease & Prevention) has isolated the virus and has made a candidate vaccine which will be used to create the vaccine. It generally takes several months to complete the process to make a vaccine.
Countries in the Southern Hemisphere are just beginning their influenza season. Information obtained from the Southern Hemisphere countries experiences during their flu season may provide valuable information to Northern Hemisphere countries in preparation for it’s own flu season
All 50 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have reported cases of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. Most people in the United States that have become ill with the H1N1 virus have recovered without medical treatment. Currently 33,902 cases of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus have been reported in the United States with 170 deaths reported. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) does anticipate that there will be more new cases of this virus reported, more hospitalizations and more deaths associate with this virus in the weeks to come. The CDC anticipates signification illness associated with the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus in the fall and winter months which is typically the U.S. influenza season.
The CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has issued priority use for antiviral drugs during this outbreak to treat people that are at increased risk of severe illness and those hospitalized with the H1N1 virus. People at high risk include young children, people with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, asthma, metabolic disease, lung, heart or kidney disease or those with weakened immune systems and those with neurologic or neuromuscular disease.
The CDC has provided information on what to do if you become sick (click here for link ) and how to care for someone who is sick with the virus at home.(click here for link) The most important thing that you can do right now is to stay informed.
Tags: antiviral, arthritis, autoimmune, autoimmune disease, CDC, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, chronic, complications, Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, flu season, government, H1N1, health, immune system, infection, influenza, information, pandemic, phase 6, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, swine flu, WHO, World Health Organization
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, News, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA | 5 Comments »
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Bristol-Meyers Squibb, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that Abatacept (Orencia) a drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and manufactured by Bristol-Meyers Squibb, reduced the severity of illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. This may provide a new treatment for the influenza virus that would cut down on the immune response to the virus and still maintain the protective effects.
This drug does not interrupt the immune system’s attack in the lungs which helps to kill the virus, but it prevents the T-cells from overreacting which can make you feel sick and can lead to pneumonia. This “overreacting” immune response is most often found in young healthy people and is thought to be the leading cause of death from pandemic strains of flu. It is thought to be true in the early cases of the H1N1 (“swine flu”). Currently this drug is not approved by the FDA for treatment of influenza. It is however approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The researchers tested the effectiveness of this drug on mice. After the mice were injected with a lethal dose of the influenza A virus, the survival rate for the treated mice was 30% higher than the untreated mice. The treated mice recovered faster and suffer less lung damage than the untreated mice. The scientist found that treating the mice with Abatacept (Orencia) minimized the amount of tissue damage caused by the immune response and still enable the body to fight off the virus. Treatment with Abatacept (Orencia) made a significant improvement to the survival of the mice infected with the lethal dose of the virus. The survival rate was 80% for the treated mice verses 50% for the untreated mice.
There are three types of seasonal influenza, A, B and C. There are numerous subtypes of Influenza A including the new strain H1N1 also known as the “swine flu”. Currently vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection with the virus. The antiviral drug, Tamiflu can help to prevent the virus from spreading in the body if it is taken within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.
.
Tags: A, Abatacept, arthritis, BristolMeyers, flu, H1N1, influenza, National Institutes of Health, NIH, Orencia, rheumatoid, School of Medicine, Squibb, swine, Tamiflu, University of Maryland, vaccination
Posted in Good News!, Health/Fitness, News | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
You can’t turn a television on lately without hearing something about the possiblility of a swine flu pandemic. As of 11:00 am today EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta, GA has reported 64 confirmed cases of the swine flu. The CDC has issued a travel warning recommending against non essential travel to Mexico. Yesterday the WHO (World Health Organization) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level from Phase 4 to Phase 5. Phase 4 means there is verifiable human to human transmission of infection. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion. Phase 5 ” is characterized by human to human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region.” This means there is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and it is time to implement measures to deal with the reality of a pandemic
Currently there is no vaccine available for the swine flu. The WHO believes that having an annual flu vaccine may offer partial protection against the current strain. However this influenza strain is biologically different from the strain that is protected with the current vaccine. Currently the CDC is studying and developing a vaccine for the recent swine flu outbreak.
In Mexico there have been close to 1,600 suspected cases of this influenza strain. Scientist are working to understand why there are so many deaths in Mexico when the United States cases seem mild. Some believe that the infected people in Mexico waited until the were very ill before seeking medical attention. The concern is that most of those that died in Mexico were healthy young adults. As of yesterday there were 149 fatalities from this outbreak.
The United States government announced a public health emergency although President Barack Obama urged calm. Obama told a gathering of the National Academy of Sciences the swine flu outbreak “requires a heightened state of alert, but it is not a cause for alarm”. The acting director of the CDC, Richard Besser said the affected states ( New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California) would be receiving 11 million courses of antiviral drugs.
So what does this mean if you are currently taking medication that suppresses your immune system, as many of us with autoimmune diseases do? It means that we need to extra vigilant when it comes to hygiene, make sure that you wash your hands often with soap and water. I always keep a alcohol based hand cleaner in my car and I use it after every shopping trip. Avoid contact with someone who is sick. If you should start to feel sick with flu like symptoms, runny nose, cough, aches,and fever call your doctor and stay home from school or work. Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes, that is how germs are spread.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are updating their websites regularly. Here are their links:
Tags: CDC, Centers, control, disease, flu, health, immune, influenza, Mexico, Obama, Organization, outbreak, pandemic, president, strain, swine, system, transmission, vaccine, WHO, World
Posted in News, Wellness | 4 Comments »
Subscribe to LivingRheum with RSS