Swine flu less serious than other influenza: US study

2010-09-07T14:20:48Z

Infection from the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic virus presented a lower risk of serious complications than other recent strains of the flu, according to US research presented Tuesday. Analysis of influenza cases in the midwestern US state of Wisconsin showed infected individuals were younger than in earlier strains, but complications were not as likely as with the H3N1 virus that arose in the 2007-2008 flu season, said researchers at Wi...

Expert warns of complacency after swine flu fizzle

2010-09-05T02:30:05Z

Expert says bird flu still a pandemic danger, warns against complacency after swine flu fizzle

A leading virus expert urged health authorities around the world Sunday to stay vigilant even though the recent swine flu pandemic was less deadly than expected, warning that bird flu could spark the next global outbreak. A World Health Organization official also defended the <...

Time to get your flu shot, but just one this year

2010-08-30T10:30:18Z

HEALTHBEAT: Plenty of vaccine on hand as season to get flu shots rolls around a bit early

It's flu-shot season already, and for the first time health authorities are urging nearly everyone to get vaccinated. There is even a new high-dose version for people 65 or older. What a difference a year makes: Crowds lined up for hours for scarce shots during last fall's swine flu pandemic, when infections peaked well before enough vaccine could be produced. This year, a re...

Struggling Mexicana airline halting all operations

2010-08-27T14:30:29Z

Debt-ridden Mexicana airline to suspend all operations at midnight Friday, official says

Debt-ridden carrier Mexicana airline is halting all operations as of midnight Friday as it seeks to restructure costs, Mexico's transportation secretary said. The country's biggest airline was forced to shut down because it does not have enough ...

Narcolepsy fears may halt swine flu vaccine: Finland

2010-08-24T13:15:42Z

Finland's National Institute for Health and Wefare recommended Tuesday halting the use of the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine until a probe into a possible link to narcolepsy among children is concluded. "At the moment we are not having a (swine flu) epidemic, so there is no immediate need for vaccination," the agency said in a statemen...

Narcolepsy fears may halt swine flu vaccine, Finland

2010-08-24T08:15:27Z

Swine flu continues to spread in New Zealand, 10 dead

2010-08-23T09:15:26Z

Swine flu is continuing to spread in New Zealand, health officials said Monday as the death toll rose to 10 and some areas reported more people in hospital than during last year's pandemic. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the global pandemic over, H1N1 "is the most common strain of influenza circulating" in New Zealand, director...

New Zealand still experiencing 'significant' swine flu

2010-08-11T09:15:59Z

New Zealand is still experiencing a significant level of swine flu, health authorities said Wednesday, despite the World Health Organization's declaration that the global pandemic was over. "While some countries have seen H1N1 virus decline or crowded out by other strains, this is not the case in New Zealand," the deputy director of public health,

WHO declares swine flu pandemic is over

2010-08-10T10:16:05Z

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday declared the swine flu pandemic over, more than a year after the new virus spread around the world, sparking panic and killing thousands before fizzling out. "The world is no longer in phase six of the pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in ...

WHO chief says H1N1 flu pandemic is over

2010-08-10T09:45:16Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - The H1N1 pandemic is over and the global outbreak turned out to be much less severe than was feared just over a year ago, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. WHO director-general Margaret Chan once again rebutted criticism that the

WHO chief says swine flu pandemic is over

2010-08-10T07:15:32Z

World Health Organisation director general Margaret Chan announced Tuesday the end of the swine flu pandemic, more than a year after it was declared. "The world is no longer in phase six of the pandemic alert. We are now moving into the post-pandemic period," Chan said in a telephone news conference. "The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," s...

WHO reassesses swine flu pandemic

2010-08-10T03:15:50Z

Scientists from the World Health Organisation met on Tuesday over whether to recommend the lifting of the swine flu pandemic alert, an agency spokesman said. WHO chief Margaret Chan, who is expected to follow the recommendations of the emergency committee of scientists after their three-hour meeting, was due to make an announcement later in the day, ...

WHO: Decision on swine flu pandemic likely Tuesday

2010-08-10T01:45:11Z

WHO says decision on whether to downgrade swine flu pandemic is likely Tuesday

The World Health Organization says it will likely decide Tuesday whether to declare the swine flu pandemic over. Spokesman Gregory Hartl says an expert panel is discussing with WHO Director-Gener...

WHO emergency committee reviewing pandemic status

2010-08-10T00:00:13Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - Influenza experts began meeting on Tuesday to assess whether the H1N1 flu is still a pandemic or whether the world has moved into a post-pandemic phase, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The Emergency Committee will advise the WHO, a United Nati...

Clue found to why swine flu spread in people

2010-08-05T14:15:11Z

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The H1N1 swine flu virus underwent a mutation and used a new trick to spread efficiently in people, another signal to help experts predict whether a flu virus can cause a pandemic, researchers said Friday. The H1N1 swine flu virus was first identified in people in April 2009 but genetic research later suggested it had in fact been circulating for at least a decade and probably longer in pigs. "This pa...

Netherlands destroying 17 million swine flu vaccine doses

2010-07-27T11:16:13Z

The Netherlands is destroying more than 17 million unused doses of swine flu vaccine that were nearing their expiry date and that it could not resell, the health ministry said Tuesday. "We have started destroying" the vaccines, health ministry spokeswoman Inge Freriksen told AFP. "In the coming months, 17.8 million doses will be destroyed because the expiry date is approachin...

WHO may declare end to H1N1 swine flu pandemic: report

2010-07-19T17:30:05Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's emergency committee intends to convene as early as Tuesday to review data and declare an end to the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, Bloomberg News reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. WHO Hong Kong researchers have discovered a new way to treat patients suffering from swine flu, a report said Thursday, after the deadly virus killed more than 18,000 people worldwide in the past year. A joint study by the University of Hong Kong, Rite Aid says key revenue figure fell in June as total sales also slid

Drugstore operator Rite Aid Corp. said Thursday that its total revenue and a key revenue indicator both fell in June compared with a year earlier, when consumers' worries about the swine flu outbreak boosted sales of flu shots and treatments. At stores open at least a year, Rite Aid said, revenue fell 2.5 percent in the fou...

Cambodian PM and 3 ministers treated for swine flu

2010-06-29T10:45:14Z

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen sickened by swine flu and recovering, officials say

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and three other Cabinet ministers have contracted swine flu and the premier is recovering after several days of medical care, the health ministry said Tuesday. Hun Sen, 59, r...

Cambodian PM infected with swine flu: government

2010-06-29T10:16:05Z

Cambodian premier Hun Sen and several top officials have been infected with swine flu, a government spokesman said Tuesday. "I can confirm he and several ministers have tested positive with the virus," spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, while a letter from health minister Mam Bunheng said the prime minister was now recovering. The premier was found to be carrying the A(H1N1) virus...

Cambodian PM infected with swine flu: govt

2010-06-29T09:16:03Z

Cambodian premier Hun Sen and several ministers have been infected with swine flu, a government spokesman said Tuesday. "I can confirm he and several ministers have tested positive with the virus," spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP. Hun Sen is now recovering, said a letter signed by Health Minister Mam Bunheng. 79078390&bid=informcom" />

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Council of Europe calls for WHO flu handling probe

2010-06-24T11:16:08Z

The Council of Europe called Thursday for a probe into the World Health Organisation's handling of the H1N1 swine flu outbreak, which it said led to unjustified scares and waste of public money. A council parliamentary assembly identified "grave shortcomings" about WHO transparency about its position on the flu, "generating concerns about the...

2 experts resign from WHO swine flu review panel

2010-06-22T07:45:35Z

The World Health Organization says two members have resigned from an expert panel reviewing the global body's response to the swine flu outbreak. WHO said Tuesday that John MacKenzie and Tony Evans stepped down over concerns that their close association with the Reuters) - People who got vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu virus may also be protected against the strain of influenza that killed 50 million to 100 million people in 1918, researchers reported on Tuesday. Tests on mice showed the vaccine for the still-circulating strain of H1N1 protected against the older virus, a distant cousin also called H1N1, the team at

WHO probe to examine handling of flu pandemic

2010-06-07T08:16:06Z

The head of a World Health Organisation panel probing the handling of the flu pandemic said Monday that criticism of the agency's role which emerged last week would be taken up by his review. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of the WHO's Review Committee of external experts, welcomed the reports published on Friday by the British Medical...

WHO keeps swine flu pandemic alert

2010-06-03T05:16:03Z

World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan on Thursday decided to maintain a pandemic alert nearly a year after she placed the world on maximum readiness for the new swine flu virus. The WHO is continuing the alert following advice from a panel of scientists that although the outbreak has declined, fresh cases of A(H1N1) influenza are expected in ...

WHO says H1N1 flu pandemic continues

2010-06-03T04:00:10Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - The H1N1 pandemic is not yet over although its most intense activity has passed in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization said on Thursday after a review of the flu outbreak by independent experts. The WHO emergency committee, composed of 15 external advisers, said it remained critical for countries to maint...

WHO chief says swine flu is still a pandemic

2010-06-03T04:00:06Z

WHO chief says swine flu is still a pandemic though period of most intense activity passed

The head of the World Health Organization says swine flu is still a pandemic even though the period of most intense activity appears to have passed. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan says a decision on whether to declare the global epid...

WHO experts meet to assess if flu pandemic over

2010-06-01T11:15:14Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - World Health Organization expert advisors met on Tuesday to determine whether the H1N1 flu pandemic is fully over, or still circulating in the southern hemisphere and therefore a global threat. The WHO will not announce the results of the meeting until Wednesday. A WHO spokeswoman said World Health Organisation on Tuesday held a meeting to give their latest assessment of swine flu, in a move that could end the pandemic alert, a WHO spokesman said. The UN health agency said the result of the confidential meeting would be announced on Wednesday. Speaking shortly before the teleconference began, WHO spokesman...

Experts to review status of flu pandemic on Tuesday

2010-05-31T05:45:08Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - An expert panel that advises the World Health Organization on pandemics will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to declare the H1N1 flu outbreak over. The WHO said in a statement on Monday that its emergency committee will begin a teleconference at 1200 GMT on Tuesday and results will be posted later in the day on its websit...

FDA approves swine flu test for permanent use

2010-05-24T09:15:15Z

FDA clears H1N1 test from Focus Diagnostics under traditional approval system

The Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the first diagnostic test for 2009 swine flu under its traditional approval system. The FDA previously cleared several tests on a limited basis for use during the declared ...

States back WHO chief against flu pandemic 'smear'

2010-05-17T10:15:56Z

The World Health Organisation received backing from member states Monday over its handling of the flu pandemic as WHO chief Margaret Chan said the world had been "lucky" with swine flu. As the WHO's annual assembly opened here, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot bluntly dismisse...

WHO chief: We got lucky with swine flu pandemic

2010-05-17T08:00:33Z

The U.N.'s global health chief says the world was lucky that the swine flu pandemic was relatively mild. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan tells government delegations that the virus hadn't mutated into a more dangerous form, and that treatments such as World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan said Monday that the world had been "lucky" with the swine flu pandemic after the virus failed to mutate to a more deadly form. Chan told representatives of the WHO's 193 member states that "good news" in public health terms was normally driven by political commitment, resources and the ability to deliver...

WHO panel to review H1N1 pandemic status in coming weeks

2010-05-11T04:30:05Z

GENEVA (Reuters) - An expert panel advising the World Health Organization on pandemics will review the status of the H1N1 virus later this month or in early June to decide whether the swine flu pandemic is over. The Emergency Committee is waiting for the onset of winter in the southern hemisphere before making its recommendation, spokesman

Cairo's zabaleen want only respect in a rubbish life

2010-04-28T22:15:48Z

Children stop their game of marbles and scatter as rubbish-laden trucks trundle up their dusty street, swarming with flies and grinding dead vermin beneath their wheels. The sight -- and smell -- is all too familiar in Zarayib, meaning "the Sties", a shanty-town in northeast Cairo where the zabaleen make their living by sifting through garbage in search of anything recyclable. Before the Egyptian authorities a year ago ordered a total pig cull in the face of the outbreak of swine flu, th...

Chair seeks to tackle bias in WHO swine flu review

2010-04-19T15:32:05Z

Chairman hopes to tackle bias among members of panel reviewing WHO's response to swine flu

The head of an expert group brought in to review the World Health Organization's response to the swine flu outbreak said Wednesday that some members of the panel would inevitably be biased because of their close links to the global body or national governments. Harvey Fineberg, president of the...

Severity doubts and fear hit pandemic response: WHO panel

2010-04-12T10:15:55Z

Experts carrying out a world health probe said Monday fear and the lack of a clear severity assessment had hampered the response to the swine flu pandemic over the past year. The issues were raised by several of the 29 experts in their inaugural meeting to examine the controversial response to the first flu pandemic of the 21st century. "We want to know what worked well. We want to know what went wrong and ideally why," WHO probe which began on Monday said the lack of a severity assessment and fears raised by the deadly bird flu hampered the response to the swine flu pandemic over the past year. The issues were raised by several of the 29 experts in their inaugural meeting to examine the controversial response to the first flu pandemic of the 21st century. "We want to know what worked well. We want to k...

WHO sets up swine flu probe

2010-04-12T03:15:36Z

Health experts on Monday began a WHO probe into the controversial response to the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century, nearly a year after global alarm was raised over the new swine flu strain. "We want to know what worked well. We want to know what went wrong and ideally why," World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told th...

Swine Flu Vaccine

2010-07-01T02:45:38Z

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2009 file photo, swine flu vaccines are sorted at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. A whopping 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine expired on Wednesday, June 30, and will be destroyed _ an amount that is believed to be a record loss of flu vaccine.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Mexico Swine Flu Year Later

2010-04-23T03:01:23Z

FILE - In this April 30, 2009 file photo, Kevin Solis plays with his mother Abdi Santoyo, both wearing protective face masks as a precaution against swine flu contagion in Cancun, Mexico. April 23, 2010 marks a year since this city awoke to confusing news of a new virus, sending the world on a wild si...

Switzerland WHO Swine Flu

2010-04-14T12:18:22Z

Harvey Fineberg, chairman of an independent review committee, gestures during a press conference at the World Health Organization, WHO, headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, April 14, 2010. Fineberg, president of the Des Moines, Iowa. Nearly a year after China banned imports of U.S. pork over fears about the swine flu virus, the Asian nation has agreed to resume purchases of American pork with shipments possibly beg...

SWINE FLU DECLINE

2010-03-27T23:58:03Z

Graphic shows reported weekly swine flu cases since Sept. 5,

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Facts About H1N1