Grippe porcine / Swine flu - Nature biting back at industrial animal production?

[Al-khiyal]

First swine flu vaccinations on the way for more than 13 million Britons

August 13, 2009 -- More than 13 million Britons will be offered the first doses of a vaccine against swine flu this autumn, in a dramatic move which the government says will save lives. The initial stage of a mass immunisation campaign will see almost 11 million people in four priority groups, mostly those whose health puts them at risk from the pandemic, invited to have a course of two injections three weeks apart, probably starting in October. More than two million health and social care workers, including GPs, hospital staff and care home personnel, will also be asked to have the jabs in a bid to help the NHS cope with the expected second big surge of the H1N1 virus. The escalation of the fight against the pandemic will see the four most at-risk groups vaccinated in order of priority. They are people aged between six months and 65 with chronic conditions such as breathing difficulties, diabetes and heart disease, followed by pregnant women, then people living with those in the first group and finally people over 65.

Sir Liam Donaldson, the government's chief medical officer, said that children and babies under six months old with no health problems would not be among those who would have the vaccine. A decision about whether and how healthy adults will be offered the jabs will be made in a few months' time, once health officials have studied how the pandemic is affecting health at that time. The immunisations are dependent on licenses being granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is expected in late September or early October. Some 0.3m doses of the vaccine, which is being made by the drug firms GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter Pharmaceutical, have arrived already and a total of 54.6m vaccinations are expected to have been delivered by the end of the year. "We have a real chance, if we can get the vaccine in place, that we can save some lives, and that would be the first time in history that we would be able to save lives in real time," said Donaldson, who stressed that drugs now meant that the NHS could respond much more effectively than when the last influenza pandemic killed around a million people in 1968.

The estimated five million people in the first of the priority groups will be individuals who are usually offered the winter flu jab. They have conditions including diabetes, chronic heart, liver or kidney disease, chronic respiratory disease and asthma and those with suppressed immune systems, such as those with HIV or who are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Around 600,000 pregnant women will also be offered the vaccine, although at exactly what stage of their pregnancy they would receive it is still to be finalised. The EMA's approval will set out whether the vaccine is appropriate for all pregnant women and if it should only be offered during certain stages of pregnancy. The moves comes amid further signs that the first wave of the pandemic is petering out. There were an estimated 25,000 new cases in England last week, the second successive weekly fall and a huge drop on the 110,000 cases two weeks earlier. However, the number of people in England who have died after contracting the virus has risen from 36 to 44, and the proportion of those who were previously healthy has gone up from 12% to 21%. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said he accepted the government's recommendations on priority access to the vaccine. However, he added: "It was unhelpful of the government to have suggested that the vaccine would be ready by the end of this month." "It will now not be available in time to stop the virus spreading when schools return in the autumn so the government will need to reconsider its strategy in relation to schools."

How it will work

Q: How have the four most at-risk groups, and the order of priority between them, been identified?

A: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the government's independent advisors in this area, made recommendations.

Q: Why haven't all children been included?

A: Because the evidence shows that while children have been picking up the infection in large numbers, they are not among those who have been suffering the most.

Q: How will people who are offered the vaccine access it?

A: They will probably receive a letter from their GP.

Q: How will these tens of millions of jabs be administered?

A: The country's 40,600 GPs will be at the heart of the programme, although the nurses who work at surgeries will also do many of the injections.

[Al-khiyal]

Saudi clinics to treat swine flu patients and people suspected of being infected by the virus at state expense

RIYADH, Aug 13, 2009 (KUNA) -- Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has instructed all Saudi public and private hospitals and clinics to treat swine flu suspects and patients at the expense of the government. In a statement issued by SPA, the Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabea said that in view of the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, which witnesses the rush of worshippers from all over the Islamic countries and communities to Saudi Arabia, the King has ordered that necessary health care should be provided for all H1N1A patients at the expense of the government.

[Al-khiyal]

Egypt reports five new swine flu cases

CAIRO, August 13, 2009 (KUNA) -- Egyptian health authorities reported on Thursday five new cases of the swine flu virus known as A/H1N1, bringing the total number of people infected with the virus to 425 cases. Four of those infected were Egyptians and the fifth was a British female who arrived today and is being treated in hospital, Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Egyptian Health ministry spokesman said in a statement. The spokesmen added that all cases were in stable condition and are being treated in assigned hospitals. Last July, Egypt reported its first fatality from the disease, an Egyptian woman in her thirties.

[Al-khiyal]

Jordan records 12 new swine flu cases, total at 112

AMMAN, August 13, 2009 (KUNA) -- Jordan recorded 12 new cases of the swine flu-causing A/H1N1 virus over the past week, bringing the total number of people infected with the virus to 112 cases, said Health Minister Dr. Nayef Al-Fayez on Thursday. In a statement to KUNA, Al-Fayez said that between August 5-11 Jordan recorded 12 new cases aged 10-40 years, comprising one Swedish citizen with the remainder being Jordanians, noting that they included 10 men and two women. Half of the A/H1N1 cases were infected through local interactions with infectees, and the rest came from Lebanon, Spain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Al-Fayez added. He pointed out that seven infectees received treatment and five were admitted to hospital in Amman. The total number of A/H1N1 infectees in Jordan stands at 112, including 91 Jordanians, he said.

[Al-khiyal]

Swine flu death toll in India rises to 22

NEW DELHI, August 14, 2009 (KUNA) -- After two more deaths caused by swine flu were reported Friday morning, the death toll in India has mounted to 22, said media reports. The two cases were reported from Pune (in the south-western state of Maharashtra) and Raipur (the capital city of the central state of Chhattisgarh). The deceased were a 70-year-old woman and an 18-year-old boy. To combat the deteriorating situation by the day, the Indian government has decided to organise an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories for conducting flu tests. Until late last night, the death toll was 20, said the Health Ministry in a press release. So far, out of the total 22 death cases, 13 were reported in the city of Pune alone. According to the press release, a total of 1,283 swine cases were reported in different parts of the country up to last night, out of whom 589 were successfully treated and discharged, while the rest were undergoing treatment in different hospitals. Meanwhile, the Indian government has stationed a medical team in Maharashtra to assist the state government in instituting appropriate public health measures. Pune, the most greatly inflicted city, lies in Maharashtra.

[Al-khiyal]

India to develop swine flu vaccine in four months

NEW DELHI, August 14, 2009 (KUNA) -- An indigenously-developed swine flu vaccine would be ready in four months and in case any other country succeeds in developing it earlier, then it would be imported in enough quantities to check further spread of flu, said India's Junior Health Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Friday. Speaking at a function in Kolkata, the capital city of India's westernmost state West Bengal, Tridevi said that development of the vaccine in India was at an "advanced stage". "I am absolutely confident that it will be developed within a couple of months and clinical trials will take another two months," a Press Trust of India (PTI) report quoted him as saying. Maintaining that not enough quantities of the vaccine developed in the country would be available in the initial stages of production, he said: "Our view is that whoever develops the vaccine in whichever country, we will get it, " added the PTI report. On the occasion, Trivedi also stated that the distribution of Tamiflu vaccine was being "controlled" so as to prevent its indiscriminate use resulting in the H1N1 virus becoming drug resistant. The death toll in India due to swine flu increased to 22 on Friday. The most affected city in Pune, in south-western state of Maharashtra, which has so far reported 13 deaths.

[Al-khiyal]

Palestinian authorities report 12 new swine flu cases

RAMALLAH, August 14, 2009 (KUNA) -- The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 12 new swine flu cases in the West Bank on Friday. Director General of Basic Health Care and spokesman for the campaign for combating swine flu, Dr. Asaad Al-Ramlawi, said in a press release that the cases were reported in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The infectees are children and elderly, all of whom have come in contact with infectees that recently returned from Umrah (smaller pilgrimage) in Makkah, he explained. He noted that US$ eight million had been set aside by the ministry for purchasing vaccines, adding that talks were ongoing with three international pharmaceutical companies to secure this.