The BBC reports that experts have discovered the first case of swine flu that is resistant to tamiflu, an antiviral drug being used to fight h1n1.
Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug.
David Reddy, company executive, said it was not unexpected given that common seasonal flu could do the same.
The news comes as a nine-year-old girl has become the third to die in the UK with swine flu.
Virologist Professor John Oxford told the BBC, "I'm not surprised about this finding. The question is whether it is going to spread. We will soon know the answer."
The CDC has categorized swine flu as a Category 2 outbreak, with the possibility of 90,000 to 450,000 deaths in the U.S. There were are record 6,300 new cases in the U.S. last week.
Michael Jackson suffered from a cardiac arrest and died. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen explains what a cardiac arrest is and how it is different than a heart attack. A cardiac arrest is when a heart stops functioning. Rescu usually only works when someone gets it within ten minutes but the outcome is usually not good if the person is not helped within three to five minutes.
This detailed animated heart was created by a team of doctors from the Heart Hospital in London and computer animation experts from Glassworks. The virtual heart can be manipulated using a computer mouse or keyboard. New Scientistsays the computer simulated heart is the most realistic to date. Take a look:
An MSNBC.com article quotes Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC as saying the fatality rate for H1N1 swine flu appears to be slightly higher than that of seasonal flu. These contradicts what many health officials have been saying - that the H1N1 virus is no more severe than seasonal flu. Dr. Anne Schucat also says there are 200 people hospitalized with swine flu and more deaths are expected.
"We wonder whether this strain will continue during the summer and give us more of a summer influenza pattern," said Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health program. "Unfortunately, we don't know whether we’re going to get a break this summer with this virus."
So far, the fatality rate for the novel virus appears to be slightly higher than for seasonal influenza, which contributes to an estimated 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, Schuchat said. More than 200 people have been hospitalized, mostly children and teens, which is also very different from seasonal infections.
Schuchat warned that the virus likely will continue to spread and to cause more hospitalizations and more deaths.
Hopefully, we will get a break this summer but even we do people have to not let down their guard this fall. The virus spreads easily because most people do not appear to have immunity to it and there is no vaccine.
WebMD reports that Daniel Jernigan, MD, PhD, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division says that more than 100,000 Americans probably have the flu and of these at least half probably have swine flu. This means there are probably 50,000 or more people with the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Jernigan noted that the 4,700 confirmed or probable cases of swine flu reported to CDC represent a gross underestimate. When asked how many actual cases there were, Jernigan noted that 7% to 10% of the U.S. population -- up to 30 million people -- get the seasonal flu each year.
"So with the amount of activity we are seeing now, it is a little hard to know what that means in terms of making an estimate now of the total number of people with flu out in the community," Jernigan said. "But if I had to make an estimate, I would say ... probably upwards of maybe 100,000."
The WebMD article also says that flu cases are going up at a time of year when they generally decrease.
At a time when flu season should be ending or over, the CDC's flu season indicators are going up instead of down. As of May 9, 22 states had widespread or regional flu.
WebMD says that flu/pneumonia deaths for the week ending May 9th were 7.2% of all deaths. This is just under the "epidemic threshold" of 7.4% of all deaths. WebMD also reports that 173 people been hospitalized with H1N1 so far and most of them have been very young, between 5-24 years old.
The World Health Organization says in its latest update that 26 countries have officially reported 3440 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. The cases include 48 confirmed deaths - 45 in Mexico, 1 in Canada and 2 in the United States.
Mexico has reported 1364 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 45 deaths. The United States has reported 1639 laboratory confirmed human cases, including two deaths. Canada has reported 242 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Argentina (1), Australia (1), Austria (1), Brazil (6), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (12), Germany (11), Guatemala (1), Ireland (1), Israel (7), Italy (6), Japan (3), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (5), Panama (2), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (3), Spain (88), Sweden (1), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (34).
The latest WHO update can be found here. WHO also has provided a map that shows the cases as of May 9th. More h1n1 resources can be found here.
WHO's influenza pandemic alert raised from phase 4 to 5 but they have not yet upgraded it to phase 6.
The World Health Organization says in its latest update that 21 countries have officially reported 1124 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. The cases include 26 confirmed deaths - 25 in Mexico and 1 in the United States.
Mexico has reported 590 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The United States has reported 286 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (140), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (54), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (18).
The latest WHO update can be found here. WHO also has provided a map that shows the cases as of May 4th. More h1n1 resources can be found here.
WHO's influenza pandemic alert raised from phase 4 to 5 but they have not yet upgraded it to phase 6.
The World Health Organization says in its latest update that 20 countries have officially reported 985 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. The cases include 26 confirmed deaths - 25 in Mexico and 1 in the United States.
Mexico has reported 590 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The higher number of cases from Mexico reflects ongoing testing of previously collected specimens. The United States has reported 226 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (85), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (2), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (40), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (15).
The latest WHO update can be found here. WHO also has provided a map that shows the cases as of May 3rd. More h1n1 resources can be found here.
The World Health Organization raised the alert for swine flu to level five. This is one level short of a full pandemic and suggests a pandemic is imminent.
Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general, said, "It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic."
There are at least 91 cases in the United States and one death. There are also a growing number of countries with mounting swine flu cases. Schools are closing in the United States in an attempt to stop the spread of the swine flu.
A vaccine is in the works but won't be available until September, at the earliest. You can find links to some swine flu resources here.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a new swine flu update today. New countries confirming cases of A/H1N1 include Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Israel and Spain. There are suspected cases in several other countries.
The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 19:15 GMT, 28 April 2009, seven countries have officially reported cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 64 laboratory confirmed human cases, with no deaths. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Canada (6), New Zealand (3), the United Kingdom (2), Israel (2) and Spain (2).
Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.
WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.
The WHO update also noted that there is no risk of infection from swine flu from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.
The WHO's swine flu page is located here. You can find links to swine flu resources here.
A serious outbreak of swine flu in Mexico that has killed 103 people could become the next pandemic according to experts at WHO and the CDC. A pandemic is not a certainty yet, just a possibility. There have been at least 20 cases in the U.S. with no deaths and just one person was hospitalized. Cases have also been reported in Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, Isreal, France and Spain. Planes with sick passengers from Mexico are currently the main way the virus is spreading.
The swine flu in Mexico has reportedly killed primarily young health people aged 25-45. This raises concern that people are dying not directly from the flu itself but possibly from what's called a cytokine storm. Tara C. Smith, writing at the Aetiology blog, explains more about the cytokine storm here. We still do not know for sure how exactly the flu outbreak is killing people in Mexico City.
A Guardianarticle says that health experts in Mexico suspect that "tens of thousands" may have been infected and recovered.
Across Mexico, more than 1,300 people were tested for suspected swine flu infection and 400 were taken to hospital for checks. Health officials believe that tens of thousands, and possibly more, have been infected but have since recovered.
If so, this would greatly reduce the percentage of those who die from the swine flu but it is still too early to ascertain what is going on.
You can find some resources here. We will be frequently updating this page with new resources and adding more local government health resources.
Marie Clairereports that a large study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of over 50,000 men and women found that vegetarians get far fewer cancers. However, the study found unexpectedly that vegetarians get more colorectal cancer.
However, the study of 52,700 men and women, which was published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, wasn't all good news for vegetarians. It was discovered, too, that vegetarians were more likely to have colorectal cancer.
This was surprising as it seems to contradict previous evidence that eating lots of red meat increases the risk of developing the disease.
The Telegraph is also reporting on the research. They note that fish-eaters also had a lower risk of cancer than meat eaters. There's also been news recently of a study that found that mushrooms may help ward off breast cancer.
The BBC reports that a new study has found that doodling may help with memory recall. Doodlers performed 29% better in the study than non-doodlers. The scientists said the doodling may keep people from distracting daydreaming and help keep them focused on the tasks at hand.
Plymouth University researchers carried out memory tests on 40 volunteers, asking them to listen to a phone call and recall names and places.
Doodlers performed 29% better than non-doodlers, the team found.
Experts said doodling stopped people from daydreaming, which was a more taxing diversion, and so was good at helping people focus on mundane tasks.
During the study, half of the volunteers were asked to colour in shapes on a piece of paper while they listened to a 2.5 minute telephone message.
It might help even more if your doodles are related to what you are trying to learn or remember.
The Medpedia Project has announced the public launch of the beta version of Medpedia.com, a health resource and technology platform for the worldwide health community. Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other health organizations, are contributing in various ways to Medpedia. The goal of The Medpedia Project is to create a new model of how the world will assemble, maintain, critique and access medical knowledge. Since the announcement of The Medpedia Project in July 2008, over 110 organizations have contributed or pledged over 7,000 pages of content to the knowledge base, and thousands of people have become a part of the community.
For the general public, this page explains how to use Medpedia and this page list all the topics covered on medpedia.com.
The BBC 
An MSNBC.com 
The BBC 
The Medpedia Project has announced the public launch of the beta version of 
