TUESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) — With all the warnings and preparations, dire predictions and hastily ordered vaccines, could the growing worry about H1N1 swine flu prove more disruptive than the actual outbreak?
That notion is weighing on the minds of more than a few infectious-disease experts as the fall and winter flu season looms.
WASHINGTON - The first U.S. roll-out of vaccines against the new swine flu virus will be 3.4 million doses of MedImmune’s nose spray, ya you heard it right the same company who patented the H1N1 Swine Flu virus back in 2008 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.
“Initially we anticipate that 3.4 million doses of vaccine will be available,” Butler told a telephone briefing.
H1N1 influenza Vaccine will be distributed on a three day turn around time from four regional warehouses around the country next month. These were among the details unveiled Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the federal government’s increasingly complex response to the pandemic of H1N1 influenza (swine flu).
JACKSON, Miss. – When the swine flu vaccine arrives in Mississippi next month, it will be administered without cost to school children, Mississippi State Department of Health officials said Friday.School nurses are expected to work with doctors and representatives from the Mississippi State Department of Health to administer the vaccines but a specific plan has not yet been released to the state’s school districts.ÂPlans are still in the works but, generally, there will be a Health Department or partners coming to many schools, Thomas Chester, of the MSDH said.MSDH Spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said the Health Department has been working with the school districts since May to formulate a plan. Health officials are working with medical clinics and doctors to organize the immunization effort in the schools. The exact plan has not yet been released because health officials are still waiting for the vaccine to arrive, Sharlot said.Since classes resumed last month, school districts have been encouraging students to wash their hands often and to use hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of illness. More Swine Flu News ÂWe’re trying to prevent the spread of the flu and (the school districts) need to be able to convey that message to the students and parents in their district, Chester said.The stateÂs fifth death related to swine flu was confirmed Thursday. There have been 839 non-fatal cases of swine flu reported in the state, according to MSDH.Symptoms of swine flu in humans are similar to those of seasonal flu, with fever, respiratory symptoms and body aches. According to the Health Department, many of the swine flu deaths nationwide were among people with pre-existing health conditions.
ATLANTA — The first doses of swine flu vaccine may all be the nasal spray version, government health officials said Friday.
The government has said a trickle of vaccine will be available in early October, but on Friday they defined the size of that trickle — an estimated 3.4 million doses.
Currently it looks like all of them will be a nasal spray vaccine that is approved only for healthy people ages 2 to 49, said Dr. Jay Butler, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People infected with the swine flu (or H1N1 pandemic flu) strain continue to shed virus after the point where current recommendations say they can go back to work or school, two studies suggested Tuesday.
The question, experts said, is whether those people are still contagious and whether a longer stay-at-home period would prevent enough additional infections outweigh the cost.
This swine flu is always on the news. There was two cases in lowell where I live in Massachusetts. I have a strong feeling that our government had something to do with this swine flu. I bet they will have a vaccine for Swine and it’s gonna cost us $$. Isn’t the common flu virus we already have more lethal then this Swine flu will ever be?
The UK Department has reported significant drops in the level of swine flu cases in the UK. But with winter coming for the Northern Hemisphere, this may bring a second wave of both the seasonal and H1N1 swine flu. The UK Department of Health has reported its current findings as well as planning for further influenza scenarios.
Note that a swine flu pandemic makes reference to a countrywide emergency and a swine flu epidemic to a world wide emergency.
It is important to notice, this swine flu is curable ( and can be survived ). It is just a question of time when the correct vaccine formula will be available to the world. It’s proof against 2 of 4 antiviral drugs licensed for combating influenza : Symmetrel and Flumadine. It becomes even more deadly when people start taking the anti-viral drugs while not being sick.
The Swine Flu outbreak has been identified as a federal public health emergency that, in the words of our President, is “cause for concern” but “not a cause for alarm.” Please treat this situation with the balanced seriousness it requires. Be cautious and be prepared.