NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration says it confirmed three new cases of a potentially lethal brain inflammation linked to the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.

There have been 13 reported cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, since mid-2006. The reports are the first confirmed new cases since June. While the disease is rare, the FDA says the risk appears to increase as patients remain on Tysabri.

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Paul Smith college started preparing for a swine flu outbreak over the summer, and has set up the dorm with computers with internet access and TVs.

The college says that any students who have swine flu symptoms will be encouraged to voluntarily isolate themselves, but those who refuse may be suspended or face other discipline.  A spokesman for the college says this would be a last resort, if they believed a student was showing disregard for their health or other students.

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BASEL, Switzerland — Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG said Monday that it has had reports of 13 cases of pandemic swine flu becoming resistant to Tamiflu, which it calls a very low percentage.

A good sign is that the people who had the resistant strain have not passed the disease on to other people, said David Reddy, leader of Roche’s Tamiflu pandemic task force. And the resistant variety has been like the widespread version of the virus in that it typically produces only mild symptoms.

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The Vancouver Island health authority is advising people who suffer from chronic medical conditions like asthma and diabetes to get a prescription for an anti-viral medication before they get sick with swine flu.

Swine flu death toll over 3,200; cases of Tamiflu resistance rise to 22 TORONTO - The World Health Organization says swine flu has claimed at…Report: Outbreak of H1N1 flu in remote First Nations community on Vancouver Island There are reports two people with H1N1 have died in B.C.–one in…VIHA’s chief medical officer to leave post The Vancouver Island Health Authority is losing another top executive to Alberta….

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April 27, 2009 — Swine flu shows no signs of slowing down, with twice as many confirmed cases in the U.S. today as there were yesterday. And two more countries — Canada and Spain — have reported their first confirmed swine flu cases.

At a news conference in Geneva this morning, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Gregory Hartl announced that there are now 40 lab-confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., 26 lab-confirmed cases in Mexico, six in Canada, and one in Spain. Hartl notes that swine flu has been mild everywhere except Mexico, and that the reasons for that still aren’t clear. Although there have been many more cases of illness reported in Mexico, the WHO figure refers only to cases that have been verified as swine flu.

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Swine flu vaccinations may begin in three weeks, earlier than previously anticipated, after the first U.S. tests found a single shot to be effective in eight to 10 days, U.S. health officials said.

The first shots may be available by the end of this month and administered to patients the first week of October, said Nancy Cox, director of the flu division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Health officials had previously planned for vaccinations to begin in mid-October, requiring two shots administered three weeks apart.

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PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — The number of people reporting flu-like symptoms at Washington State University doesn’t appear to be dropping.

Health and Wellness Services reported 169 students contacted them Tuesday to report symptoms consistent with the swine flu. That’s similar to the daily numbers reported last week.

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Via Thanh Nien Daily : Health Ministry reports 118 new swine flu cases.  Excerpt: The Health Ministry on Friday reported another 118 people found with the influenza A (H1N1) virus, increasing the country’s tally to 4,383 since the flu broke out in May.  Five people have died of the flu so far.  Two patients with critical pneumonia and clinical symptoms of the H5N1 avian influenza at the Hanoi-based National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases have tested positive only for swine flu, said Nguyen Van Kinh, the institute’s director general.  So far the influenza A (H1N1) virus has yet to show any signs of developing into a new strain, Kinh added.

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CAIRO: Egypt’s health ministry has confirmed 15 new cases of the H1N1 Swine flu virus in the country. Abdel Rahman Shaheen, the ministry’s spokesman, said at a press conference that the new cases bring the total number of those infected in the country to 860.

He added that at least 763 of those infected have been cured and the average age of Egyptians contracting the virus is 22-years-old. The statements come after a 25-year-old woman died as a result of contracting the deadly virus, making the number of those killed as a result of the virus two.

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Healthy people who catch swine flu should not be given antiviral drugs, as most will recover within a week, the World Health Organisation has said.

The drugs are offered to anyone in England with flu-like symptoms but guidance from the UN health agency suggests that the side-effects of taking medication may outweigh the benefits for otherwise healthy people.

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