Healthy Me - At Home and Away: Influenza A virus subtype H1N1

Showing posts with label Influenza A virus subtype H1N1. Show all posts

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 superbug found

What will be coming next? Seems like an endless stream of 'invincible' bugs is up against the human race...
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Doctors discover Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 superbug

SINGAPORE: A team of Singapore doctors has found a mutant H1N1 virus resistant to Tamiflu - the antiviral drug used to treat it.

The superbug was detected in a sample from a previously healthy 28-year-old female patient, at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The mutant strain developed within two days of exposure to the drug. Doctors said less than one per cent of flu is currently resistant.

But they added clinicians should consider resistance when patients who are seriously ill with flu fail to respond to treatment for H1N1.

That's because the strain can evolve almost overnight.

Researchers noted that anti-viral drugs should be given only when necessary as they have limited benefit in mild infections.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital senior consultant in laboratory medicine Timothy Barkham said: "As with all antimicrobial medicines, we should not give patients anti-viral drugs unless it is really necessary, in order to preserve them for patients who really need them".

He noted that antivirals are likely to be most effective in severe flu but are of limited benefit in mild infections.

The research was supported by three A*A*STAR institutes: the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), and the Bioinformatics Institute (BII).

ETC developed the method used to chart the evolution of drug resistance in the influenza virus, while GIS provided the technology to sequence the viral genome and BII compared the mutant to previous resistant strains to confirm its novelty.

-CNA/wk

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Doctors discover Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 superbug
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Disinfecting hand gels of no use against H1N1 flu infection

Was it placebo back then, therefore?
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Disinfecting hand gels don't affect H1N1 flu infection rate

BOSTON : The regular use of alcohol-based disinfecting hand gels authorities recommended during the A(H1N1) pandemic has little effect on the disease's infection rate, according to a study published Sunday.

The findings suggest that the pandemic virus and similar strains may be most effectively transmitted in the air, rather than by contact with infected surfaces, the authors of the study said.

"An alcohol hand disinfectant with enhanced antiviral activity failed to significantly reduce the frequency of infection with either rhinovirus or influenza," wrote the authors of the study presented Sunday at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) here.

Participants in the study disinfected their hands roughly every three hours over ten weeks between August 25 and November 9, 2009. Of that group, 42 out of 100 contracted rhinovirus infections, compared to 51 out of 100 in the control group.

Similarly, 12 of those regularly disinfecting their hands contracted the H1N1 flu, compared to 15 in the control group.

"The hand treatment also did not significantly reduce the frequency of illnesses caused by the viruses," said the authors of the study led by Ronald Turner of the University of Virginia.

The study was financed by the Dial Corporation, which makes various care and cleaning products, including alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

"The results of this study suggest that hand transmission maybe less important for the spread of rhinovirus than previously believed," the authors said.

"This study suggests that protection from infection with these viruses may require increased attention to aerosol transmission of virus," they added.

ICAAC, the principal international meeting on infectious diseases, has brought together some 12,000 specialists to Boston for presentations and discussions between September 12-15.

- AFP/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Disinfecting hand gels don't affect H1N1 flu infection rate
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

H1N1 spreads long after the fever stops

Image via Wikipedia

SAN FRANCISCO - When the coughing stops is probably a better sign of when an Influenza A (H1N1) patient is no longer contagious, experts said after seeing new research that suggests the virus can still spread many days after a fever goes away.

"This study shows you're not contagious for a day or two. You're probably contagious for about a week," said Mr Gaston De Serres, a scientist at the Institute of Public Health in Quebec.

He presented one of the studies on Monday at an American Society for Microbiology conference.

Three reports suggest this is so. Mr De Serres and other researchers in Canada took nose and throat swabs from 43 flu patients and dozens of sick family members.

On the eighth day after symptoms appeared, 19 to 75 per cent showed signs of virus remaining in their noses.

Dr David Lye reported on 70 patients treated at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore for Influenza A (H1N1).

He found that 80 per cent had the virus five days after symptoms began, and 40 per cent seven days after. Some patients still harboured virus 16 days later.

A third report came from Dr Guillermo Ruiz-Palacios of the National Institutes of Medical Science and Nutrition in Mexico, who said.

Infected people "shed the virus for a very, very long time", Dr Guillermo Ruiz-Palacios said. AP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 16-Sep-2009

Saturday, August 1, 2009

WHO advises H1N1 flu drugs for pregnant women

2009 H1N1 July 25th update

Just how risky is it for pregnant women if ever they contract the H1N1 virus?

According to earlier reports, expecting women are in the high-risk group, and that they should be immediately given the medicine when they show symptoms of the H1N1 virus, whether or not they are confirmed to be infected with the virus.

Waiting until the laboratory results come out may prove fatal, as the current medicine against H1N1 is most potent only within 48 hours of the disease’s onset.

The risk of taking the medication far outweighs the risk of waiting for confirmation, and it would be too late by then.

WHO advises H1N1 flu drugs for pregnant women

Friday, July 3, 2009

Singapore confirms 91 new H1N1 cases, bringing total to 969

The H1N1 case is now 969…

Read the story here.

Friday, June 19, 2009

AYG Committee unveils H1N1 flu precaution plans

By Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 18 June 2009 1839 hrs

Swissotel The Stamford - taken from www.swissotel.com

SINGAPORE: The Asian Youth Games (AYG) kicks off in Singapore later this month.

The inaugural games will have more than a thousand athletes taking part, some of them from countries with known community transmission of H1N1 flu. But the organisers say precautionary plans are already in place.

The AYG participants have been advised to get themselves vaccinated against the seasonal flu at least two weeks before they arrive, and to familiarise themselves with the current control measures in Singapore.

Upon arrival, each athlete will be issued a flu kit. Inside it include a health advisory, a surgical mask, a digital thermometer and a hand sanitiser. Athletes will also have to undergo twice daily temperature checks which will be supervised.

Participants are also advised to monitor their health closely and stay in their rooms if they are unwell.

But if flu-like symptoms develop, help is close at hand - a 23-room medical centre that has 12 isolation rooms and a pharmacy. The medical centre occupies the ninth floor of Swissotel, the athlete's village.

The centre previously consisted of eight rooms, but the organising committee has since decided to increase that number to the current 23.

20 staff including three doctors, two primary health care providers and two physiotherapists will be on hand to assist with any medical needs.

Suspect cases will be tested for H1N1 flu with a throat swab, and a dedicated ambulance service is available to ferry patients to the Communicable Disease Centre.

Singapore's Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan, was asked if there is any cause for concern, given the large number of foreign athletes entering Singapore which may increase the chances of importing the virus.

He said: "My position at this point in time - life has to go on. The AYG is one of the major events that has been planned a long time ago. And so long as it is safe from a medical and a public health perspective, we will proceed with the games."

Measures are also in place at Swissotel to ensure there will be no cross-infections between hotel guests and athletes.

Senior consultant, Communicable Diseases Division, Ministry of Health, Jeffery Cutter, said: "Other hotel guests are not using the same lifts. So this already minimises the mixing. Athletes also have their own arrangements for meals etcetera."

But if a large outbreak occurs within the athlete village, organisers say they may look into providing an offsite location to care for the patients.

And they may even consider suspending or cancelling the games if there is sustained transmission among athletes.

Organisers say a moderate increase in costs has been incurred due to additional H1N1 flu measures.

They say that the health and safety of all participants at the AYG is of paramount importance and therefore they will take all necessary measures to ensure all participants have a safe and enjoyable experience at the games.

- CNA/yt

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Singapore to change strategy if WHO declares H1N1 flu pandemic

By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 June 2009 1911 hrs

Health screening officers monitor passengers through a thermal scanner at the Changi International Airport

SINGAPORE: If the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares a global H1N1 flu pandemic, Singapore will gradually move from a strategy of containment to mitigation when it comes to dealing with the virus.

This means that instead of being treated at hospitals, patients will be eventually treated by general practitioners at clinics. Home quarantine orders will also be lifted when there is community spread.

But for now, Singapore will still try its best with the containment strategy to buy time to prepare for the pandemic.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said general practitioners are still being trained and the lab capabilities for testing H1N1 need to be ramped up further.
"All of us know that while we will try our best to stop the spread, at some stage, we will be overwhelmed," he said.

"Community spread is a matter of time, but our efforts have been meaningful. It has been two months since WHO sounded the alarm and there is no community spread in Singapore."

The fatality rate for H1N1 may not be high, but it has caused deaths in pregnant mums and young people, making it different from seasonal flu.

Mr Khaw said the H1N1 vaccine will be ordered in batches, although no decisions have been made on who or when to vaccinate.

- CNA/so

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.