Seasonal flu shot increases A(H1N1) risk: Canadian study

This is what we should be worried about.

OTTAWA: Preliminary results from some studies have found that seasonal flu shots may increase the risk of catching Influenza A(H1N1), Canadian scientists said Wednesday.

About 2,000 people from four Canadian provinces were involved in the separate studies, which showed that people who had received the seasonal flu vaccine in the past were more likely to get sick with the A(H1N1) virus, China’s Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday, citing the scientists as saying.

Researchers know that, theoretically, when people are exposed to bacteria or a virus, it can stimulate the immune system to create antibodies that facilitate the entry of another strain of the virus.

Dengue fever is one example, scientists say.

But experts stressed that these are very preliminary results and need to be validated.

“This is some evidence that has been floated; it hasn’t been validated yet, it’s very preliminary,” cautioned Dr Don Low, microbiologist in chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

But this is nevertheless very important data to help guide policy decision, as the time comes for seasonal flu shots, he said.

This latest finding raises questions about the order in which to get flu shots.

Across Canada, public health authorities are fiercely debating the idea of shortening, delaying or scrapping their seasonal flu vaccination campaign in favour of mass inoculation against A(H1N1).

The main reason is because A(H1N1) may be the dominant strain of influenza circulating when the fall flu season hits, meaning it could be a waste of time and resources to mount a seasonal flu vaccine campaign. -- Bernama


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/9/24/nation/20090924093710&sec=nation

How do we dispose of masks

I started wearing a surgical mask while boarding the LRT and KTM today to reach home from TARC.

Seeing that this is Friday and that tomorrow is a holiday, I expected that there is a huge crowd and I was right.

While wearing the mask I felt uncomfortable not because I cannot breathe in but because the air that I'm exhaling is drying up my mouth.

I can even smell my breath every time I exhale which is not something pleasant as there are a lot of microorganisms in a person's mouth.

It was then, when I thought of how do we dispose the masks as there are no proper disposal sites for this in Malaysia which is easily accessible.

My due concern was because the virus can survive for quite a long time outside of a host cell. Thus, the health warning of washing your hands frequently and avoid touching your face.

If the mask that were thrown away in a simplistic manner, I wonder whether it could cause another person to get infected if the mask does contain the virus especially the garbage collectors.

As I'm lazy to search for that, I found a link of what the HK government has done to curb the spread of SARS a few years ago which can still be used today.


http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/health_promote_protect/oldsars/mask.htm#disposal

Why H1N1 Spread so fast in Malaysia

*modified*
This is not a truly original post but about an article I read in The Sun today.

What does H1N1 mean?
As the strain originated from America and since America is in the northern hemisphere, it was named "A(H1N1)'. ~by Doctor H.

This is obviously wrong.

The real answer was given by a government veterinarian.
In A(H1N1), A refers to the influenza category.

The H is haemagglutinin, a surface protein that binds the virus to the host cell that is being attacked.

N stands for neuraminidase, an enzyme that penetrates the host cell.

Both H and N are present in the cell membrane of the viruses.

There are 16 kinds of H and only ninekinds of N. And that is why we have numerical digits in the influenza strains.

The bracketed letters and numbers refer to the specific strain or sub-type of the category,Dr K explained.

If you do not believe me click on the picture to enlarge or go to sun2surf.com and check out today's paper page 3.

TAMIFLU Resistance

Yes you heard it right, the possibility of TAMIFLU resistance has occurred.

Read below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SINGAPORE has reported a case of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 virus, said a World Health Organisation (WHO) scientist.

Dr Charles Penn, a scientist with the Geneva-based agency, said on Wednesday WHO has received formal notification of seven cases.

He told The Canadian Press that Japan has reported three cases of resistance; and Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong and Singapore have each found one.

Dr Penn also revealed that WHO has been alerted informally to the discovery of 'a small number of other Tamiflu-resistant viruses' but would not say where they were found or how many there were in total.

Tamiflu is one of only two flu drugs to treat H1N1 cases.

Since its emergence earlier this year, the pandemic H1N1 virus has been resistant to two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine.

Dr Penn said the Tamiflu-resistent H1N1 cases 'look like individual isolated cases,' suggesting that there is 'no onward transmission, or implication of them having originated, from a common source."

He added that laboratories around the world are on the lookout for changes in the pandemic viruses that might suggest a similar problem of resistance.

'But so far, no evidence has been found,' he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_416687.html?vgnmr=1

WaterMark: H1N1 Song

WaterMark: H1N1 Song

This is a blog I found on Innit today and the video is hilarious.