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By Category: Public Health

H1N1 Vaccine For Mothers Does Not Affect Birth Outcomes

According to two new studies published in JAMA, the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine poses no risk of birth defects, fetal growth restriction, or preterm birth when given to pregnant women. However, the vaccine does slightly increase the risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, pregnant women were at increased risk of illness, death, Read More »

July 12, 2012
| Filed under Public Health
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Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever case 1st in 2012

(The China Post) TAIPEI–The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported Thursday the year’s first case of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by hantavirus and urged the public to avoid exposure to rodents, which are carriers of the virus. “The 63-year-old pig farmer from Kaohsiung has been discharged from the hospital following treatment,” said Read More »

July 12, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, and Public Health
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Brazil To Combat Dengue Fever With Genetic Modified Mosquitoes

(Bernama) BRASILIA, Brazil said it will breed huge numbers of genetically modified mosquitoes to help stop the spread of dengue fever, an illness that has already struck nearly 500,000 people this year nationwide, killing 74. Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics every year, causing fever, muscle and joint Read More »

July 12, 2012
| Filed under South America, South Asia, Countermeasures, and Public Health
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Revised Estimate Increases Global H1N1 Mortality Figures by Factor of 15

(Center for Biosecurity of UPMC) The previously reported number of deaths due to laboratory-confirmed H1N1 (18,500) during the 16 months of the 2009-2010 pandemic (April 2009-August 2010)1 is widely acknowledged to be a gross underestimate because most flu patients were not tested. Evidence of this lack of data is that less than 12% of laboratory-confirmed Read More »

July 11, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Bird flu three steps from potentially lethal human strain

(Daily Mail) As scientists delve deeper into H5N1 bird flu, they have discovered it is only three steps away from mutating into a potentially lethal human pandemic form. The find has added new urgency to scientists’ quest for a way to prevent a deadly global outbreak that could kill millions. Culls of hundreds of thousands Read More »