As of 5.30pm April 20, 2010, 75 new cases of Influenza A (H1N1) have been detected, bringing the total number of cases to 13,274.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said, however, no new cases of death were reported on April 20, 2010.

Eleven people were undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit, of which eight were in the high-risk category, he said in a press statement issued by the health ministry today.

Nationwide, Dr Mohd Ismail said, 624 influenza-like illness (ILI) cases were reported, adding that 85 of those cases were confirmed to be H1N1 positive.

As of 8am April 21, 2010 in Selangor and Melaka, Dr Mohd Ismail said that health authorities received six reports pertaining to ILI cluster cases.

Source : Bernama

Technorati Tags: h1n1, Health, hospital, ili, influenza-like illness, malaysia

By Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief, Prevention

Weight loss requires two things: burning calories through exercise and cutting them through smart food choices and portion control. In theory, you could create a calorie deficit by spending hours at the gym, but that’s not realistic-or much fun. And who wants to live on lettuce leaves? Instead, try these seven everyday moves to drop pounds effortlessly.

1. Fidget
James Levine, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, has spent a decade studying the role that everyday movement, or NEAT (nonexercise activity thermogenesis), plays in metabolism. His discovery: People who tap their feet, prefer standing to sitting, and generally move around a lot burn up to 350 more calories a day than those who sit still. That adds up to nearly 37 pounds a year!

2. Keep most meals under 400 calories
Study after study recommends spacing out your meals at regular intervals and keeping them all about the same size. Eating meals at regular intervals has been linked to greater calorie burning after eating, better response to insulin, and lower fasting blood cholesterol levels. When you eat regular meals throughout the day, you’re less likely to become ravenous and overeat.

3. Take yourself off cruise control
Increase the intensity of your everyday tasks, from vacuuming to walking the dog, recommends Douglas Brooks, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer in Northern California. “Turn on some music, add in some vigorous bursts, and enjoy the movement,” he says.

4. Drink 8 glasses of water per day
Water is not just a thirst quencher–it may speed the body’s metabolism. Researchers in Germany found that drinking two 8-ounce glasses of cold water increased their subjects’ metabolic rate by 30%, and the effect persisted for 90 minutes. One-third of the boost came from the body’s efforts to warm the water, but the rest was due to the work the body did to absorb it. “When drinking water, no calories are ingested but calories are used, unlike when drinking sodas, where additional calories are ingested and possibly stored,” explains the lead researcher, Michael Boschmann, MD, of University Medicine Berlin. Increasing water consumption to eight glasses per day may help you lose about 8 pounds in a year, he says, so try drinking a glass before meals and snacks and before consuming sweetened drinks or juices.

5. Step it up–and down
Climbing stairs is a great leg strengthener, because you’re lifting your body weight against gravity. In addition to taking the stairs at every opportunity, try stepping up and down on the curb while you’re waiting for the bus or filling your gas tank, says Brooks.

6. Use grocery bags as dumbbells
Letting someone else load your groceries or carry your suitcase is an opportunity missed for strengthening and calorie burning, says certified coach Beth Rothenberg, who teaches a class for fitness professionals at UCLA. “Carry your groceries, balanced with a bag in each hand, even if you have to make several trips,” she says. “And pack two smaller suitcases instead of one big one, so you can carry them yourself.”

7. Eat 4 g of fiber at every meal
A high-fiber diet can lower your caloric intake without making you feel deprived. In a Tufts University study, women who ate 13 g of fiber or less per day were five times as likely to be overweight as those who ate more fiber. Experts see a number of mechanisms through which fiber promotes weight loss: It may slow down eating because it requires more chewing, speed the passage of food through the digestive tract, and boost satiety hormones. To get 25 g of fiber a day, make sure you eat six meals or snacks, each of which contains about 4 g of fiber. For to-go snacks, buy fruit; it’s handier than vegetables, so it’s an easy way to up your fiber intake. One large apple has just as much fiber (5 g) as a cup of raw broccoli.

Source : Prevention

Technorati Tags: calories, easy way, exercise, lose weight, meal, starving, sweating, weight loss

People who eat more red or processed meat have a higher risk of death from all causes including cancer, while a higher consumption of white meat reduces such risks, a decade-long US study released Monday found.

The joint study begun in 1995 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and seniors group AARP followed more than half a million men and women between age 50 and 71, who filled out a food frequency questionnaire estimating their intake of red and processed meats as well as white meats such as pork, chicken and turkey.

Over the study period, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died. The one fifth of men and women who ate the most red meat — a median of 62.5 grams per 1,000 calories per day — had a higher mortality rate than the one fifth who consumed the least — 9.8 grams per thousand calories, according to the report.

A similar rate held true for consumers of processed meat.

Comparatively, the top fifth of white meat consumers had a slightly lower risk for death than those who ate the least white meat.

“For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of intake in the first quintile,” wrote the authors led by Rashmi Sinha of NIH’s National Cancer Institute.

“The impact on cardiovascular disease mortality was an 11 percent decrease in men and a 21 percent decrease in women if the red meat consumption was decreased to the amount consumed by individuals in the first quintile.”

Cancer-causing compounds are know to form during high-temperature cooking of meat, the report stated, and meat is a major source of saturated fat, which has been linked to certain cancers.

Lower meat consumption has been linked to reductions in risk factors for heart disease, including lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

“These results complement the recommendations by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund to reduce red and processed meat intake to decrease cancer incidence,” the authors wrote.

Technorati Tags: cancer, death risk, red meat, white meat

Halal is the fifth from 15Malaysia project. 15Malaysia is 15 short films about Malaysia featuring some of the country’s coolest directors, actors, musicians and politicians. Halal is a very silly slapstick comedy demonstrating the proper Islamic way to slaughter chicken.

Halal is directed by Liew Seng Tat.

15Malaysia – Halal

The Making Of 15Malaysia Halal

Technorati Tags: 15 Malaysia, 15malaysia, adibah noor, halal, liew seng tat, short film, video

The main route of transmission of the new Influenza A (H1N1)) virus seems to be similar to seasonal influenza, via droplets that are expelled by speaking, sneezing or coughing. You can prevent getting infected by avoiding close contact with people who show influenza-like symptoms (trying to maintain a distance of about 1 metre if possible) and taking the following measures:

• Always make sure that your hands are clean before touching any parts of your face, particularly your mouth, nose and eyes. Virus can enter the body through the mouth nose and eyes by coming into contact with a hand tainted with the virus.
• Clean hands thoroughly with soap and water, or cleanse them with an sanitizers on a regular basis, especially if touching the mouth and nose, or surfaces that are potentially contaminated;
• Avoid close contact with people who might be ill; If you need to be in close contact with cases of Influenza A (H1N1), use an appropriate protective mask and practice strict personal hygiene;
• Reduce the time spent in crowded settings if possible;
• Improve airflow in your living space by opening windows;
• Practice good health habits including adequate sleep and eating nutritious food.

Source : H1N1.net.my

Technorati Tags: flu, h1n1, influenza, malaysia, prevent, swine flu, transmission

Eight more deaths relating to Influenza A (H1N1) were confirmed on August 9, bringing the death toll to 26 in the country.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said seven deaths were from the high-risk group and that some were post-reported due to post-mortems to study and confirm the cause of deaths.

He said that a death occurred on August 3, followed by two more on August 5, four on August 6 and another yesterday.

Liow disclosed that two of the cases were from Sabah. He said the first involved an obese 24-year-old woman who was warded at the Ranau Hospital on August 1 with fever and cough for four days.

She was later referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) here on August 5 and died on the same day. The other case involved a 74-year-old man with chronic heart disease, who was admitted to QEH on August 3, with a history of month-long difficult breathing and fever for just one day. He died on August 6.

Other cases include a 20-year-old female student treated as outpatient for an “influenza like illness” (ILI) on August 1 and found dead in a hostel room five days later; a 48-year-old man with asthmatic and hypertensive history from Sarawak; and a 37-year-old obese man from Johor.

Liow said at present, there were 62 cases in total receiving treatment in hospitals and another 13 at intensive care units (ICU), while an additional five suspected H1N1 cases were also at ICU waiting for results.

“So far in Sabah, confirmed cases of H1N1 are 402 cases, two deaths, seven currently in hospitals where one is in ICU, and seven more ILI cases, pending confirmation,” he said, adding that there were children involved but he did not have details.

Liow said 35 schools had been closed in Sabah due to the H1N1 outbreak.

Source : Bernama

Technorati Tags: case, death, flu, h1n1, influenza, malaysia, swine flu

Malaysia’s death toll from the Influenza A(H1N1) has risen to eight with the deaths of a young mother in Sarawak and a female teacher from Selangor, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

He urged doctors to be alert of patients with flu-like symptoms and severe pneumonia especially high risk individuals such as the obese, pregnant women, diabetics, chronic respiratory cases and those with low immunity.

“In light of the recent spike in A(H1N1) fatalities, two of them involving children, the Health Ministry is emphasising the steps that must be taken by parents, doctors and hospitals to minimise the chances of further deaths,” Liow said in a statement.

He said doctors should start the influenza anti-viral treatment immediately in cases of influenza-like illness among high risks individuals without the need to do confirmation test.

Parents should minimise exposing their children to group activities and avoid contact with those who have the flu, he added.

Liow said the Selangor teacher was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Seremban Hospital yesterday and died the same night. She had sought treatment from a private clinic on July 27 and at the Sungai Buloh Hospital on July 30.

Meanwhile, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said, the 23-year-old Sarawak woman, who gave birth two weeks ago, died at the intensive care unit of the Miri Hospital at 4am today after suffering from acute pneumonia. This is the first Influenza A(H1N1) death in Sarawak.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the victim had given birth at the same hospital on July 21.

“After giving birth, she was found to be suffering from acute pneumonia and was tested positive for the Influenza A(H1N1) on July 23.

“She was feverish and was coughing about four days prior to delivering the baby. Her baby is safe and is confirmed to be free of the Influenza A(H1N1) infection,” he said.

Seventeen new cases of infection were reported today, all of which are local transmissions involving Malaysians. This brings the number of cases nationwide to 1,446 as at 8am today, with a recovery rate of 97 per cent.

Twenty-nine patients are still receiving antiviral treatments in hospitals while nine others are receiving them in their homes.

He also said that the Health Ministry was still flooded with inquiries on ways to prevent the disease.

Among the steps to be taken, he said, was to avoid crowded places, observe hygiene such as washing hands regularly and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing.

“The ministry is confident that with the cooperation of all, the Influenza A(H1N1) situation in Malaysia can be contained,” Dr Mohd Ismail said.

At the global level, 183,854 cases were reported in 167 countries so far, with 1,307 deaths.

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said there were 110 local transmissions and 25 imported cases so far in the state.

Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) may temporarily close its campus in Serdang should another Influenza A(H1N1) case is detected, its vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah told reporters here.

Last week, UPM was forced to bring forward its mid-semester break after four of its students were tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, in JOHOR BARU, state executive councillor for women, family, community and health development Dr Robia Kosai said the Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Kenanga, Tampoi, would not be closed despite the death of one of its pupils due to the virus yesterday.

In KUANTAN, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Lumpur was today closed until Aug 9 after a teacher was tested positive for the virus.

Pahang Education Director Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Latif told Bernama when contacted that the students and their parents had been told of the measures they need to take to prevent infection.

“We have asked parents to monitor their children’s health and to take them to the hospital if they develop symptoms of infection such as fever and coughing,” he said.

In KOTA BARU, four institutions of higher learning were closed recently due to the pandemic.

State secretary Datuk Mohd Aiseri Alias said the institutions involved were the Universiti of Malaya campus in Nilam Puri, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Pasir Mas Nursing College and Islamic Science and Technology College, he told reporters.

Source : Bernama

Technorati Tags: death, flu, h1n1, influenza, malaysia, swine flu

Malaysia has recorded the first influenza A (H1N1)-related death from a local transmission, signalling that the flu in the country is worsening.

The 42-year-old man, who died on Monday, is the third victim to have died from the flu.

The two earlier deaths were linked to imported cases of the H1N1. They were a 46-year-old Malaysian man, who had worked in Belgium and died last Sunday and a 30-year-old Islamic finance student from Indonesia who died on July 21.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Malaysian man was reported to have died from severe pneumonia with multi-organ failure at 4.40pm on Monday after being treated for 10 days in a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the victim had received outpatient treatments from several private clinics and hospitals since July 6 before being referred and admitted to the private hospital on July 18.

“In the ward, he was diagnosed to be suffering from diabetes mellitus and chest x-ray showed that he was also suffering from pneumonia,” he told reporters at the operations room at the Health Ministry here Tuesday.

Liow said the victim was transferred to the intensive care unit after having breathing difficulties and requiring ventilator.

He said when his condition deteriorated, a throat swab was taken on July 22 and he was confirmed to be H1N1 positive the following day.

“The swab was taken very late on July 22. Despite being in hospital, these three victims all died. They couldn’t be saved. Now we’ve found out that the treatment came to them very late. I’m very concerned.”

He said he had directed all private clinics and hospitals to be vigilant and be on high alert as well as have anti-viral drug, Tamiflu to handle the H1N1 cases.

“Everyone must be responsible and on high alert. This is a pandemic season now. If you have flu and cough, take it seriously,” he said, adding that the rate of death risk for those infected with H1N1 was 0.4% to 0.5%

He advised the public to wear mask, take care of their personal hygiene and try to practice social distancing if they were having sore throat and cough.

He said those with flu-like symptoms must go to the hospital and if confirmed to have with H1N1, they should take Tamiflu.

Asked whether local users had suffered reactions after taking Tamiflu as shown by some foreign users,

Liow said :”No. Not in Malaysia. At the early stage, the Health director-general had warned the public not to simply take Tamiflu. Take it when you have the symptoms.”

Liow also had directed the National Pandemic Preparedness Plan technical committee to address all issues, including late treatment and convey the message to the private clinics and hospitals.

He also disclosed that as at July 28, there were 95 new local H1N1 cases involving Malaysians with one death.

Of the total, 68 cases were from 19 new clusters while 22 cases were from the existing 11 clusters and five others were sporadic or isolated cases.

Up till July 28, total reported cases stood at 1,219, with three deaths reported.

Of the total, 53% or 645 are local infections while 47% or 574 are imported cases.

“Local transmission cases have exceeded imported cases. Our local infections is spreading so fast throughout the country with 19 new clusters. This is a bad sign,” Liow said.

He said 98% of the total reported cases or 1,198 have recovered while the remaining 2% or 21 cases were receiving anti-viral treatment at the hospital and at home.

Asked whether the H1N1 cases involving six students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Titiwangsa campus, who were quarantined was a new cluster case, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican confirmed the cases but said that it was not a new cluster.

Meanwhile the AP said Hong Kong reported its second swine flu-related death after a Filipino housekeeper with the disease died.

Health authorities said in a statement that the 37-year-old woman was in critical condition requiring mechanical ventilation before she died on Monday.

The statement also late Monday said she developed fever, sore throat, running nose and diarrhea after her arrival in the city on June 28. It says she sought medical treatment a week later.

The city’s Center for Health Protection says her case has been referred to coroner for investigation.

Earlier this month, a Filipino seaman was found to have suffered from the infection after his death.

Hong Kong now has 2,855 swine flu cases.

In New Zealand woman had a novel defense when she appeared in court on a drunk-driving charge: It was swine flu’s fault.

Business manager Deborah Karen Graham sought clemency for the charge in the southern city of Queenstown on Monday, saying the three glasses of wine she had consumed were more potent because she was recovering from the virus.

“She had swine flu. She was just getting over it … and she thinks because she had the flu it may have hit her harder,” said Graham’s defense counsel Nicole Murphy.

Judge Kevin Phillips was having none of it.

“Swine flu seems to be the ‘in’ submission for everything at the moment. I reject all that,” he said, fining Graham $360 and disqualifying her from driving for six months.

New Zealand has been hard hit by swine flu, with 2,662 confirmed cases reported, including 14 deaths.

Several public hospitals, swamped by seasonal and swine flu sufferers, have suspended nonessential surgery to ensure beds are available for flu victims.

The country is in the middle of winter, when flu and other cold weather illnesses sweep the population, keeping tens of thousands home from work and leaving millions more sniffling.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said he had no evidence that people are using swine flu as an excuse to stay away from work or school.

“I think people are quite genuine – if they are sick they are staying away. I haven’t had any reports of people doing it for that sort of purpose,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

El Salvador meanwhile decided to close schools nationwide for two weeks to combat the spread of swine flu.

The measures extends already scheduled vacations beginning Monday until Aug. 10.

Schools in the Central American country normally close for two days to one week during the period, depending on the region.

The Education Ministry said Monday the measure applies to 6,221 schools and nearly 2 million students from grade school to university.

El Salvador has confirmed 545 cases of swine flu, including seven deaths.

Israel has suffered its first death in the global swine flu epidemic, the country’s Health Ministry announced Monday.

An Israeli man died of complications resulting from the virus over the weekend at Yoseftal Hospital in the Red Sea town of Eilat, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry and the hospital would not release the man’s name, but Israeli media identified him as Shimon Azran, 35.

Lab tests on Monday confirmed swine flu was the cause of death.

The ministry says there have been more than 1,300 confirmed cases of the flu in Israel.

First identified in April, swine flu originated in Mexico and spread quickly throughout the world.

It has hit the United States harder than anywhere else, having likely infected more than 1 million Americans.

There have been 302 deaths and nearly 44,000 laboratory-identified cases in the United States, according to numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Because the swine flu virus is new, most people haven’t developed an immunity to it.

So far, most of those who have died from it in the United States have had other health problems, such as asthma.

The virus has caused an unusual number of serious illnesses in teens and young adults, unlike the seasonal flu, which is usually most dangerous to the elderly and very young children.

Saudi Arabia also reported its first swine flu death Monday.

Source : The Star

Technorati Tags: case, death, flu, h1n1, influenza, malaysia, swine flu

Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim has suggested that both the “swine flu” and Influenza A(H1N1) terminologies be used by the media in reporting the disease.

This was a better and more accurate way of reporting the pandemic to the public, he said. He added that many international media organisations such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, Voice of America and Australian Broadcasting Corporation as well as search engines like Google and Yahoo were using the term swine flu.

“As a responsible ministry, we should use both terminologies when explaining the issue.

“We in the ministry will continue to use the easy-to-understand term. We will use the A(H1N1) terminology but for subsequent mentions, we will proceed with the term ‘swine flu’,” he told reporters after the launching of the “1Malaysia” logo by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here.

Rais said it would be up to the Health Ministry if it wanted to continue using the term Influenza A(H1N1) as stipulated by the World Health Organisation.

He also called on the media not to play up the swine flu issue as it could negatively impact the country, particularly its tourism sector.

Too much publicity would give the wrong impression among the public that the disease was more serious than dengue, which is still on the rise, he said.

Source : Bernama

Technorati Tags: flu, h1n1, influenza, swine flu

The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic Thursday; the first global flu epidemic in 41 years, as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases.

The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. WHO will now ask drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine, which it said would available after September. The declaration will also prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan said she was moving to phase 6; the agency’s highest alert level, which means a pandemic, or global epidemic, is under way.

“The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” Chan told reporters. “The virus is now unstoppable.”

“However, we do not expect to see a sudden and dramatic jump in the number of severe and fatal infections,” she added.

On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Chan described the danger posed by the virus as “moderate.”

The agency has stressed that most cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities especially in poorer countries.

Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy, people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses.

The last pandemic; the Hong Kong flu of 1968, killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.

Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.

“What this declaration does do is remind the world that flu viruses like H1N1 need to be taken seriously,” said Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, warning that more cases could crop up in the fall.

“We need to start preparing now in order to be ready for a possible H1N1 immunization campaign starting in late September,” she said in a statement from Washington.

Chan said WHO was now recommending that flu vaccine makers start making swine flu vaccine. Drug giant Glaxo Smith Kline PLC said they could start large-scale production of pandemic vaccine in July but that it would take several months before large quantities would be available.

Glaxo spokesman Stephen Rea said the company’s first doses of vaccine would be reserved for countries who had ordered it in advance, including Belgium, Britain and France. He said the company would also donate 50 million doses to WHO for poor countries.

Pascal Barollier, a spokesman for Sanofi-Aventis, said they were also working on a pandemic vaccine but WHO had not yet asked them to start producing mass quantities of it.

The pandemic decision might have been made much earlier if WHO had more accurate information about swine flu’s rising sweep through Europe. Chan said she called the emergency meeting with flu experts after concerns were raised that some countries like Britain were not accurately reporting their cases.

Chan said the experts unanimously agreed there was a wider spread of swine flu than what was being reported.

Chan would not say which country tipped the world into the pandemic, but the agency’s top flu expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, said the situation from Australia seemed to indicate the virus was spreading rapidly there _ up to 1,260 cases late Wednesday.

Many health experts said the world has been in a pandemic for weeks but WHO became bogged down by politics. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil.

“This is WHO finally catching up with the facts,” said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota.

Despite WHO’s hopes, Thursday’s announcement will almost certainly spark panic about spread of swine flu in some countries.

Fear has already gripped Argentina, where thousands of people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week, bringing emergency health services in the capital of Buenos Aires to the brink of collapse. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu.

Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America, and the southern hemisphere is moving into its winter flu season.

In Hong Kong on Thursday, the government ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after a dozen students tested positive for swine flu. The decision affected over half a million students.

In the United States, where there have been more than 13,000 cases and at least 27 deaths from swine flu, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the move would not change how the U.S. tackled swine flu.

“Our actions in the past month have been as if there was a pandemic in this country,” Glen Nowak, a CDC spokesman, said Thursday.

The U.S. government has already increased the availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorized $1 billion for the development of a new swine flu vaccine. In addition, new cases seem to be declining in many parts of the country, U.S. health officials say, as North America moves out of its traditional winter flu season.

Still, New York City reported three more swine flu deaths Thursday, including one child under 2, one teenager and one person in their 30s.

“Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection,” Chan warned, adding that the virus could mutate “without rhyme or reason, at any time.”

In Mexico, where the epidemic was first detected, the outbreak peaked in April. Mexico now has less than 30 cases reported a day, down from an average of 300, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova told The Associated Press. Mexico has confirmed 6,337 cases, including 108 deaths.

Cordova said he is concerned that other countries were not taking drastic measures to stop its spread like Mexico, which closed schools, restaurants, theaters, and canceled public events. He said the Mexican government has strengthened its detection system to spot cases in most of its 32 states to prepare for a possible second wave of infections in the winter.

“There’s much anxiety over how the virus will act in the Southern Hemisphere, because the zone is currently showing a large number of new cases, in particular Australia, Chile and Argentina,” Cordova said.

Many experts said the declaration of a pandemic did not mean the virus was getting deadlier.

“People might imagine a virus is now going to rush in and kill everyone,” said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bart’s and Royal London Hospital. “That’s not going to happen.”

But Oxford said the swine flu virus might evolve into a more dangerous strain in the future.

“That is always a possibility with influenza viruses,” he said. “We have to watch very carefully to see what this virus does.”

WHO’s Pandemic Flu Alert Scale

Under the World Health Organization’s alert system for epidemics, phase 6 is the highest level and means a pandemic; a global epidemic, is under way. Here’s a look at the phases.

1. Phase 3: An animal or human-animal flu virus causes some infections in people, but with little or no subsequent human-to-human transmission. WHO had its alert at this level as a result of the bird flu outbreaks in Asia since 1997.
2. Phase 4: Verified flu transmission among humans able to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community. WHO declared Phase 4 on April 27 after confirmation of a rash of swine flu cases, including deaths, in Mexico.
3. Phase 5: Human-to-human spread of the virus in at least two countries in the same region _ a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent. WHO declared Phase 5 on April 29 after a cluster of swine flu cases were confirmed in the United States.
4. Phase 6: A global flu pandemic has begun, including community-level outbreaks in at least two world regions. WHO declared Phase 6 on June 11 after increased infections in Europe, Australia, Chile and elsewhere.

Source : Associated Press

Technorati Tags: case, epidemics, flu, flu epidemic, h1n1, influenza, malaysia, pandemic, swine flu, who