. Earth Science News .
EPIDEMICS
Swine flu outbreak less severe than feared: study

S.Korea leader urges help for N.Korea over swine flu
Seoul (AFP) Dec 8, 2009 - South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak instructed his government Tuesday to provide swift medical help to North Korea following reports the impoverished communist country has been hit by swine flu. Pyongyang has not officially reported any cases. But Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid group that has contacts in the North, reported Monday A(H1N1) flu has been spreading rapidly there. Lee told a cabinet meeting the government should help North Korea after confirming the report, the president's office said. "Assistance must be provided swiftly as the disease could quickly spread in North Korea where conditions are not so good. It's better to send drugs unconditionally," he was quoted as saying. Most government-to-government aid was suspended after cross-border relations worsened last year, although private Seoul groups still send shipments northwards.

In October the Seoul government offered its hungry neighbour 10,000 tons of corn plus 20 tons of milk powder and medicine, but there has been no official response from Pyongyang. Good Friends said the number of North Korean children infected with swine flu has been increasing because the anti-viral drug Tamiflu is rare in the country. Seven youths including three college students died in Pyongyang in November while two others reportedly died in Pyongsong, north of the capital, it said. Last Friday North Korean schools started winter vacation a month early following a joint meeting of health and education ministry officials, the group said. Lee also called for continued efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the South, saying the number of new cases was dropping but that infections could surge if left unchecked. A total of 117 people have died from the virus in South Korea.
by Staff Writers
 Washington (AFP) Dec 8, 2009
 The H1N1 flu outbreak appears to be less severe than earlier feared, according to a new study by US health experts who found fewer than expected hospitalizations or severe complications from the virus.

The British and US-funded study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), which appears online in the journal PLoS Medicine, said the swine flu pandemic appears far "milder" than anticipated.

"Our work shows that the severity of the H1N1 flu may be less than initially feared," Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at HSPH and the study's senior author.

"Early on, it was difficult to measure the flu's impact and it was crucial to plan for the full range of possible outcomes," he said.

"Fortunately, the virus now appears to be near the milder end," said Lipsitch, who heads the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the HSPH, which focuses on mathematical modeling and analysis of data of pandemic and drug resistant infections.

But he stressed that it remains important to continue to vaccinate against the swine flu virus.

"This is a serious disease," said Lipsitch.

"The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and others have shown that certain high-risk groups, including pregnant women, people with asthma, and people with compromised immune systems, should be vaccinated and should seek prompt treatment if they suspect they are sick with H1N1," he said.

"Even for people outside these high-risk groups, vaccination is an important way to reduce the risk of what can be a serious illness."

The World Health Organization counts some 209,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and more than 3,205 deaths worldwide as of September 11, 2009, although health officials said this is likely a gross undercount.

If the virus does not mutate into a more lethal illness, researchers estimate that the autumn-winter pandemic wave of H1N1 flu will probably cause a far smaller death toll than the estimated 36,000 killed in the average flu season.

The study was jointly funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the UK Health Protection Agency, the US National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Homeland Security.

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
 Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola


Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


EPIDEMICS
Netherlands reports third mutant swine flu death
 The Hague (AFP) Dec 8, 2009
 A third patient in the Netherlands infected by a mutant strain of the swine flu virus has died, the country's health and environment institute said Tuesday. The Netherlands has seen eight cases of the mutated A(H1N1) virus, including the three fatalities, but the strain is not spreading, the institute said. "(The latest fatality) was an adult woman who was already ill," institute ... read more






The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement