(ChinaPost.com.tw) – The new strain of H1N1 flu is causing “something different” to happen in the United States this year — perhaps an extended year-round flu season that disproportionately hits young people, health officials said on Thursday.

An unusually cool late spring may be helping keep the infection going in the U.S. Northeast, especially densely populated areas in New York and Massachusetts, the officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

And infections among healthcare workers suggest that people are showing up at work sick — meaning that workplace policies may be contributing to its spread, the CDC officials said.

The new strain of swine flu is officially a pandemic now, according to the World Health Organization.

So far the virus is causing mild to moderate disease, but it has killed at least 167 people and been confirmed in nearly 40,000 globally.

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The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday narrowly passed a $106 billion war-funding bill, which “included 7.7 billion to help the nation prepare for an outbreak of the H1N1 virus, the so-called swine flu,” the Washington Times reports (Rowland, Washington Times, 6/17). The spending bill will now move to the Senate for consideration (Pelofsky, Reuters, 6/16).

The WHO on Monday reported 76 countries have officially confirmed 35, 928 cases of H1N1 infection, including 163 deaths. Country specific information is available here (WHO Influenza A(H1N1) – update 49, 6/15).

The U.S. and other developed countries should be doing more to contain and prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus into developing countries, such as ramping up the screening of people leaving “affected nations,” Indian health officials said Monday during an international forum, according to the Times of India reports.

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Reuters examines the WHO’s battle against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus in “[d]eveloping countries, where medical care systems are weak and supplies of antivirals insufficient. In addition to “supplying countries with diagnostic kits, medicines and masks and gloves to protect health care workers and minimize the further spread of the new virus,” the WHO is continuing to distribute doses of the antiviral Tamiflu, which has been “shown to be effective so far against H1N1,” according to Reuters.

“We need to worry about the development of (drug) resistance if treatment is not done correctly, if inferior doses are used or counterfeit drugs come on the market,” David Heymann, a former senior WHO official now chairing Britain’s Health Protection Agency, said. Additionally, “In Africa, poor communities are vulnerable due to malnutrition, often compounded by respiratory diseases including tuberculosis, according to Heymann, who worked for 13 years in Africa” for the CDC, Reuters writes. “This is something that has to be watched very closely… We don’t know whether this will be exacerbated by H1N1,” Heymann said.

H1N1 Vaccine Development Moving Ahead

According to Reuters, “[t]he WHO has urged drugmakers to complete production of seasonal flu vaccine for the northern hemisphere’s next winter over the next two weeks, and then switch to production of a pandemic vaccine” (Nebehay, Reuters, 6/12). Novartis AG on Friday announced it had developed an experimental H1N1 vaccine ahead of schedule and would begin clinical trials in July (Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, 6/12).

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The Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) is seeing that H1N1 (Swine) flu continues to spread both locally and nationally. In Rhode Island, HEALTH has seen an increase in sporadic cases and outbreak clusters throughout the state, including in schools. As of 11 a.m., June 9, there are 39 confirmed positive cases in RI, doubling the case count in less than a week. Rhode Island and national surveillance data indicate increased infections in children, increased infections in individuals with chronic medical conditions, and a generally higher hospitalization rate of those infected. Although most illness in Rhode Island has been mild, compared to seasonal influenza, there is an increase in the number of hospitalizations. Ten of the Rhode Islanders with swine flu have been hospitalized.

“As we expected and planned, we are now seeing an increase in confirmed cases of swine flu in the state,” said Director of Health David R. Gifford, MD, MPH. “We are seeing more cases in schools, more hospitalizations and more individuals who have underlying medical conditions being effected. Everyone needs to continue to be vigilant about handwashing, coughing and sneezing into elbows and staying home if they are sick. We expect that this will likely continue throughout the summer and into the fall.”

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Straits Times

MADRID – SPAIN’S Health Ministry has reported a huge jump in the number of H1N1 flu cases in the country, which have risen more than 70 per cent to 291 in a week.Spain updates its total swine flu cases only once a week, on Fridays.

MADRID – SPAIN’S Health Ministry has reported a huge jump in the number of H1N1 flu cases in the country, which have risen more than 70 per cent to 291 in a week.Spain updates its total swine flu cases only once a week, on Fridays.

As of 11 AM, May 27, CDC is reporting 8,975 confirmed and probable cases and 15 deaths in 49 states (including the District of Columbia). CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce the spread and severity of illness, and to provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this new public health threat.

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After roughly a month of emergency response to the new H1N1 swine flu virus, US health authorities are taking stock, re-focusing and re- assessing priorities. This was the main theme of the press briefing that Dr Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gave earlier this week.

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As of 11 AM, May 27, CDC is reporting 7,927 confirmed and probable cases and 11 deaths in 48 states (including the District of Columbia). CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce the spread and severity of illness, and to provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this new public health threat.

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