Mobile Flu Clinics enabled with prescreening flu assessment... but do not forget the buzzing pagers!

Fri, 2009-06-19 20:21 — JRees

Take a look at Kaiser Permanente's newest doctor's office on wheels, being shipped from California to Hawaii's Big Island.

Now consider this possibility if/when the swine flu infection numbers and deaths accelerate, and the media reporting begins to cause a surge of worried well into ER rooms:

- Swine flu mobile clinics.
- GIS mapping to set up the temporary clinic locations to coincide with specific geographic infection areas pinpointing communities and neighborhoods.

Neighborhood swine flu clinics open in Scotland while GPs in UK under extreme pressure

Fri, 2009-06-19 17:05 — JRees

Scotland may be leading the world in opening up clinics specifically dedicated to cope with the swine flu epidemic. To date, nine clinics have been set up in the west of Scotland, the area which has been worst hit. Four of the dedicated swine flu centers are in Glasgow, with others in Paisley, East Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire, Greenock and Clydebank.
The goal is that anyone suspected of having the virus will now be sent to one of the clinics to be tested, instead of into the multi-tasked healthcare system.

81 U.S. healthcare workers found to have H1N1 virus

Thu, 2009-06-18 19:04 — admin

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-flu19-2009jun19,0,7665352.story
From the Los Angeles Time

The CDC says about half the workers caught the virus while on the job. The finding suggests that hospitals and workers need to be more careful about limiting the spread of the virus.

By Thomas H. Maugh II

11:48 PM PDT, June 18, 2009

At least 81 U.S. healthcare workers have contracted laboratory-confirmed cases of the novel H1N1 influenza virus and about half caught the bug on the job, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

FORT DETRICK Inventory Uncovers 9,200 More Pathogens

Thu, 2009-06-18 12:26 — speel

Laboratory Says Security Is Tighter, but Earlier Count Missed Dangerous Vials

By Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 18, 2009

An inventory of potentially deadly pathogens at Fort Detrick's infectious disease laboratory found more than 9,000 vials that had not been accounted for, Army officials said yesterday, raising concerns that officials wouldn't know whether dangerous toxins were missing.

Preventing spread of infectious diseases is everyone's responsibility

Thu, 2009-06-18 04:17 — JRees

According to a report published 16 June, we must all share responsibility for preventing the spread of diseases such as swine flu, SARS, avian influenza, diarrhoeal and skin diseases, and even the common cold. The swine flu scare has prompted some to say that we are over-reacting but it is important to look at the bigger picture - because the next new pathogens are always just around the corner. The regular emergence of new pathogenic strains, and their unpredictable behaviour, means that sustained investment in effective strategies of mitigation and containment make absolute sense.

First wave of flu exposed gaps in supply chain

Thu, 2009-06-18 04:02 — admin

By Stephen Smith
Globe Staff / June 15, 2009

The arrival of swine flu in the United States exposed gaps in the supply chain that delivers medication, masks, and even testing swabs to hospitals and doctors' offices - shortcomings that could prove vastly more worrisome if a deadlier strain returns in the fall, officials say.

Australia flu model: 20% morbidity = 80,000 hospitalized and 6000 deaths

Thu, 2009-06-18 03:04 — JRees

Article from: The Australian

SWINE flu could infect one in five Australians, kill up to 6000 and hospitalise up to 80,000 if left unchecked and untreated, according to the first official modelling of the disease's potential spread.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday announced a hasty redesign of Australia's pandemic management plan and alert phases to keep the toll from the H1N1 flu strain below those levels, but acknowledged the disease had spread beyond her power to contain it.

Health insurers refuse to limit rescission of coverage

Wed, 2009-06-17 13:17 — admin

Susan Walsh / Associated Press
An insurance company "is supposed to honor its commitments and stand by you in your time of need," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said.
Lawmakers ask three executives if they'll stop dropping customers except where they can show "intentional fraud." All say no.

By Lisa Girion
June 17, 2009

Weapon against epidemics: Cell phones

Wed, 2009-06-17 09:21 — admin

Disease-control software in cell phones is touted as boon to global public health

More than half of world's cell phones are in developing countries

Health workers in Kenya stopped spread of polio in '07 using EpiSurveyor

Kenyan health care worker: Relaying information at appropriate time is life-saving

updated 7:38 a.m. EDT, Tue June 16, 2009
Next Article in Technology »

By Azadeh Ansari
CNN

New Strain of H1N1 in Brazil

Wed, 2009-06-17 08:48 — admin

Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said Tuesday. The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California. The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.

For more information:

"Building Resilient Communities" from World Bank Social Safety Net Team

Mon, 2009-06-15 14:28 — speel

New toolkit release - 'Building Resilient Communities'

The Social Protection Anchor Team [World Bank] recently launched the Building Resilient
Communities toolkit, an instrument designed to help social protection

Obama Pledges $73M To Zimbabwe

Mon, 2009-06-15 13:30 — speel

Monday, June 15, 2009

Following talks with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House Friday, President Obama pledged $73 million in aid to the country, AFP/Google.com reports (Carmichael, AFP/Google.com, 6/13). The U.S. aid, however "will not be going to the government directly because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law," Obama said (Stolberg, New York Times, 6/13), but channeled through appropriate aid agencies (ZimOnline, 6/15).

Boston Globe Examines U.S. Global Health Strategy

Mon, 2009-06-15 13:27 — speel

Monday, June 15, 2009

The Boston Globe examines the U.S. strategy towards global health aid. "President George W. Bush scored major advances in his administration's worldwide campaign against AIDS," and "[t]he Obama administration believes it can leverage Bush's successes into an assault against a much broader array of diseases that afflict poor countries," writes the Globe.

Pandemic Preparedness at the Community Level

Fri, 2009-06-12 16:47 — admin

For local guidance, poiicies, planning tools, training modules, capacity maps, communication, and advocacy, see:

http://pandemicpreparedness.org/

Flu researchers call for enhanced swine surveillance

Thu, 2009-06-11 05:27 — admin

Lisa Schnirring Staff Writer
Jun 8, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Government officials and researchers may have underestimated the potential role of pigs as "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses and the importance of swine surveillance for identifying new pandemic threats, veterinary experts from Mexico asserted recently.

The group based their conclusions on two genetic analyses tracing the evolution of the novel H1N1 virus that lend support to the mixing vessel theory. Their findings appeared in the Jun 4 issue of Eurosurveillance.

Following virus protein clues

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