Influenza

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it has approved seasonal influenza vaccines produced by six manufacturers and at least two of the companies said they have already begun or will soon begin shipping the vaccines to U.S. customers. The vaccine protects against the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus that caused an uproar last winter, as well as two other strains of influenza that are not as widespread but that nonetheless can be a problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in February changed its recommendations for who should receive the shots.

Flu was in the news Tuesday, with updates on seasonal influenza in the U.S. and on the debate over bird flu research that is raging around the world. In general, Americans have had a mild flu season this year.  But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its weekly FluView Surveillance Report that, for the first time this season, more than 10% of respiratory specimens collected in the U.S. tested positive for the flu -- 10.5%, versus 7.6% the prior week.  According to the CDC, surpassing 10% is considered an indication that "flu season is beginning.

Flu may be making headlines in the United Kingdom, but folks in the U.S. -- almost hysterical at the specter of influenza a couple of seasons ago -- seem more concerned about anything and everything else. That's not the same thing, however, as saying there's no flu activity in this country. The UK's Health Protection Agency announced earlier this week that flu cases are on the upswing across that portion of Europe. And of course, as has been the case with the predominant H1N1 strain (formerly known as "swine flu" -- it seems so long ago now doesn't it?

Vietnam and Cambodia confirmed new human deaths from bird flu this week.  The two victims, an 18-year-old Vietnamese man and a two-year-old Cambodian boy, caught the lethal virus, also known as H5N1, from poultry -- not from contact with infected people, according to the Associated Press . But the news, along with announcements from the World Health Organization that Egypt and Indonesia also have reported new H5N1 cases, is...

The facts and figures on flu in America, according to the most recent statistics (1994): * Number of deaths annually: 607 (1996) * Number of cases reported annually: 90.4 million * Number of cases per 100 people: 35 * Number of restricted-activity days due to flu: 315.4 million * Number of bed days due to flu: 170 million * Number of work-loss days due to flu: 69.3 million. Source: National Center for Health Statistics

Vietnam and Cambodia confirmed new human deaths from bird flu this week.  The two victims, an 18-year-old Vietnamese man and a two-year-old Cambodian boy, caught the lethal virus, also known as H5N1, from poultry -- not from contact with infected people, according to the Associated Press . But the news, along with announcements from the World Health Organization that Egypt and Indonesia also have reported new H5N1 cases, is...

Nearly 70 years ago, a team of doctors entered a state mental colony and injected extracts from mice lungs into the arms of nearly 250 "feebleminded males." The liquid was teeming with influenza virus, a tiny infectious agent that had been discovered just three years earlier. Some of the boys and men got sore arms. Others developed rashes.

The state's first case of influenza A this season has been identified, underscoring the need for people to get flu shots now, public health officials said Tuesday. The isolated, identified influenza A virus was cultured from a 3-month-old boy who was admitted to a hospital in Orange on Oct. 9 for treatment of bronchitis. The unidentified child, whose family is from La Puente, has recovered, authorities said.

Medical authorities on Monday blamed an influenza epidemic sweeping Orange County for at least eight deaths. The virus, known as Victoria Type B influenza, also has packed local emergency rooms and increased absenteeism in schools and businesses, they said. The eight patients died within the last several weeks in a nursing home for the elderly and a home for retarded children in Orange County, county epidemiologist Thomas J. Prendergast said.

Local Chinese health officials have appealed for calm after the death of a man infected with H5N1 bird flu in the city of Shenzhen. "Though it is highly pathogenic to human beings, the virus can not spread among people," said in a statement from the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "There is no need for Shenzhen citizens to panic. " The man, a 39-year-old bus driver, developed a fever on Dec. 21 and was hospitalized Dec. 25. He died a week after two diseased dead birds were identified in nearby Hong Kong.

Local Chinese health officials have appealed for calm after the death of a man infected with H5N1 bird flu in the city of Shenzhen. "Though it is highly pathogenic to human beings, the virus can not spread among people," said in a statement from the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "There is no need for Shenzhen citizens to panic. " The man, a 39-year-old bus driver, developed a fever on Dec. 21 and was hospitalized Dec. 25. He died a week after two diseased dead birds were identified in nearby Hong Kong.

The American Academy of Pediatrics released updated flu vaccine recommendations last week. Even though this season's vaccine protects against the same three strains of influenza as last year's -- Influenza A (H3N2), Influenza A (H1N1) and Influenza B -- parents are advised to vaccinate their children again this year. That's because the vaccine only offers optimal protection for six to 12 months, according to the AAP. This season is just the fourth time in a quarter of a century that the vaccine has stayed the same for a second year.

A Redondo Beach man who invented the cold treatment gel Zicam was arrested on federal charges of illegally marketing another drug during a 2005 worldwide bird flu scare. Charles B. Hensley was arrested on charges that he sold the drug Vira 38 as a "prevention and treatment" of influenza and bird flu without Food and Drug Administration approval, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Pio Kim. Hensley was taken into custody at his home on Wednesday and held overnight at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Dr. Edwin D. Kilbourne, a virologist who figured out how to manufacture a new influenza vaccine each year and was a principal advisor to the U.S. government on flu, died Feb. 21 in Branford, Conn. He was 90. No cause of death was released. Kilbourne was involved in every aspect of preparing vaccines for the influenza season, understanding the genetics of the virus, manipulating it to create a version that would grow in eggs, and helping make the recommendation of what the vaccine formulation should be each year, Food and Drug Administration officials said on his formal retirement in 2002.

A new influenza vaccine grown in cultured animal cells rather than eggs is at least as effective as conventional vaccines, a finding that could speed approval of the new way of producing the vaccine, researchers reported Tuesday. If the manufacturing technique is approved, it could improve the ability of vaccine makers to respond to emerging viruses and pandemics. The vaccine for the recent H1N1 influenza pandemic, for example, did not become available until the outbreak had already crested.

It was thrown together in a hurry, only aimed to protect against one strain of influenza, and arrived on the market well after the novel flu virus had gained a foothold in the general population. But last year's vaccine against the novel H1N1 flu, in the final analysis, worked pretty well, according to a European study published Tuesday in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) One . The study, which tested the effectiveness of the H1N1 flu vaccine at surveillance sites scattered across Europe, found that a single dose of H1N1 flu vaccine, which was offered as a shot and in mist form, was 71.9% effective in protecting against infection with the H1N1 virus.

Influenza has reached epidemic levels in the nation's major cities, with flu and pneumonia accounting for more than 5% of all deaths, federal health officials said Thursday. The national Centers for Disease Control said 778 deaths caused by influenza and pneumonia, the latter a frequent complication of the flu, were reported from 121 major U.S. cities for the week ending Jan. 19.

LeBron James and teammates Darnell Jackson and Coby Karl have tested positive for Influenza A, and are being treated as if they have the H1N1 virus. H1N1, also known as swine flu, is a strain of Influenza A, and though the Cavaliers have not gotten back H1N1 test results on the three, the team said it is being proactive in treating players and the traveling party to Texas. The Cavs play at San Antonio today and in Dallas on Saturday. James, who will travel with the team, returned to practice Thursday after spending two days resting at home.

Flu may be making headlines in the United Kingdom, but folks in the U.S. -- almost hysterical at the specter of influenza a couple of seasons ago -- seem more concerned about anything and everything else. That's not the same thing, however, as saying there's no flu activity in this country. The UK's Health Protection Agency announced earlier this week that flu cases are on the upswing across that portion of Europe. And of course, as has been the case with the predominant H1N1 strain (formerly known as "swine flu" -- it seems so long ago now doesn't it?

With all the hubbub over tax breaks and unemployment, it's interesting that flu shots turned up on the president's radar this week. President Obama signed a proclamation declaring this week as National Influenza Vaccination Week. As this proclamation says: "Last year, as the world prepared for a pandemic of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, we were reminded of the severity and unpredictability of this serious disease. Thousands of Americans suffered serious complications from the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in hospitalization or even death.