Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

If I can possibly help it I don't rely on the Government to help me or my family.

Why do most of us here have a interest in this topic. It's because we seek information and for me information is power to decide what the best course of action is.

Take responsibilty for yourself.

Whats Cameron going to do !!! Say don't panic. Ok I wont thanks

The same people who cry for the government to help them are the same people who just recently were calling for their heads for spending too much money on Vaccines and Antivirals and saying they were conned by a pandemic that never was.

I believe this HPA statement comes out today.



'Flu death toll will be revealed
(UKPA) – 39 minutes ago

The number of people who have died as a result of flu so far this winter is set to be revealed by the Health Protection Agency.

The new statistics follow a warning from the HPA that cases of seasonal flu were on the increase.'


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... 074644682A


http://www.hpa.org.uk/

Sharp rise in swine flu cases in Wales
Dec 23 2010 by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

CASES of swine flu in Wales have quadrupled over the course of the past week, we can reveal today.

Figures show the number of people seeking help for flu-like symptoms has hit a 17-month high as experts warned Wales faces another five weeks of flu misery.

The Assembly Government last night said 11 patients with swine flu are being treated in Welsh critical care units and a further 17, with flu-like symptoms, are being treated in intensive care.

Dr Roland Salmon, director of the communicable disease surveillance centre at Public Health Wales, said levels of sickness are approaching those in England, where one in 10 intensive care beds is occupied by a patient with flu.

He has urged people in at-risk groups who are eligible for a free flu jab, especially pregnant women, to be vaccinated urgently.

The appeal comes as some experts have blamed the rise in swine flu cases on “shockingly low” vaccination levels.

Dr Salmon said: “We are firmly in the flu season now and we have another three to five weeks of this to come.

“I think we are pretty much on a par with England now.”

The weekly influenza surveillance report, for the week ending yesterday, showed there were 88.5 consultations per 100,000 practice population, up from 22.5 the previous week.

This is equivalent to 2,655 people with flu-like symptoms – almost half the number of people who fell ill at the height of the first swine flu pandemic wave in July 2009.

The levels are considered to be normal seasonal flu activity for the winter, but are the highest since the peak in July 2009.

The highest consultation rate in the last week – 170 per 100,000 population – was for people aged 15 to 24. And of the 33 samples sent for testing, 20 were positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Dr Salmon said: “This is a little unusual for us because all the winters since 2000 have been relatively mild in flu terms.

“The perception of flu is that it is a benign disease but I am getting reports of people in intensive care and have been for a couple of weeks. This is what flu does and we want people to take it seriously.”

The high levels of swine flu have been blamed on low vaccination levels – in Wales 58.8% of the over 65s have had the jab, while take-up among younger people in clinical at-risk groups was 40.3%.

The take-up rate for pregnant women has risen slightly from 5% to 6.5%.

Professor Steve Field, the former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “Rates of uptake are shockingly low.

“It was ill-advised not to have the public awareness campaign on seasonal flu jab uptake that we usually have, because we knew the public and healthcare professionals were likely to become complacent after last year’s swine flu pandemic wasn’t the serious attack on the country that we thought it could be.

“With the added winter pressures on the NHS, we need NHS staff to be vaccinated as soon as possible, so that they can continue working, and we also need pregnant women and people who are vulnerable to have a flu jab that includes the swine flu vaccine as soon as possible.”

The new flu figures come as a pregnant woman, who was in a medically-induced coma after contracting swine flu, has regained consciousness and no longer requires intensive care.

Mother-of-four Fallon Devaney, 25, was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, after struggling for breath last week.

Elsewhere in the UK there have been reports that a critically-ill baby diagnosed with swine flu had been sent home from a hospital with indigestion medicine.

Five-week-old Harvey Flanagan, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, is currently fighting for his life against the H1N1 virus and bronchiolitis.

Wales’ deputy chief medical officer Dr Jane Wilkinson last night urged people to take simple steps to stay healthy over the Christmas period.

“For those who are 65 and over, or under 65 with a chronic condition or who are pregnant, they should get their free seasonal flu jab, as this is the simplest way of protecting themselves this winter. If you haven’t had it yet, contact your GP,” she said.

“It is also important, if you do have flu or cold-like symptoms, you should not go to your GP or emergency department, unless you are in one of the at-risk groups and are concerned, as this increases the risk of spreading the infection.

“If we all heed this advice, we will help to reduce pressure on NHS services, and stay safe over the festive period.”



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/healt ... z18v1Ttbib

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Health chiefs are urging people not to panic over a rise in swine flu deaths in Greater Manchester.

Eight people have now died in the region this winter. The latest victim was a man from Macclesfield.

Confirmation that seven prisoners in Greater Manchester jails have also contracted the virus have prompted fears of an epidemic.

Hugh Lamont, from the North West Health Protection Agency, said the ‘cluster’ of deaths in the region were unrelated and levels of infection were still much lower than last winter.

Last year, a total of 44 people from the north west died after contracting swine flu but flu infections normally peak during January and February.

As previously reported in the M.E.N., a Manchester man, a woman from Bolton, two men from Oldham, a man from Rochdale and a man and woman from Bury have died after contracting swine flu in recent weeks Mr Lamont said: "Last year we had a pandemic – which was global.

"We were dealing with thousands of cases and generally the numbers have declined. It's still too early to say how serious it's going to be as we have just started the flu season.

"The numbers are slowly increasing and everyone needs to be careful but the numbers are still comparatively low overall." Two prisoners at HMP Manchester and three at Hindley have tested positive for swine flu, prison bosses have confirmed.

Across the country, there are 302 people in intensive care with flu – both seasonal and swine flu - but Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says there was plenty of capacity to deal with a surge in cases.

There were 24 children under five in critical care with confirmed or suspected flu, another 12 aged five to 15, and 243 in the 16 to 64 age group. There were also 23 people aged over 65 in critical care.

Figures released last week showed that 17 people nationally have died from flu so far this winter. Fourteen of those cases were swine flu.

Dr David Baxter, consultant for infection control at NHS Stockport, said there was no need to panic but urged vulnerable people – such as pregnant women, those with respiratory and immune conditions and the elderly – to have a flu jab because they are most at risk from developing complications.

Dr Baxter advises people who develop flu-like symptoms to take paracetamol and plenty of fluids and not to go to see their GP, but ring them for advice.

England’s interim chief medical officer Prof Dame Sally Davies said there was no evidence as yet that this winter's flu outbreak was worse than usual, despite senior GPs warning they fear a crisis is looming.


Symptoms of swine flu include sudden fever, aching muscles, joint pain, sneezing, loss of appetite, tiredness and sore throat. Patients who think they need help or advice should telephone their GP, local pharmacist or NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... toll_rises

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

THESouthern has learned that a man from the central Borders has been admitted to the BGH suffering from suspected swine flu.


At the time of going to press, NHS Borders declined to comment on the specific case pending a confirmed diagnosis. It is understood the patient is currently in an isolation ward.

However, Dr Tim Patterson, consultant in public health and flu co-ordinator with NHS Borders, warned yesterday: “We are now in the flu season and there are indications that a number of strains of flu, including Influenza A H1N1 (swine flu), is currently circulating nationally.

“Although no longer at pandemic levels, this virus is one of the strains expected to cause outbreaks again this winter. As is normal during the flu season, hospitals will continue to manage patients presenting with flu or flu-like illness who require admission.

“We urge all those in at-risk groups as well as pregnant women and healthcare workers, to contact their GP and get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible if they have not already done so.”

http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/ne ... h_1_426088

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Our ECMO experts have treated over 160 patients in the last year, making it their busiest year ever.

This smashed our previous record of 110 ECMO patients seen in 2008 and the previous world record, held by the University of Michigan Health System, who treated 140 patients in one year.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) uses heart-lung machine technology to support the lungs. It's for patients who are deteriorating despite being on a conventional ventilator. ECMO reduces the the toxic effects of ventilation, giving the lungs a chance to rest and recover.

Georgena Fry, 29 from Kettering was transferred to the ECMO unit on 12 October 2009 after initially being treated for pneumonia.

Georgena said: "At then end of September, I thought I had a chest infection but even with antibiotics I wasn't getting any better. On the 3rd October, I went to an out of hours emergency doctors who told me they thought I had suspected pneumonia and I was transferred to the emergency unit at Kettering Hospital.

"I ended up in intensive care because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I was just so tired so the doctors decided to put me to sleep to give me a rest. That was the last thing I remember before waking up at Glenfield more than two weeks later.

"My mum updated Facebook every day to let my friends know how I was doing and she also kept a diary. She's since told me that she felt like she'd won the lottery the day a bed became available at Glenfield but even then doctors weren't sure I would make the journey because I was so ill.

"I was on ECMO for a total of 8 days and am still recovering. It's hard to come to terms with at the moment as I don't really understand how ill I was. I have nothing but praise for the staff on the ECMO unit, they saved my life, without a doubt if I hadn't have had ECMO, I wouldn't be here."

Since April 2009, the ECMO unit at Glenfield Hospital has seen around 161 patients. Of those, there were 106 adults, 17 children and newborn babies. 62 of those patients were confirmed to have swine flu.

Director and founder of ECMO in Leicester, Richard Firmin agreed that the swine flu pandemic was in some part the reason for the increase and said: "ECMO works best on young patients who have reversible conditions. The reason we found it worked for many swine flu patients is that many were young (between 18 and 35) and were generally healthy. A significant number were or had recently been pregnant."

Mr Firmin went on to add: "We published the findings of the CESAR trial in September which was the first study to look at the effectiveness of ECMO in adults. This definitely helped to raise the profile of our unit in Leicester and also I think there's been a general increase in awareness of what we do."

More information:

Our ECMO Unit - Find out more about ECMO

Leicester's hospitals is home to the world's biggest ECMO unit the article above is an edited version of this press release, issued by Leicester Hospitals in March 2010

http://www.uhl-tr.nhs.uk/ourservices/me ... ggest-ecmo


...

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Ten people are being treated for swine flu in critical care units across Coventry and Warwickshire, NHS Warwickshire says.

There are two cases at George Elliot Hospital in Nuneaton, two at Warwick Hospital and six are being treated at Coventry's University Hospital.

Flu cases have more than doubled in the past week in England and Wales, according to new figures.

People with flu-like symptoms are asked not to visit friends or relatives.

Those in high-risk groups, particularly pregnant women, are being urged to get vaccinations to protect against both seasonal flu and swine flu.

Figures from the Royal College of GPs show cases have risen to 87.1 per 100,000 people, from 32.8 in the previous week.

However, the number of cases this year is much lower than the number of people catching flu at the height of last summer's swine flu outbreak.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-co ... e-12065954

_________________
www.twitter.com/hniman

Oh no, Dr. N.

The writing's been on the wall for a long, long time. I'm at my local hosp this morning and am going to look in the A & E dept so will update later. I've been prepared for a long time, unlike others, I pity them. Can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. For people who read this in the UK, be prepared.

_________________
Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

They must be getting scared now. They have lifted restrictions on Antiviral use and dispensing. More lives will now be saved.



''The move is an indication of the authorities' concern about the risks from swine flu, which has become the predominant strain of the virus this winter and is striking younger age groups than usual.

Cases of flu have risen more than six fold in three weeks, the latest figures show.

Normally antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu and Relenza, are only prescribed to people with flu who have other conditions such as heart disease and severe asthma because of the extra risk that influenza poses to them.

But officials are so concerned at the number of otherwise healthy people who have been admitted to hospital that they are taking special measures to lift these restrictions. ''



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... ficer.html

http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/8754 ... lu_deaths/

THE deaths of three patients from swine flu at Whiston Hospital sparked a warning for pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions to be immunised.

Health chiefs have insisted there is no need for alarm and that deaths from flu occur every year in winter.

What is known is that a 29-year-old woman was among the Whiston victims of the H1N1 virus.

The NHS did confirm yesterday that 17 people were in critical care in Merseyside and Cheshire with flu, however, it would not release a regional death toll.

Pregnant women are at particular risk of developing serious complications from flu this year.

However, the Star has learned only one per cent of pregnant women in St Helens had had the jab by the end of October this year.