Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

http://www.timesonline.com/news/article ... 78c22.html

The department listed 12,309 confirmed flu cases statewide from Oct. 5 through Feb. 26, about 90 percent of which are Type A H3N2 strain, Senior said.

Nonsense.

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www.twitter.com/hniman

Individual pharmacies in the area are advertising that they have Tamiflu in stock.

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I am not a doctor, virologist, or any of type of medical/life sciences professional.

I am a layman with a background in the physical sciences.

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/03/ ... 12641.txt'

PHILADELPHIA – Dan Carcillo. Darroll Powe. Jeff Carter. One-by-one the Flyers fell victim to a nasty strain of influenza that carries significant weight loss as a side effect.

Others are dealing with the symptoms, too, as the Flyers locker room has turned into a Petri dish from hell.

It’s not a good time for that to happen for the Flyers, who began a stretch of three games in four nights with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wells Fargo Center Thursday.

Carcillo, Powe and Carter all missed the game because they are bedridden.

Nik Zherdev remained in the lineup, as did Jody Shelley, and James van Riemsdyk played, despite nursing a tender groin injury.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/se ... 490&mode=2

PA Influenza Weekly Report
Week ending March 5, 2011 (Week 09)

excerpted from summary:

Somebody goofed. Last week there were 211 hospitalizations and this week there were 118 isolates tested.

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I used to think I had to understand in order to believe, but then I realized that I had to believe in order to understand. - Augustine

18 individuals with influenza were admitted to Intensive Care Units in Pennsylvania during week 10, up from 14 the previous week.
A majority of recent influenza hospitalizations and ICU admissions have been in unvaccinated people.
Five (5) influenza deaths were reported during week 10, up from 2 the previous week. 65 flu deaths have been reported season-to-date, including 33/54% among the elderly, 6/9% in children under 18 years, 3/5% in the 19 to 24 year age group, 11/17% in the 25 to 49 year age group and 10/15% in people aged 50-64 years old.
A majority (50%) of flu viruses isolated at the state lab during week 10 were the seasonal A/H3N2 influenza, followed by 2009/H1N1 (30%) and influenza type B (20%).

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/se ... 490&mode=2

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www.twitter.com/hniman

Montgomery County, PA

http://timesherald.com/articles/2011/03 ... 552730.txt

COURTHOUSE — With the influenza season at its peak, Montgomery County has had 568 reported cases of flu since October with the disease a contributing factor in six deaths, according to a Health Department official. [Title of article - flu death rate at one percent]

During the a meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Health, Julie Marsden, division director of Communicable Disease Control, said the majority of infections tested at a state laboratory were H3N2 flu strain and more recently H1N1.

Though flu often takes a toll on older adults, Marsden said those who died with flu as a factor tended to be younger.

“What is unique in our county was our deaths tended to be persons below 65 rather than 65 plus," she said. Five of the dead were unvaccinated; one had been vaccinated, but had underlying medical conditions.

The Health Department found most of those sickened since Oct. 2 have been between 25 to 49 years old. In the county, 59 people were hospitalized due to the virus and 10 outbreaks occurred in long-term care facilities.

Board member Dr. Bruce Goodman Silver noted that the number of county fatalities related to flu infections was significant.

“A death rate of one percent is huge,” Silver said.

The doctor said Main Line Health Systems would likely make flu vaccinations mandatory for all employees by the next flu season, and he believes the illness has been underreported by the media recently.

“It’s the most serious disease,” he said. “This is a killer.”

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/se ... 490&mode=2

week 11 report

53% of all specimens tested for influenza at the state lab were positive. Specimens tested at the state lab are mostly from people with influenza-like illness(ILI). This level of positivity suggests that other respiratory infections are causing as much ILI as flu viruses.


A majority (58/53%) of 109 flu viruses isolated at the state lab during week 11 were the seasonal A/H3N2 influenza, followed by 2009/H1N1 (37/34%) and influenza type B (14/13%).

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Interestingly, most of the flu cases were in eastern Pa, but more of the hospitalizations were in western PA.

http://post-journal.com/page/content.de ... utnam.html

Mark Steven Putnam, 56, of Secane, Pa., formerly of 75 Sturges St., Jamestown, N.Y., passed away at 5 p.m., Monday, March 28, 2011.

Mark had been fighting a courageous battle with H1N1 with many complications since Feb. 13, 2011, at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, N.J., and finally at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.

Mark was born in Jamestown, N.Y., on Nov. 17, 1954, the son of Ronald H. Putnam and Beverly A. Johnson Putnam.

He was a 1972 graduate of Jamestown High School, and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, 1973 to 1977. He served a tour of duty at Ubon Royal Thai Airbase, Thailand, as a sergeant in communications.

He worked for MRC Jamestown and Gainesville, Ga., and finally at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, N.J., as head of their computer departments.