Researchers swapped one amino acid in the H1N1 virus's HA surface protein and found it bound respiratory cells far more easily. They say the 2009 strain spreads inefficiently, but that small surface changes could make it more virulent, so seasonal tracking matters.
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Disease
Self-Reported Influenza-Like Illness During the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic
From September 2009 to March 2010, CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System found an average 8.1 percent of adults and 28.4 percent of children reported influenza-like illness in the prior 30 days; 40 percent of those adults and 56 percent of the children sought care.
Lifestyle
Here is why obesity boosts death risk from swine flu
About half of Californians aged 20 and older who died or landed in hospital with swine flu in 2009 were obese, researchers report, with obesity and extreme obesity carrying 200 and 300 percent higher death risk. Separate work points to missing flu-specific memory T cells in obese individuals.
Lifestyle
Obesity boosts, vitamin D cuts swine flu death risk
Among 534 Californian adults hospitalised with 2009 H1N1, 51% had a BMI above 30, rising to 61% of those who died. Obesity was tied to a 200% higher risk of death and extreme obesity to 300%, leading the authors to urge prompt treatment for obese patients.
Disease
2009 H1N1: Overview of a Pandemic
A slide summary of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: more than 214 countries reported lab-confirmed cases and at least 18,449 deaths, figures the authors call a substantial undercount. Children, young adults, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions were hit hardest.
Vitamins
Could vitamin D work better than influenza vaccine?
The CDC urges everyone six months and older to take the 2010-2011 flu shot. The piece counters that neither cdc.gov nor flu.gov mentions vitamin D3, and cites researchers William Grant and John Cannell, who argue high doses boost innate immunity against influenza.
Disease
H1N1 Swine Flu Even Milder than Seasonal Strains
A JAMA study comparing pandemic H1N1 with seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 found similar symptoms and complication risks and no substantial rise in hospitalization or pneumonia, though the pandemic strain fell disproportionately on children and young adults.
Miscellaneous
The FORBIDDEN Truth About WHO’s 2009 ‘Pandemic’…
An investigation reported by BBC News found that scientists who shaped WHO advice on stockpiling pandemic flu drugs had financial ties to companies that stood to profit, ties WHO did not disclose. A WHO spokesman says industry did not influence its swine flu decisions.
Vitamins
Can we enlist vitamin D to fight flu pandemic?
The piece sets out John Cannell's hypothesis that flu is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency. It notes his argument that most of the 36 children the CDC reported dying of H1N1 in 2009 had neurodevelopmental conditions, stayed indoors and took anticonvulsants, all worsening vitamin D status.
Drug
German Magazine Reveals Drug Companies' Influence to Engineer Swine Flu Fake Pandemic
Mercola cites Der Spiegel's report that 30 senior pharmaceutical representatives met WHO and UN leaders about three weeks before swine flu was declared a pandemic, and that declaring phase 6 triggered pre-signed vaccine contracts. Poland's health minister declined to buy the vaccines.
Disease
Government Announces Swine Flu Resistance to Anti-Viral Therapy
Two patients whose immune systems were weakened by past blood stem cell transplants developed Tamiflu-resistant swine flu after 9 and 14 days on the drug, Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger's team reports. One kept deteriorating on peramivir and recovered only after switching to Relenza.
Disease
CDC H1N1 Flu Website Situation Update, March 27, 2010
CDC's FluView for March 14-20, 2010 reports flu indicators mostly flat nationally, with elevated influenza-like illness in three of 10 regions, hospitalization rates leveling off, one new pediatric death, and 332 laboratory-confirmed pediatric deaths since April 2009.
Disease
2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) in Pregnant Women Requiring Intensive Care --- New York City, 2009
New York City surveillance found 16 pregnant women and one postpartum woman admitted to intensive care with 2009 H1N1; two died. Twelve had no risk factor besides pregnancy, and only one started oseltamivir within two days of symptoms, the window tied to better outcomes.
Disease
CDC: swine flu activity on the decline
The CDC reported H1N1 activity unchanged from the previous week, with hospitalization rates lower than earlier but still above what is expected for the season. No state reported widespread activity, nine more children died, and the agency continues to urge all Americans to get vaccinated.
Disease
CDC updates weekly report on swine flu activity
The CDC's January 29 update showed swine flu receding: no state reported widespread activity in the week of January 17-23, and 4.6% of 164 specimens tested positive. Pneumonia and flu deaths stayed above the epidemic threshold, and five children died, four with H1N1.
Disease
CDC swine flu update, Jan 23
CDC's FluView for January 10-16, 2010 reports every key indicator down except deaths from pneumonia and influenza, which rose above expected levels, apparently on pneumonia deaths among older people rather than flu itself. Nine more flu-related pediatric deaths were reported that week.
Nutrition
CDC Releases Swine Flu Vaccine Statistics
As of January 2, about 61 million Americans, a fifth of the population, had received the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, the CDC reported, including 29.4 percent of children aged 6 months to 18 years. All key flu indicators declined during the first week of January.
Healthcare
Harvard Takes it Back and Says Swine Flu was Oversold
A Harvard analysis projecting from spring H1N1 deaths in the US suggests the swine flu pandemic was unlikely to turn severe, which Dr. Mercola takes as vindication of his argument that mass vaccination and other official steps were unnecessary.
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