H1N1 in Italy

The victims so far in Italy caused by influenza A/H1N1 virus were 82, according to reports by the Ministry of Health in the gazette today, and Campania, with 25 deaths, remains the region where there are the most deaths.

The regions that have been more deaths linked to the virus - which in the week ended November 15 is estimated to have affected 752,000 people - is Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Lazio and Calabria (seven victims), Piedmont, Umbria and Sicily (five).

The most affected are children and adolescents from birth to 14 years, with an incidence of 3.6%. For youth and adults between the ages of 15-64 is at 0,7%.People 65 and over is at 0,1%.

Until November 20, says the Ministry, about 333,366 people were vaccinated, and vaccine doses delivered are almost four million.

H1N1 Virus outbreak global maps

These maps are hard to find. I do not believe that this map reflects ALL the cases, but only those that contribute to the interactive map. Health Map

This is a great link, live map: The Air DB

So far we have:

The United States: 47957 outbreaks 575 deaths
Australia: 35444 161
Mexico: 21664 193
Thailand: 16876 130

H1N1 and the slow reporting of WHO

I find it interesting that the concern over the H1N1 Virus that caused so much money to be spent, so much time and fear...that the WHO website, latest posting is on 17th of October below:

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_10_23/en/index.html

As of 17 October 2009, worldwide there have been more than 414,000 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 and nearly 5000 deaths reported to WHO.

As many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of milder illness, the case count is significantly lower than the actually number of cases that have occurred. WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of data.

New Activity:

Mongolia, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe have reported pandemic influenza cases for the first time this week.

Iceland, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago reported their first fatal cases.

Situation update:

In general, influenza activity in the northern hemisphere is much the same as in the last week, though respiratory disease activity continues to spread and increase in intensity. In North America, the U.S.A. is still reporting nationwide rates of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) well above baseline rates with high rates of pandemic H1N1 2009 virus detections in clinical laboratory specimens (29% of all specimens tested are positive for influenza A and all of those subtyped are pandemic H1N1 2009 virus. Canada reports increases in ILI rates for the fourth straight week but the highest level of activity is in the western province of British Columbia. Mexico still reports active transmission in some areas of the country. Although influenza activity is low in most countries in Europe, in Belgium, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, and parts of the United Kingdom consultation ILI/ARI rates are above baseline levels. Similarly the number of influenza virus detections relatively high, which may indicate the early start of an influenza season. Rates of respiratory illness in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia are increasing but are not yet at levels normally seen in an influenza season (baseline levels are not defined in many countries of the area). Of note, the proportion of cases in Asia that are related to seasonal influenza A(H3N2) continue to decline globally as the proportion related to pandemic H1N1 2009 virus increases. Currently, only East Asia is reporting any significant numbers of influenza A(H3N2) isolates.

In tropical areas of the world, rates of illness are generally declining, with a few exceptions. Cuba, Colombia, and El Salvador are reporting increases in the tropical region of the Americas. In tropical Asia, of the countries that are reporting this week, all report decreases in respiratory disease activity.

The temperate region of the southern hemisphere has no significant pandemic related activity in the past week.

Swine Flu H1N1 Virus, what is going on?

You know, there are many kinds of wars, war of violence, wars in business, war in the environmental resources and war over the rights of people.

European scientists and health authorities are facing angry questions about why H1N1 flu has not caused death and destruction on the scale first feared, and they need to respond deftly to ensure public support.

Accusations are flying in British and French media that the pandemic has been "hyped" by medical researchers to further their own cause, boost research grants and line the pockets of drug companies.

Britain's Independent newspaper this week asked "Pandemic? What Pandemic?"

France's Le Parisien newspaper ran the headline: "Swine flu: why the French distrust the vaccine" and noted a gap between the predicted impact of H1N1 and the less dramatic reality.

"Although some 30-odd people have died....the disease is not really frightening," it said. "Dangerous liaisons between certain experts, the labs and the government, the obscurity of the contracts between the state and the pharma firms have added to the doubt."

In response, scientists are walking a fine line. They say that although the virus is mild, it can still kill, and that the relatively low fatalities in Europe are in part, the result of official response to their advice.

However, in Britain, health authorities' original worst-case scenario -- which said as many as 65,000 could die from H1N1 -- has twice been revised down and the prediction is now for around 1,000 deaths, way below the average annual toll of 4,000 to 8,000 deaths from seasonal winter flu.