MetaFilter posts tagged with influenza

Fighting the flu for 90 years

Knappster — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:05:28 -0800

Inspired by an episode of the short-lived TV series Medical Investigation, researchers have found that survivors of the 1918 influenza pandemic continue to make antibodies against the virus.

Don't be a sitting duck

tellurian — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:05:53 -0800

Subivor - People should have more protection than a necktie, their shirt or paper towel to cover their mouth, nose and eyes. They need Moist Towelettes too. [via]

Influenza in the Amazon

roofus — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:19:43 -0800

A British TV crew have been accused of spreading flu to a remote Peruvian tribe of 250 members, leading to 4 deaths. TV director Matt Currington (google cache) and team were researching for the Discovery channel in the Peruvian Amazon, when flu struck the Matsigenka people. Despite denials from the production company, US anthropologist Glen Shepherd has substantiated the allegations.

Four out of Five People Wash Their Hands.

grabbingsand — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:46:04 -0800

Four out of Five People Wash Their Hands. Don't be that Fifth Guy. While you're at it, cover your mouth when you cough and stay home when you're sick. Really, how many times do we have to tell you? Wash. Your. Hands. Seriously. Who's the Fifth Guy? "The Florida Department of Health set out to prepare people for the potential of a flu pandemic, but they faced a tough challenge: No pandemic on the horizon ... Then they built the campaign around what does matter to people: Fitting in."*

The end of influenza?

Kickstart70 — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:55:16 -0800

The end of influenza? New british vaccine may prevent ALL types of flu, savings thousands of lives (and sick days) each year.

Re-Animated

staresbynight — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 12:01:46 -0800

The 1918 strain of flu lives again. Newsfilter or not, according to a paper published in Science, a team of U.S. researchers has managed to recreate the Spanish flu. Bits of the original virus were taken from the remains of victims from that outbreak and reconstructed in mice. To the surprise of probably no one, the 1918 flu has several elements common with bird flus and was probably originally avian in origin.

Pandemic Flu Awareness Week

grabbingsand — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 06:34:36 -0800

October 3-9 is Pandemic Flu Awareness Week. "Like hurricanes, when a pandemic occurs can not be accurately predicted. Nonetheless, that which can be done in advance should be done, because eventually something will happen. Planning can only help, even if at the local level it can’t prevent." (Avian Flu previously discussed here, here, here and here.)

Mystery respiratory outbreak in Toronto: 73 sick, 4 dead.

rolypolyman — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 11:23:48 -0800

Mystery respiratory outbreak in Toronto: 73 sick, 4 dead. Yesterday the media quickly snapped up assurances [video] that ruled out influenza or SARS. Said officials, "We can certainly reassure people that this is not SARS, um, there is no SARS in the world ... Can I give you a guarantee that it's not influenza, at this time not, in a few hours, probably ... as the day goes on the public health lab has more and more results." A day has passed with no word on these tests. Affected areas are reportedly quarantined, and some Internet communities are growing alarmed over the contradictions at yesterday's press conference.

Bye Bye Birdie

Asparagirl — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 02:19:39 -0800

Over the past month, people in Qinghai province, China have been reporting that migratory birds in the mostly-rural region were dropping dead of an unknown disease, later diagnosed as a few hundred cases of "an isolated case" [sic] of influenza strain H5N1, a.k.a. bird flu. Three weeks later, the Chinese government admitted that actually about a thousand birds had died of bird flu in the province. Now there are reports saying that at least 8,000 animals--not just birds--have died from the flu, including not only breeds of fowl not previously known to be affected by the virus, but non-avian species, too.

Every national park and bird sanctuary in China has been closed for weeks, since the first reports surfaced of an outbreak. But today, disturbing photos started appearing on Chinese language news websites, supposedly taken at the closed Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. They appear to show thousands of dead birds (warning, disturbing images - Engrish version via Babelfish here) on the island in the middle of Qinghai Lake, China's largest saltwater lake and a rest-stop for migratory birds from all across southeast Asia. Nervous pandemic-watchers are debating whether the photos are real or doctored, but compared to previous photos of the once-lively birding spot, something definitely seems to be wrong.
[ much more inside >> ]

"Preparing for the next pandemic."

docgonzo — Thu, 05 May 2005 07:38:44 -0800

1.7 million deaths in the U.S. and 180-360 million dead globally. That's the estimate of the impact of the next influenza pandemic from Michael Osterholm, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. He warns that almost every public health response to the inevitable emergence of pandemic influenza A strain is unplanned or inadequate: A vaccine would take minimum six months (and millions of fertilized chicken eggs); there are no plans to setup and staff the temporary isolation wards or replace dead health-care workers; nor are there detailed plans for handling the number of dead bodies. Given the deeply interconnected nature of the global economy a pandemic would be impossible to stop and wreak havoc in every nation. "Frankly the crisis could for all we know have started last night in some village in Southeast Asia," said Dr. Paul Gully, Canada's deputy chief public health officer. "We don't have any time to waste and even if we did have some time, the kinds of things we need to do will take years. Right now, the best we can do is try to survive it. We need a Manhattan Project yesterday."