World Health Organization (WHO) raises pandemic alert to second highest level:

“Ladies and gentlemen,

Based on assessment of all available information, and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5.

Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world.

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The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start?

It is possible that the full clinical spectrum of this disease goes from mild illness to severe disease. We need to continue to monitor the evolution of the situation to get the specific information and data we need to answer this question.

From past experience, we also know that influenza may cause mild disease in affluent countries, but more severe disease, with higher mortality, in developing countries.

No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response.

Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.

As I have said, we do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them.”

Read the complete WHO statement here.

WHO’s definition of Phase 5:

Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Find out more about the current WHO phase (and what it means) here.

>>Too much knowledge can exaggerate the danger of a pandemic

The media, with their urge to simplify and to focus on immediate events, tend to aggregate raw numbers and to concentrate upon them as a measure of the seriousness and magnitude of the event being covered.

Thus we hear constant updates on the number of fatalities from multiple media platforms — newspapers, radio, 24-hour TV news channels that update every hour, websites and bloggers who range from the highly informed to those who are already linking the current events to sunspot activity or suggesting it’s an engineered virus released from germ warfare labs.

“Eighty-one dead in Mexico; U.S. declares emergency,” read one of the headlines Sunday. Yes, 81 dead in Mexico is something to grieve and is cause for public concern. Each one of those dead represents the anguish of a family. Yet, as the aphorism goes, one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. It’s confusing the statistic for the tragedy that exaggerates fear.

We seldom hear daily updates on the numbers of those infected who have recovered, for example. Yet consider the much-cited Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918. It’s common for commentary to cite infection rates and total associated fatalities.

It’s estimated that about 28 per cent of Canadians and Americans contracted the Spanish flu. Worldwide, an estimated 2.5 per cent of the sick died of complications, which made the pandemic one of the most lethal flu outbreaks in recorded history. Certainly it was one that imprinted itself upon human consciousness for several generations.

But there’s another way to look at those statistics. You might observe, for example, that they mean that even during the worst ravages of the 1918 flu, 97.5 per cent of those infected survived and recovered. Or that 72 per cent of the population — even in the absence of the sophisticated public health planning and infrastructure that Canada and the U.S. have since built — was not infected during the pandemic.

Full Article:  here.

>>The quest for a swine flu vaccine

It is a global endeavour and will bring the public and the private together, but it could still take several months before a safe and effective jab is available.

Yet amid all this activity, the answer could in fact be right under our noses.

Tests are being carried out to establish whether the current seasonal flu vaccine could provide cross protection against what we are seeing at the moment, as there are similarities between the H1N1 human flu viruses and the new H1N1 swine flu.

Full Article:  here.

>>7 more swine flu cases confirmed in Canada, all mild

The number of Canadians confirmed to have suffered mild cases of the human form of swine flu swelled to 13 on Tuesday, with new cases reported in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

The new cases in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia were anticipated, and do not change the federal government’s course of action…

The four cases, which were the first to be confirmed in Ontario since the disease spread outside Mexico, were all mild and involved people who had travelled to Mexico recently. Two were from the York region, north of Toronto, and the other two were from the Durham region, east of Toronto.

Full Article:  here.

>>Obama seeks $1.5 bln for swine flu as cases jump

President Barack Obama asked Congress on Tuesday for an additional $1.5 billion (1 billion pounds) to fight swine flu as the confirmed U.S. caseload jumped to 65 people in six states in what doctors fear may become a full pandemic.

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Obama, in a letter to Congress, said the $1.5 billion would give the government “maximum flexibility” as it fights the disease, supplementing antiviral stockpiles, adding medical equipment and starting preparations for a vaccine.

Full Article:  here.

>>The Naming of Swine Flu, a Curious Matter

What to call the new strain of flu raising alarms around the world has taken on political, economic and diplomatic overtones.

Pork producers question whether the term “swine flu” is appropriate, given that the new virus has not yet been isolated in samples taken from pigs in Mexico or elsewhere.

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Government officials in Thailand, one of the world’s largest meat exporters, have started referring to the disease as “Mexican flu.” An Israeli deputy health minister — an ultra-Orthodox Jew — said his country would do the same, to keep Jews from having to say the word “swine.”

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This is not a food-borne illness, virus — it is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that’s not what this is about,” Mr. Vilsack said.

Full Article:  here.

>>Canadian health officials warn against travel to Mexico

A Canadian health agency is warning against travel to Mexico, where there’s an outbreak of human swine flu, unless absolutely necessary.

The Public Health Agency of Canada issued the warning late Monday, saying travellers should postpone any non-essential travel to the country until further notice.

The agency urged travellers to take precautionary measures such as getting a flu shot, frequently washing their hands, and covering coughs and sneezes.

Full Article:  here.

>>Swine flu spreads to Middle East, South Pacific; New Zealand reports 11 confirmed cases, Israel, one

Swine flu spread to the Middle East and the South Pacific on Tuesday, as New Zealand reported 11 confirmed cases and Israel said it had one. World health officials raced to contain the outbreak, raising a global alert level as more deaths were reported in Mexico.

Swine flu has already spread to seven countries and appears to be jumping borders via airplane flights. Those infected in New Zealand are a group of students and teachers who returned recently from a trip to Mexico, where the virus is suspected to have infected nearly 2,000 people and caused more than 150 deaths.

Fifty cases — none fatal — have been confirmed in the United States. Six cases have been confirmed in Canada, two in Spain and two in Scotland.

European Union officials reported Tuesday flu cases were also being probed in Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Ireland, in addition to Spain and Britain.

Full article:  here.

>>Swine flu: Experts warned in February that new strain could cause pandemic

In February, scientists at the International Meeting on Emerging Disease and Surveillance in Vienna, Austria, said so much attention had been focused on H5N1 that the medical and scientific community risked missing the start of an outbreak caused by another strain.

Prof Thomas Monath from Harvard University said that another strain could trigger a pandemic and then “we would be screwed”.
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Prof Monath said: “If it’s a new strain of flu it will be nine months to a year before we have got really good geared up vaccine production. We will rely on antiviral drugs first and then it is a crash effort to make a vaccine. In the meantime there will be clearly an emerging uncontained problem,” he said.

“To detect it early and try to contain it in the early stages is the best chance we have got,” Prof Monath added.

Other experts at the meeting also believed the scientific community was “betting on the wrong horse” by continuing to focus solely on H5N1.

Full Article:  here.

>>WHO raises pandemic alert level to 4

The World Health Organisation raised its pandemic alert level over the deadly swine flu virus to phase 4 on Monday, indicating the infection could spread between humans to cause “community-level outbreaks”.

Experts held four hours of emergency talks on whether to raise the alert level from phase 3 due to the outbreak which has killed up to 149 people in Mexico and spread to the United States, Canada and Europe.

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The scale of alert levels goes from 1 to 6. The system was set at phase 3 in 2005 when WHO introduced it to monitor bird flu. The pandemic alert level has never before been raised.

In a statement, the Geneva-based United Nations agency said that “containment of the outbreak is not feasible. The current focus should be on mitigation measures”.

Full Article:  here.

>>Swine flu outbreak reaches Europe

The first cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Europe.

Two British people admitted to hospital in Scotland after returning from a holiday in Mexico have been confirmed as having the virus.

In Spain, a man has tested positive for swine flu and 17 other people are under investigation, officials said.

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Besides Mexico, the UK and Spain, there have also been confirmed cases in the US and Canada. Suspected cases are being investigated in Brazil, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.

Full Article:  here

>>World Bank ready to raise funding for swine flu

The World Bank is ready to increase funding to Mexico and any other developing country around the world to deal with swine flu, a senior Bank official said on Monday.

In an interview with Reuters, Keith Hansen, health sector manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, said experience with previous illnesses shows that countries should act as early as possible to prepare for the flu’s possible spread.

“We put in place a funding facility for avian flu a few years ago and it is broadly defined so it can encompass this flu, and if need be the bank is fully prepared to add money to that facility for Mexico and for any other countries that may be affected,” Hansen said.

Full Article: here.

>>Key Posts Remain Vacant as Untested Pandemic Response Plan Implemented

As they confront the growing swine flu crisis, President Obama’s administration is attempting to implement a never-before-tested pandemic response plan while dozens of key public health and emergency response jobs in the administration remain vacant.

The president has yet to fill 15 top positions at the health department or name a full-time director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and five more nominations…

The top post at the CDC remains open but is being filled by an acting director. And at the Department of Homeland Security, which is leading the federal government’s response to the swine flu outbreak, the functions of nearly 20 senior-level posts are being temporarily performed by career civil service employees.

Full Article:  here.

Medical authorities in Ontario are investigating a number of cases of suspected swine flu that has caused more than 100 deaths in Mexico and spread to at least two other Canadian provinces, the United States and Europe.

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“We’re in a unique opportunity in history that we’re watching, I think, a pandemic unfold,” said Low, who provided regular updates to the public during the SARS crisis six years ago.

Donald Low, medical director of the Ontario’s public health laboratories, says he believes the 1,600 reported swine flu cases in Mexico is ‘just the tip of the iceberg.’ (CBC)

“I don’t think anybody’s thinking that this is not across Canada.”

Full Article:  Ontario probes suspected swine flu cases amid pandemic fears

Scotland’s health secretary has ordered an independent public inquiry into a fatal outbreak of Clostridium difficile at a Dunbartonshire hospital.

A total of 55 people at the Vale of Leven hospital were affected by the infection, and 18 patients died, between December 2007 and June 2008.

An initial review of procedures at the hospital found “inadequate” infection controls.

Full Article:  C.diff deaths inquiry announced

Only 7 percent of hospitals meet Leapfrog medication error prevention (CPOE) standards and few hospitals are  meeting mortality standards, according to the 2008 Leapfrog Hospital Survey, released Wednesday.

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Other highlights of the 2008 hospital survey include:

• Low percentages of reporting hospitals are meeting volume and risk-adjusted mortality standards or adhering to nationally endorsed process measures for eight high-risk procedures, where following nationally endorsed and evidence-based guidelines is known to save lives:
  • 43 percent for heart bypass surgery;
  • 35 percent for heart angioplasty;
  • 32 percent for high-risk deliveries;
  • 23 percent for pancreatic resections;
  • 16 percent for bariatric surgery;
  • 15 percent for esophagectomy;
  • 7 percent for aortic valve replacement; and
  • 5 percent for aortic abdominal aneurysm repair.
• Sixty-five percent of participating hospitals do not have all recommended policies in place to prevent common hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).

Full article:  Most hospitals fall short on safety measures, Leapfrog survey shows

>>April 15th

The Press Association:  Breakthrough in superbug fight

Queen’s University Belfast may have made a breakthrough discovery in superbug’s natural resistance to disinfectants.

Many types of bacteria, such as MRSA, exist in colonies that adhere to the surfaces of materials.

The colonies often form coatings, known as biofilms, that protect them from antiseptics, disinfectants, and antibiotics.

Assistant director at Quill [Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (Quill)] Mr Earle added: “We have shown that, when pitted against the ionic liquids (salts) we developed and tested, biofilms offer little or no protection to MRSA, or to seven other infectious micro-organisms.”

>>April 16th

‘We’ve cut MRSA rate to zero’ – city hospital

A hospital in Ireland adopts Scandanavian anti-HAI, which proves dramatically effective.

The Mater Private Hospital in Dublin has cut its MRSA infection rate to zero due to the introduction of a new Scandinavian hygienic programme.

The ‘Search and Destroy’ scheme has been implemented over the past few years and there were zero recorded MRSA-related infections in the hospital in 2008.

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Ms Higgins said that MRSA needs to be tackled by a combination of actions and that this particular technique involves swabbing certain high-risk patients for the infection at the time of admission to hospital.

A representative said that patients with MRSA, as well as those who have a high risk of infection, are isolated from other patients

Superbug payments under spotlight

Investigative news program highlights the millions of pounds paid out in the UK to claims involving HAI:

Millions of pounds were paid out in patient compensation claims involving allegations about hospital superbugs in the past five years, Channel 4 News online has found.

The payout figures, obtained from the NHS under freedom of information (FoI) laws, reveal the number of settlements made to victims when MRSA or C. diff allegations were included as part of their overall claim for compensation for injury.

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According to the figures, obtained from the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), which defends compensation claims for health authorities, £4,000,462 was paid out to 44 claimants who included MRSA allegations as part of their overall claim in 2005, £1,964,617 to 32 claimants in 2006, £4,964,679 to 63 claimants in 2007, and £1,493,410 to 27 claimants last year.

Thousands of patients undergoing treatment or surgery at Scottish hospitals are to be screened for MRSA, Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary, said yesterday.

The national screening programme, which follows pilot programmes by three Scottish health boards, will take place over the next 12 months and will focus on the elderly and people admitted for kidney disease, skin problems and vascular surgery, a group deemed to be most at risk. The only patients not to be screened will be psychiatric, obstetric and paediatric patients.

Ms Sturgeon made the announcement as official figures showed a drop in the number of cases of Clostridium difficile and MRSA in Scottish hospitals.

Full Article: Scottish hospitals to screen patients for superbugs