Our Hospital Watch Live solution was recently featured on the Financial Post series Smart Shift. Click the image to watch “Smart Health”:

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CDC warns: Holiday could bring more swine flu

Swine flu pandemic peaks in Ukraine

After three weeks of panic, pandemonium and politics, the initial swine flu pandemic in Ukraine has peaked.

Today the government is expected to end a nationwide ban on public gatherings, lift travel restrictions and order the reopening of parliament, schools and universities in all but 11 regions.

But the country, with its anemic health-care system, is still reeling from having 1.6 million people fall sick with the flu, resulting in the hospitalization of 97,000 people and the deaths of 388 in three weeks.

Full Article: here.

WHO calls for ‘close’ watch on flu in farmers, animals

The World Health Organisation on Friday called for closer monitoring of farm workers and animals for influenza A viruses, following recent cases in a wider range of creatures than pigs

Although the WHO stressed that the cases were isolated and had no impact on the way the A(H1N1) swine flu pandemic evolved in humans, the UN health agency said recent findings may indicate broader potential for flu viruses to mix and mutate.

Pigs have traditionally acted as virtual mixing vessels for different flu viruses, allowing them to mutate into new forms that could be passed to humans.

Full Article: here

Panic in Ukraine over swine flu

Officials in Ukraine have closed schools for three weeks, imposed travel restrictions and are limiting public events as the country battles to stop the spread of swine flu.

More than 60 people are believed to have died of respiratory problems in the past week, and the measures are among the toughest to be implemented in Europe to tackle the virus.

Full Article: here

H1N1 outbreak at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital

Toronto Public Health confirmed today an H1N1 flu outbreak at Mount Sinai hospital.

While speaking to reporters in a conference room at Toronto Public Health’s downtown office, Dr. Barbara Yaffe, director of communicable disease control, confirmed the outbreak.

“It’s the only outbreak in a hospital that has been reported to us,” Dr. Yaffe said, without offering further details. A spokesperson for Mount Sinai could not be reached.

Full article: here.

See also:

H1N1 outbreak at Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto Star)

H1N1 outbreak at Mount Sinai Hospital (CP24)

Infection Watch Live is hard at work in southeastern Ontario, now that we’re in the third week of this second wave of Novel H1N1 Influenza A (human swine flu).

Infonaut’s online, publicly-accessible Infection Watch Live solution, implemented for KFL&A Public Health, clearly shows widespread respiratory and gastrointestinal symptom presentation in the area.

Click the image below to see live infection data for southeastern Ontario:

N.B. health-care workers 1st to get flu shot

New Brunswick health-care workers will be the first in Canada to roll up their sleeves and get the swine flu shot starting Thursday.

The Health Department said it will begin by vaccinating those workers who will be giving the shots to everybody else. The province expects to have the vaccination program completed by December.

Full article: here.