Scotland funds nurses returning in swine flu pandemic

Nurses and midwives returning to work in Scotland to help in any worsening of the H1N1 outbreak will have their re-registration costs paid for by the Scottish government.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has written to former members whose registration has lapsed in the previous four years to encourage them to re-register. This would make them available to employers in the event of a surge in the pandemic.

Full article: here.

Singapore launches program to ensure business continuity during flu pandemic

Singapore launched on Tuesday a program to help businesses remain undisrupted in times of a possible flu pandemic.

The Flu Pandemic Business Continuity Program targets to help at least 1,000 companies become flu pandemic prepared by the end of 2010.

It is part of a 30 million Singapore dollars (20.98 million U.S. dollars) National Business Continuity Management Program announced last year.

Full article: here.

MDs, nurses pressing for more specific pandemic plan

Canada’s doctors and nurses pressed MPs to help fill the gaps in the national pandemic plan Monday, urging them to ask the government for more consistent communication. They also warned they do not yet feel prepared for a second wave of the H1N1 pandemic.

Representatives from three doctors’ and nurses’ professional organizations, along with the Canadian Medical Association, appeared before the House of Commons health committee and did not hold back in expressing their concerns.

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“We urge you to protect health-care workers and make SARS lessons national lessons. If the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) won’t do it, nurses will.”

Full Article: here.

Nasal spray flu vaccine becoming available

The long-awaited first vaccinations against swine flu — the squirt-in-the-nose kind — begin early next week in parts of the country, and states are urging people to be patient until more arrives.

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“We’re moving this out as quickly as we can,” said Oregon’s public health director, Dr. Mel Kohn, who hopes shipments arrive in time to begin some vaccinations on Monday. “This doesn’t do any good sitting in a warehouse.”

Most states are aiming their first small batches at health care workers, hoping to keep them well enough to be on the job as cases of swine flu — what doctors prefer to call the 2009 H1N1 strain — are rapidly increasing nationwide.

In Chicago, firefighters will share first doses with hospitals, to get some emergency responders protected, too.

Full article: here.

Ottawa should speed up approval of H1N1 vaccine, says Ont. minister

Ontario Health Minister David Caplan urged Ottawa on Thursday to speed up approval of the H1N1 vaccine amid concerns that a second wave of the swine flu may have already arrived in the province.

Ontario is equipped to deploy the vaccine quickly, but the province can’t get it until Health Canada issues a licence to the manufacturer, Caplan said.

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Dr. Donald Low, head of the public health laboratories with the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, said a number of flu cases have come to emergency departments over the last few days.

The flu activity is concentrated primarily in Toronto, Hamilton and London, said Low, who is also chief microbiologist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

He said there have been few cases of H1N1 in Ontario over the last few weeks, but on Monday, six new cases were confirmed.

“But unfortunately, that’s beyond the control of provincial governments.”

Full article: here.

Italy considers vaccinating players for swine flu

Italian soccer officials are considering large-scale vaccinations for players to protect against swine flu.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi told the ANSA news agency Friday that “the possibility of vaccinating all the players on every team is being considered.”

Full article: here.

School nurse shortage hampers swine flu response

As schools grapple with a resurgence of swine flu, many districts have few or no nurses to prevent or respond to outbreaks, leaving students more vulnerable to a virus that spreads easily in classrooms and takes a heavier toll on children and young adults.

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When the swine flu emerged last spring, it was a school nurse in New York City — Mary Pappas at St. Francis Preparatory School — who helped identify and curtail the country’s first major outbreak after she noticed large numbers of students complaining of high fevers and sore throats.

Full article: here.

U.S. doubles early supply of swine flu vaccine

U.S. health officials said on Thursday more than 6 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be available the first week of October, twice as many as they expected only a week ago.

But even as officials ramp up vaccine production, they say most Americans tend not to bother getting vaccinated — especially the children and young adults most at risk of being infected by the new H1N1 virus.
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She said that typically, fewer than 25 percent of children and pregnant women get vaccinated against seasonal flu, which kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people a year worldwide.

Vaccination rates are also below 30 percent for young adults and around 40 percent for healthcare workers.

Full article: here.

MOH cautious on flu shot fears

Unpublished Canadian data are raising concerns about whether it’s a good idea to get a seasonal flu shot this season.

Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the data appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn’t.

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Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Arlene King said she is concerned about the study but cautions that it is too early to jump to conclusions.

“We are obviously concerned about the information that has occurred and we have certainly seen no higher illness or death rates here in Ontario or anywhere else in the country compared to the rest of the world, so it’s very important for that information to be peer reviewed.”

Full Article: here.

Swine flu ‘could kill millions unless rich nations give £900m’

The swine flu pandemic could kill millions and cause anarchy in the world’s poorest nations unless £900m can be raised from rich countries to pay for vaccines and antiviral medicines, says a UN report leaked to the Observer.
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Gregory Hartl of WHO said the report required an urgent response from rich nations. “There needs to be recognition that the whole world is affected by this pandemic and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We have seen how H1N1 has taken hold in richer nations and in the southern hemisphere. We have been given fair warning and must act soon,” he said.

Full Article: here.