By: Michael Sztuk

As flu season rapidly approaches, parents around the country are starting to face school closures. But the big question is how bad should an influenza outbreak be for a school to close. In a recent study led by epidemiologists John Brownstein, PhD and Anne Gatewood Hoen, PhD of the Children’s Hospital Boston Informatics Program, in collaboration Asami Sasaki of the University of Niigata Prefecture, tapped a detailed set of Japanese data to help guide decision making by schools and government agencies. The analysis was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the November issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (biologynews.net).

The issue is that many schools especially in the U.S. don’t have a specific or consistent algorithm to decide whether to shut down or not. Experts feel schools are not using quantitative data, and are focusing on political or fear-based decisions rather then data-based. The researches above have analyzed flu absenteeism data from a Japanese school district with 54 elementary schools, tracking flu seasons from 2004-2008. A school outbreak was defined as a daily flu absentee rate of more than 10 percent of students. But, you want to get a school closed before an epidemic peaks, to prevent transmission of the virus, but you also don’t want a school to close unnecessarily, explained the researchers. The researchers wanted to set standards for districts in the U.S. that would not be too complex, that could be easily implemented by schools. After their research they suggested three optimal scenarios for school shut down due to flu. The scenarios include: a single-day influenza-related absentee rate of 5 percent, absenteeism of 4 percent or more in two consecutive days, and absenteeism of 3 percent or more on three consecutive days.

These methods would give schools and government agencies a basis for timely closure decisions, by allowing them to predict the escalation of an outbreak using the absenteeism data, says researchers. The researcher used data from Japan because they closely monitor school absenteeism due to flu, and requires testing for the flu virus in students who become ill. As of now the CDC states “ the decision to selectively dismiss a school should be made locally, in conjunction with local and state health officials, and should balance the risks of keeping the students in schools with the social disruption that school dismissal can cause” (CDC).

I picked this article because flu and especially H1N1 is becoming a major concern for school districts. Hopefully this research will help schools determine the appropriate time if necessary to close schools because of the flu virus. This is a sensitive subject because we can’t just go around closing schools if students become ill with the flu, because it would greatly impact the learning of the students. But it is also important to take into consideration the health and safety of the student.  This relates to our class because we learned how viruses enter into our body and trick the healthy cells to become infected. The virus genetic material enters the cells nucleus, and can make it clone hundreds of thousands of new viruses. Then, the viruses’ protein enables the release of new viruses that attack and take over more cells, (National Geographic). While it is hard to determine when our schools should shut down because of the flu, we should focus on preventing the spread of influenza by practicing common hygiene like, covering our mouth and washing our hands.  It is also important to educate the population on how to prevent the spread of influenza and encourage people to get the flu vaccine.

Source: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/11/04/when_should_flu_trigger_a_school_shutdown.html

Pregnant women are constantly being advised to stay away from pretty much anything that may have a chance at being harmful, even with minimal evidence. Taking a chance is not an option for most pregnant women, especially when it comes to the health of their unborn baby. However, could this idea of avoiding everything even as minor as certain foods such as sushi or cheese, begin to have negative affects such as pushing women to think even vaccines could be harmful?  This paranoia that is administered towards almost all pregnant women scares them away from almost everything, and the thought of taking the flu vaccine is out of the question. Unfortunately this way of thinking is deadly, and with a second strand of the flu invading 50 percent of the population, this leaves everyone including pregnant women at risk. A study done in the Lancet this past summer gave frightening results that a high rate of death in pregnant women, along with close to fatal sickness like Pneumonia were due to the H1N1 influenza. Pregnant women have recently been placed on the top priority list for the vaccine by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; who have also strongly advised any pregnant woman that has been exposed to the virus should take antiviral medications immediately. No matter how forceful the recommendations, in one study there was still a low amount of only 15 percent of pregnant women who received the flu vaccine, this rate is much lower than any other adult group recommended for it. The women from the Lancet study who passed away were not treated soon enough after symptoms began to occur. Due to the thalidomide disaster in the 1960s, people were concerned about the fatal risks of taking drugs and the affects they had on fetal development. Doctors and women from than on avoided taking any type of medicine while being pregnant. Even with strong evidence this way of thinking still exists. For example, pregnant women with untreated or poorly treated asthma are proven to have higher rates of growth problems in the fetus, pregnancy issues, and premature birth. Another example of evidence would be that pregnant women with untreated diabetes increases the chances of their child having birth defects as high as 1 in 4. Even with this hazardous yet helpful evidence, getting away from this mindset is difficult for most women, but sadly enough this pattern can continue for flu victims. A continuous alert should be made for pregnant women and receiving the flu vaccine along with any antiviral medications. Research should also be a priority in looking into the safest ways in which pregnant women can take dugs without risking their unborn child. Six major medical centers are carrying out studies with pregnant women in trials of the swine flu vaccines, which are financed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This crucial research and concern should not be ignored and awareness should continue to spread, in order to keep pregnant women and their unborn safe.

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As a woman one of my many dreams is to one day become a mother. The entire idea of becoming pregnant and going through the process is exciting yet scary. Other than my mother I have been lucky enough to watch some of my own friends go through this crucial process. The thought of birth defect and constantly worrying about making sure the baby comes out perfectly healthy is natural. I am not exactly sure how it feels to be pregnant but I know from what I have been told it is one amazing feeling and horrible feeling at the same time. Besides the fact that your body is holding another human being, the morning sickness, the weight gain, and other lovely side effects, not only is being pregnant a wonderful gift but a tremendous burden. The woman has full responsibility and will do everything in her power to protect her future child. Taking every single precaution is crucial, but this is where situations become worrisome and difficult. If I had ever gotten sick and needed to take drugs, there is always a risk in whether the drugs that are given could have some sort of negative affect on the fetus. However, if I did not take the drugs and my sickness became worse it is risking my life and the life of the unborn child. So where does a woman turn to? Even doctors are not sure about most of the vaccines and drugs out there. One question I have is even if the flu has become a hazard for pregnant women ,what if the vaccine prevents the death from the flu but causes other birth issues? How can anyone at this point prove this? I feel that this is an extremely hard predicament and even though I have no idea what it is like to be pregnant all I know is that it would not be a simple decision. One more question I have is would it be possible to make a vaccine strictly for pregnant women?

Source

What Is Swine Flu

What are the Symptoms of Swine Flu

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

U.S. Human Cases of H1N1 Flu Infection
(As of April 30, 2009, 10:30 AM ET)

States	# of laboratory confirmed cases	Deaths
Arizona	1
California	14
Indiana	1
Kansas	2
Massachusetts	2
Michigan	1
Nevada	1
New York	50
Ohio	1
South Carolina	10
Texas	26	1
TOTAL COUNTS	109 cases	1 death
International Human Cases of Swine Flu Infection See: World Health Organization

What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?

There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir.  While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to  amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

Is there a vaccine for swine flu?
Vaccines are available to be given to pigs to prevent swine influenza. There is no vaccine to protect humans from swine flu. The seasonal influenza vaccine will likely help provide partial protection against swine H3N2, but not swine H1N1 viruses.

What’s In A Name (Source)

Influenza A viruses are one of five types of flu viruses and cause the most severe disease in humans, although influenza B regularly causes outbreaks.

The A, B and C designations originally referred to type of antibody response from the body, but are now known also to be related to genetic differences in the capsid proteins of the different viruses. Studies of the genetic sequences of these viruses indicate that at some time they all had a common ancestor.

After A, B or C comes the sub-type, which is named for the broad classes of the hemagglutinin (HA) or neuraminidase (NA) surface proteins sticking through the viral envelope. There are 16 HA sub-types (designated H1 – H16) and 9 NA sub-types (designated N1 – N9).

Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase were the first aspects of the flu viruses to be identified, so early naming convention nomenclature was built around the two genes that code for them, since then more viral genes for making proteins have been identified.  Because of this, the H and N nomenclature of naming has become a very incomplete description of the virus.

The H1N1 description of swine flu only describes two of the eight genes in the virus. It’s possible to have an H1N1 strain with six other genes from an avian flu virus, or an H1N1 with six other genes from a human-adapted or pig-adapted flu virus. Those six other genes could also be identical to the other six genes in a virus with a completely different naming system like H6N2. (Source)

Other Questions

Can I still eat pork?
Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The swine influenza virus is inactivated by cooking temperatures of 160oF/70oC corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat.

Currently in the United States many people were given the flu shot either by a doctor or even now a CVS pharmacy. This article shows how scientists have now come up with a faster flu vaccine that turns infinitesimal amounts of DNA into this new effective vaccine. It is done by a spraying technique, which sprays viral genes directly through the skin. However it is not approved yet! If this new vaccine is approved for humans to use, the new technique could help save many lives in case of a flu outbreak.

“John Beadle, a researcher from the Infectious Disease and Oncology department at PowderMed, Ltd. in London, says, ‘The traditional way of making vaccines has a number of significant drawbacks.’” They are saying that the biggest drawback to vaccines are the amount of time it takes to make them, which could take to long to save people from the flu or other diseases.

Some questions that I have are based on the new technique. How could we know if the spray will take a positive effect on everyone, if they are rushing to compete the procedure? Also, will the new technique of vaccines still make the patient sick with the virus like the one we use now?

“The Center for Disease Control estimates that more than 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized each year as a result of the flu, and more than 30,000 die from it. Globally, the flu kills close to half a million people every year.”

Source: Science Daily.