Swine Flu 2009

Since it looks like the swine flu epidemic in Mexico is going to be around for a while - and since I think it's serious enough to follow as more information comes - I'm starting a sort of 'table of contents' for the anticipated posts, and the one I've already written.

Swine flu 2009 posts

• "H1N1 Pandemic Over, But the Bug Lingers On"
  (August 11, 2010)
• "H1N1 in Canadian Turkey Flock: The System's Working"
  (November 30, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Vaccine Pulled in Canada: One Batch"
  (November 24, 2009)
• "H1N1 Swine Flu: Online Crooks Selling 'Vaccine'"
  (November 17, 2009)
• " 'Swine Flu Parties'?! Sounds Crazy, But At Least You'll Have Company"
  (October 30, 2009)
• "H1N1 Virus in Minnesota Pig: It Could Be Worse"
  (October 19, 2009)
• "Swine Flu: Pandemic H1N1 2009, Common Sense and the Lizard People"
  (October 14, 2009)
• "Minnesota: Seventh H1N1 Death is First Grader in the Metro Area"
  (October 8, 2009)
• "First H1N1 Vaccines Distributed - Q and A From CNN"
  (October 8, 2009)
• "College Campuses and H1N1: It's a Bughouse"
  (September 23, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) - Epidemic in Japan, New Virulent Strain, and Two Cases Down the Street: Now it's Personal"
  (August 30, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1: Vaccines, Conspiracy Theories; and Common Sense"
  (August 23, 2009)
• "Swine Flue: Still There, Still Spreading Fast; and a Vaccine on the Way"
  (August 5, 2009)
• "New Kind of Anti-Virus Vaccine"
  (July 20, 2009)
• "Woman in Scotland Gets Swine Flu, Dies"
  (June 15, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1 Flu: Vaccine Ready for Testing"
  (June 12, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1 flu Now a Phase 6 Pandemic: First in 40 Years"
  (June 11, 2009)
• "Swine Flue in New York City: Assistant Principal Wiener's Dead"
  (May 17, 2009)
• "Swine Flu: Beware Hastily-Called Press Conferences"
  (May 16, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) Might, Maybe, be a Lab Mistake"
  (May 13, 2009)
• "Influenza A(H1N1) / Swine flu: 5,251 cases; 2,600 in America; 28 in Minnesota"
  (May 12, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) - 2nd Minnesota Case Confirmed"
  (May 8, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) Conspiracy Theories - No Surprises There"
  (May 8, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza 2009 H1N1 - Edging off the Front Page, but Not a Dead Issue"
  (May 5, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) - Mexico Re-opening, WHO Cautious - I Doubt This is Over"
  (May 4, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) - Pork is Safe, the Pigs Aren't"
  (May 3, 2009)
• "Influenza A(H1N1) / Swine Flu - Come On, How Bad Could it Be?"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza A(H1N1) - WHO on Travel Restrictions, CDC Goals"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1, and Having Someone to Blame"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / Influenza 2009 H1N1 - Reason for Concern, Not Worry"
  (May 1, 2009)
• "Swine Flu : Good News, Bad News from WHO, About Influenza 2009 H1N1"
  (April 30, 2009)
• "Swine Flu and 'Flurry of Alarmism' - or a Rational Response"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 30, 2009)
• "Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Swine Flu"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 30, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1 flu, Politics, and Common Sense: Why Closing the Border Doesn't Make Sense"
  (April 30, 2009)
• "Swine Flu / H1N1 Novel Confirmed in Minnesota - Spiffy"
  (April 30, 2009)
• "WHO Raised Swine Flu / H1N1 Alert Level to 5"
  (April 29, 2009)
• "United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Swine Flu"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 29, 2009)
• "Swine Flu and Mexico City: No Baptisms, No Confirmations, No Mass - But Plenty of Faith"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 29, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Death in Texas, First in America; H1N1 Case in Minnesota Being Tested
  (April 29, 2009)
• "Swine Flu 2009: First Time WHO Raised Disease Alert Level; and a News Video "
  (April 28, 2009)
• "Swine Flu 2009 on World Tour"
  (April 28, 2009)
• "Lemming Tracks: Why the Fuss About Swine Flu?"
  (April 26, 2009)
• "Public Health Emergency: I Think the CDC is Serious About Swine Flu"
  (April 26, 2009)
• "Mexico's Swine Flu Epidemic: They're Taking it Seriously"
  (April 26, 2009)
• "Texan Family Quarantined: Son has Swine Flu"
  (April 25, 2009)
• "Mutant Swine Flu Pandemic Possible - But Don't Panic"
  (April 25, 2009)

Background and more information

• World Health Organization (WHO) English-language home page
  • "Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR)... Influenza A(H1N1)"
    regularly updated
• FLU.gov
  • A pretty good information website. Includes:
    • Flu Shot Locator (Seasonal and H1N1)
    • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    • News, PSAs & Outreach
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  • "Emergency Preparedness and Response"
    "This site is intended to increase the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies."
    • "Influenza (Flu)"
      • "Swine Influenza (Flu)"
      • "Human Swine Influenza Investigation"
        (Updated from time to time)
      • "Key Facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu)"
      • "CDC Says 'Take 3' Actions To Fight The Flu"
      • "Swine Influenza in Pigs and People " brochure (pdf)
• "Pandemics and Pandemic Threats since 1900"
  pandemicflu.gov
• "Mexico Links Sickness, Deaths to Swine Flu"
  FOXNews (April 24, 2009)
• "Swine Flu: Look Hard Enough, and You'll See Strange Things"
  Health Blog, Wall Street Journal
• "Influenza Virus Vaccine (Subvirion) (Intramuscular Route)"
  Mayo Clinic Staff
  • Somewhat technical, but informative
• "What are pandemic alert phases and what phase are we in?"
  pandemicflu.gov
  • With link to relevant WHO page
• "What Nurses Can Tell Patients About Swine Flu"
  Scrubs / the nurse's guide to good living (April 28, 2009)
• "1918 Influenza Timeline"
  PBS
• "The Influenza Pandemic of 1918"
  Molly Billings, June, 1997 modified RDS February, 2005, Stanford University
• "Clinical study points to cytokine storm in H5N1 cases"
  Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, Academic Health Center -- University of Minnesota (September 11, 2006)
• Minnesota links
  • H1N1 Novel Influenza (formerly known as swine flu)
    Minnesota Department of Health
  • "Swine Flu FAQ's"
    Mayo Clinic
    (includes a video)
  • "2009 H1N1 flu / Information for pork producers"
    University of Minnesota Extension Service

WHO Alert Phases

News articles mentioned health alert levels, sometimes indicating that they had something to do with WHO (World Health Organization). I did a little digging, and found this:

WHO Alert Phases:

1. Low risk of human cases
2. Higher risk of human cases
3. No or very limited human-to-human transmission
4. Evidence of increased human-to-human transmission
5. Evidence of significant human-to-human transmission
6. Efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission

Right now, globally, were at "3." (pandemicflu.gov)

"Public Health Emergency" - What's That Mean?

The phrase "public health emergency" has shown up in quite a few news items, but I hadn't seen it defined. So, I did a little checking around, starting with the CDC website. The official definition is a mouthful: I can see why news editors decided not to try explaining it.

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) defines a public health emergency this way:

"Public health emergency: An occurrence or condition within a Party's ["Party" defined as "A governmental entity or agency that has adopted and executed the Agreement."] jurisdiction which results in a situation of such magnitude or consequence that it cannot be adequately handled by the Party such that the Party determines the necessity and advisability of requesting mutual aid, including but not limited to, bioterrorism or terrorism events, outbreaks or release of dangerously contagious or infectious disease, infectious agents, chemical agents, or toxins, natural disasters, technological hazards, man-made disasters, civil emergencies, community disorders, insurgency, enemy attack, or other public health emergencies that possess the high probability of death, long-term disability, or substantial future harm in the affected population."

Which is about the same way that WHO (World Health Organization) defines it.