WebProNews

Tag: sickness

  • Swine Flu Epidemic Hits Australia

    In 2009, the World Health Organization classified the H1N1 strain of influenza, more commonly referred to as swine flu, as a Phase 6 pandemic, the highest rating possible for such a virus. Thankfully, the pandemic only lasted slightly longer than one year, with the WHO declaring the pandemic over in August 2010.

    If Australia has any impact on WHO classifications, however, that pandemic label may be returning to the swine flu soon…

    So far this year, 21,000 cases of swine flu have been reported in Australia – more than double of the amount reported at this time last year, according to the Influenza Specialist Group (ISG).

    The ISG reports that around 20 to 50 percent of children will acquire the flu each season, with only 10 to 30 percent of adults suffering from the same fate. However, mothers tend to be specifically susceptible to the flu in Australia, most likely due to the constant contact with children and the large amounts of stress mothers face everyday, weakening the immune system.

    In fact, women are more susceptible than men, overall, to contract the sickness. The numbers show that females are 25 percent more likely to acquire the virus than men. One of the reasons this phenomenon may be so apparent in Australia is due to the fact that 70 percent of women in “The Land Down Under” are not vaccinated against the flu.

    Because of the dearth of people actually vaccinated against the flu, scientists and health professionals, including ISG chairman Dr Alan Hampson, are urging Australians to get vaccinated while there is still a chance for the immunity to take hold:

    If they haven’t been infected yet it’s never too late but there might be a very narrow window. I think people do need a while to acquire immunity. If they’re in a high-risk group or people who can’t afford to be infected then it’s worth while getting along to your GP and I’d suggest no later than this week.

    Dr. Hampson also stressed to not simply rely upon over-the-counter medicine to alleviate one’s aches and pains: “They’re not really having an impact in the infection in your body, they’re just suppressing the symptoms. So you really shouldn’t take those and then soldier on. It only stresses your body.”

    And, as always, wash your hands and avoid the source – large crowds of people.

    Image via YouTube

  • Whooping Cough Cases Worry Maine Residents

    Whooping cough cases are on the rise in Kennebunk, Maine.

    Superintendent Andrew Dolloff wants parents to take precautions at home before sending their children to school.

    Parents have been asked to not only vaccinate their children against whooping cough, but to be vaccinated themselves.

    Said Dolloff, “We don’t want to create hysteria, but it is important to share when there are situations where there is a contagious disease that we want folks to be aware of.”

    A student at the Middle School of the Kennebunks contracted the disease earlier this week. This is the sixth known case of whooping cough within the school district and the fourth at the middle school alone.

    “We just always take it upon ourselves to notify parents that this is out there,” said Dolloff. He added that school officials have been trying to warn parents about the serious nature of the disease and giving them all the necessary information.

    When students are diagnosed with whooping cough, the school sends them home for a minimum of five days. It is a mandatory measure that is meant to help prevent the contagious illness from spreading to other students.

    The Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that children be given five doses of the vaccine to protect against whooping cough.

    The problem is that even if a young child if properly vaccinated, it’s possible for the vaccine to wear off.

    The CDC strongly recommends a booster shot for adolescents between the age of 11 and 18 to counteract this.

    Whooping cough is a very serious illness. It can progress to pneumonia and lead to seizures or brain damage. If not properly treated, it’s possible that an infected child could die.

    In order to prevent the spread of whooping cough, it’s best to keep your hands washed and remember to cover your mouth when you cough.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • MERS Virus Surge Seen in the Middle East

    MERS Virus Surge Seen in the Middle East

    In 2012, the world was first exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, better known as MERS. The virus originated in Saudi Arabia, and all evidence suggests that only six Middle Eastern countries have been noted spots of origination for the virus. Despite the limited proximity of origins, however, the worldwide health and scientific communities are constantly monitoring the progression of the sickness, especially due to its close relations to the SARS virus which erupted in Asia in 2003, infecting 8,273 people and killing nine percent of those infected.

    While the World Health Organization (WHO) has only confirmed 228 cases of MERS since September 2012, 92 deaths have resulted from infection. This 40 percent fatality rate has the international medical community deeply concerned, as does the recent surge in Middle Eastern countries.

    On its Twitter account, the WHO reported that from April 2 to April 6, 15 confirmed cases of MERS infection were reported from Saudi Arabia alone. On April 13, 12 cases of MERS were discovered in Jeddah, while another three cases were reported in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

    In total, 194 confirmed cases of MERS have been reported in Saudi Arabia since September 2012, with 69 deaths resulting from the virus.

    The situation at King Fahd hospital in Jeddah became so dire last Wednesday that the hospital decided to close its ER to decontaminate the facility, following reports that multiple medical personnel had become infected with the illness.

    Over the weekend, the United Arab Emirates reported six more cases of the MERS virus, all victims being Filipino medical staff assisting at hospitals in the country.

    “As far as we know, MERS-CoV does not spread easily from person-to-person, so these clusters suggest a breakdown in infection prevention and control,” stated Dr. Ian M. Mackay, an Australian epidemiologist who has been tracking the virus.

    A recent study was published stating that the MERS virus has been alive and active amongst camels for at least two decades now, with many camels obtaining the virus when they are young but never show any symptoms of illness. The camel-origins of the sickness make the virus even more difficult for scientists to pin down, seeing as most of the people infected have had no contact with camels before the illness sets in.

    Despite the rising concern, Middle Eastern health authorities have assured the public that the virus is of no true concern, imploring people to remain steadfast in the everyday lives and to practice common positive health procedures to protect against illness.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • U.S. is Experiencing an Average Flu Season

    The weather is cold across much of the U.S. and the flu season is now nearing its peak.

    A new poll out this week from Gallup shows that 2.8% of American adults in December reported being sick with the flu the previous day. This percentage represents a slight uptick from the 2% who said the same thing in November.

    Despite the rise in flu reports from November and a bit of hyperbolic reporting, this phenomenon is a common one for the flu. Flu cases generally peak just after the a the new year and subside until sometime around mid-year.

    In fact, nearly everything about this year’s flu cases is common. The 2.8% of reported flu cases per day in December measured by Gallup is the same as those seen in 2011 and 2012. The 2009 flu season was slightly higher with 3% daily reports in December, and 2010’s mild season saw only 2.5% of U.S. adults reporting flu symptoms. Last year’s flu cases spiked significantly during the end of 2012, with Gallup’s poll numbers reaching 3.2% in December.

    Though Americans in southern states are less likely to report having had the flu, Gallup is warning that, considering CDC data and the extremely cold weather in recent weeks, the south could see increased flu infections during January 2014.

    Gallup’s survey also covered whether Americans have had a cold in the previous day. December’s average rose to 8.9% from the previous month, a figure that is the lowest seen since December 2010’s relatively low cold cases (8.7%). Cold cases reported to Gallup in December 2012 hit 9.9%.

  • Swine Flu (H1N1) An Epidemic In The U.S?

    The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) claim that the swine flu, known as H1N1 is spreading widely throughout the U.S. and has now extended into 10 states.

    This is the same flu that in 2009 was seen as a worldwide pandemic, which caused 12,000 American deaths. Apparently that flu, during peak flu season, has surfaced with a vengeance in parts of Texas and other northeastern and southern states.

    Health officials are still encouraging citizens to get a seasonal flu shot which after a couple of weeks will cause the patient to produce antibodies that will help fight off any exposure.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) are testing specimens of this virus and have discovered that 64 percent of these specimens tested positive for H1N1.

    The CDC reported that cases of influenza were widespread in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Wyoming and Alaska; last week, just four states reported widespread outbreaks. Twenty-three more states have reported regional outbreaks.

    A wife in Texas who lost her husband to the virus said: “You don’t think it would happen to you, you know. We always worried about my son getting the flu shot. We’re never really worried about the two of us because you don’t really hear about any of this, you don’t think it will happen to you.”

    The H1N1 is a flu that starts in pigs, and eventually spreads to humans. Pigs kept in unsanitary situations, who are sickly are more prone to contracting the flu virus.

    According to the Humane Society of the U.S.- Dr. Michael Greger reports: The H1N1 swine flu virus may be “the product of intensive farming.” Factory farming and long-distance live animal transport apparently led to the emergence of the ancestors of the current swine flu threat.”

    Further, In early analysis of the H1N1 swine flu virus from human cases in California and Texas revealed that six of the eight viral gene segments arose from North American swine flu strains circulating since 1998, when a new strain was first identified on a factory farm in North Carolina.

    Those little viruses are smart – they figure out ways to mutate until they can latch onto something. Medical labs creating vaccinations have difficulty keeping up with their forever-changing attacks. As soon as an antibiotic is created that can create immunity the virus, it has changed again.

    In mid 1998, all through a North Carolina pig factory farm – thousands of pigs fell sick. Coughing was the sound you heard when walking through those dark filthy corridors. That was the start of the new strain of swine flu – a human-pig hybrid virus that had picked up three human flu genes. By the end of that year—a hybrid of a human virus, a pig virus, and a bird virus—triggered outbreaks in Texas, Minnesota, and Iowa.

    It’s back now – and with an even stronger force.

    Until human beings learn that farm animals cannot be condensed as they are – hundreds of thousands of them per warehouse – we’re breeding trouble. Not only do they remain sickly, confined and miserable, it is a breeding ground for deadly viruses.

    It is only a matter of time before the predicted major pandemic hits the U.S. and the world, similar to the one in 1919 that killed millions.

    The precautions of course are keeping your immune system healthy by eating healthy – and avoiding people who are sick. Wash your hands regularly and stay home if you are sick.

    Image via YouTube

  • AP: Monsanto’s Chemicals are Sickening Argentina

    A recent AP investigation might change your mind if you think the Haitian farmers acted brashly when they destroyed the seeds Monsanto donated to them as relief from an earthquake.

    Argentina is, today, the world’s third-largest soy producer, and the thanks in no small part go to American biotechnology firms like Monsanto. But decades of genetically-modified growth accompanied by special insecticides and agrochemicals are taking a terrible toll on the Argentinian population.

    The AP noted dozens of individual cases of people using agrochemicals in illegal ways. Santa Fe has cancer rates that are between two and four times higher than Argentina’s national average, and the state of Chaco (the nation’s poorest) sees four times as many children born with birth defects since biotechnology took over.

    A pediatrician and co-founder of Argentina’s Doctors of Fumigated Towns, Dr. Medardo Avila Vazquez, said “The change in how agriculture is produced has brought, frankly, a change in the profile of diseases. We’ve gone from a pretty healthy population to one with a high rate of cancer, birth defects, and illnesses seldom seen before.”

    Argentina was once famous for its grass-fed cattle, but in 1996, Monsanto marketed a model of higher crop yields through less pesticides, mostly because the seeds were genetically modified to include the pesticide, and then sprayed with accompanying agrochemicals produced by Monsanto.

    The campaign worked well for Monsanto: 100 percent of Argentina’s soy and almost all the corn, wheat, and cotton are grown from GM seeds. Soy farming now occupies 47 million acres, and now Argentinian cattle are fed in feedlots, just like the United States.

    Unfortunately for the farmers, insects evolve much more rapidly than Monsanto’s chemical formulas due to their short lives. Put simply, as more chemicals were sprayed on the bugs, more chemicals were needed to kill them.

    The 1990 figures show 9 million gallons of agrochemical concentrate were sprayed in Argentina per acre; by 2013, 84 million gallons of concentrate were sprayed, an amount that is more than double that utilized by farmers in the United States.

    In 2009, Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez ordered a commission to study the impact of frequent agrochemical spraying on human health. It published an initial report that demanded “systematic controls over concentrations of herbicides and their compounds” but the commission hasn’t met since 2010.

    Monsanto spokesperson Thomas Helscher said in a written statement that his company “does not condone the misuse of pesticides or the violation of any pesticide law, regulation, or court ruling… Monsanto takes the stewardship of products seriously and we communicate regularly with our customers regarding proper use of our products.”

    If you want to watch a full-length documentary about the effects, physical and legal, of Monsanto’s work, Seeds of Death is sure to be a highly informative experience:

    [Image via Seeds of Death