Naruedech y Mi Space

Warning against unsupervised use of antiviral drugs

2009-05-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

By Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation

source:http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/read.php?newsid=30101889&keyword=swine+flu

The Public Health Ministry has issued a warning against people taking the antiviral drug Oseltamivir as a precaution against infection with the influenza A (H1N1) virus, commonly know as swine flu.

As Thailand joins countries around the world in the battle to halt the spread of the virus, the ministry said people panicked into selfadministered doses of Oseltamivir without medical supervision could damage their mental health or unwittingly increase the resistance of viruses to drugs aimed at stopping their spread.

"People who appear unwell and who have fever and a cough should not take Oseltamivir by themselves," Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai told a press conference at the Ministry's operations centre for preparedness and response to an influenza pandemic.

Patients should undergo treatment at a hospital to prevent possible side effects that could harm their physical and mental health, such as vomiting and suffering hallucinations, he said, citing research in Japan.

The Public Health Ministry's deputy permanent secretary, Paijit Warachit, said taking antiviral drugs without medical supervision also raised the risk of viruses developing resistance and reducing the effectiveness of the drugs.

He suggested that people with flulike illnesses should wear a surgical mask covering the nose and month to reduce the risk of transmission.

The symptoms of swine flu in humans are fever, lethargy, diminished appetite and coughing. Some people have also reported a runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Humantohuman transmission occurs when infected people cough or sneeze. People may also become infected by touching any object, the surface of which is contaminated by the flu virus, and then touching their mouth or nose.

At present, The Public Health Ministry has 3 million antiviral tablets in stock, while the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has 170,000. If necessary, the GPO can immediately manufacture another 1 million tablets of Oseltamivir because it has the raw materials in stock.

GPO director Witit Artavatkun said infected patients needed to take two tablets per day for five consecutive days.

He said the GPO could deliver the AFlu medicine to Bangkokbased medical facilities within 12 hours. For those outside of Bangkok, delivery could be made within 24 hours.

The World Health Organisation has now advised all countries to intensify their surveillance for unusual outbreaks of flulike illnesses and severe pneumonia.

The outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico has already infected more than 658 people in 16 countries around the world. Seventeen people have died.

Disease Control Department spokesman Kumnuan Ungchusak said measures to identify and treat infected patients flying back from outbreak areas was the key to preventing the sickness from spreading in Thailand.

The Health Ministry has now installed six thermal scanners at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and will check every passenger coming through the airport, around the clock.

The scanners have examined 216,448 arriving passengers over the past six days. On Sunday only about 7 of 34,735 arriving passengers were found with high body temperatures, but most were later cleared.

So far, there have been no reported cases of the H1N1 strain of swine flu in Thailand.

When 14 Thais arrived back from Mexico by United Airlines yesterday, the Public Health Ministry sent ambulances to take them from their aircraft to the arrival terminal for medical check ups.

Those of them who passed thermal scanning and physical examinations will be followed by a medical team for a week, Kumnuan said, and those who develop high body temperatures will be placed under close hospital surveillance.

"We suggested that the people who flew back from Mexico should stay at home for at least seven days and the medical team would follow the development of any symptoms. The influenza A (H1N1) virus has an incubation period of three days," Paijit said.

Bureau of Epidemiology chief Pasakorn Akarasewi reported that one Thai woman in her 40s was placed under close surveillance although her initial flutest results were negative. She has now been allowed to go home after tests confirmed that she was suffering from ordinary seasonal influenza.

Pasakorn said the Department of Medical Science had also been examining specimens collected from an 11yearold boy from Buriram, who appeared to be unwell after flying back from New Zealand. He said the boy could also be suffering from seasonal flu.

Flu experts to confer as WHO tally hits 1,124

2009-05-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

By Stephanie Nebehay

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/swineFlu/idUSTRE5441IX20090505

GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 150 scientific experts will on Tuesday examine and compare notes on the H1N1 flu virus, including its severity and incubation period, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO's scientific committee will hold a teleconference from 1400 GMT to try to fill gaps in scientific knowledge about the new strain, which the WHO says has officially infected 1,124 people in 21 countries, with Portugal the latest addition.

"It is important that the scientific committee meet to share information and try to understand the incubation period, severity of disease and also what age groups are affected mostly by the new strain," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said.

There are no immediate plans to also convene an emergency committee which can recommend changing the pandemic alert level, she told a news briefing in Geneva.

Mexico is considered the epicenter of the outbreak caused by a new combination virus known popularly as "swine flu."

The WHO is keeping a close eye on outbreaks outside North America for signs of sustained human-to-human spread as it tries to decide whether to declare a full-blown pandemic.

TAMIFLU STOCKS BEING DISPATCHED

The United Nations agency also said it would begin sending 2.4 million treatment courses of Tamiflu, an antiviral proven effective against the new flu, on Tuesday to 72 countries deemed in need, including Mexico. [nL5636466]

The Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG donated the stockpiles to the WHO several years ago for use in a possible influenza pandemic. Shipments will be made from "three hubs" -- Switzerland, the U.S. state of Maryland, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Chaib said.

WHO's latest tally includes 590 people confirmed as having the new disease in Mexico, 25 of whom died. The United States has reported 286 laboratory-confirmed cases including one death.

Flu infections without fatalities have been confirmed in the following countries: Austria (1), Britain (18), Canada (140), Hong Kong, China region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), South Korea (1), Spain (54) and Switzerland (1).

The WHO toll lags national reports but is considered more scientifically secure, as it reflects sophisticated tests carried out in its global network of laboratories.

It remains unclear when, or whether, the WHO will raise its pandemic alert to the top of its 6-point scale and activate emergency response plans to fight the new virus.

Last week the WHO raised its pandemic alert level from 3 to 4 and then to 5 in recognition of the transmission of the virus in Mexico and among communities in the United States and Canada. The current phase 5 signals that a pandemic is "imminent."

Keiji Fukuda, WHO acting assistant director general, said on Monday that most people infected in Europe and Asia to date had been to Mexico and did not catch the virus in their communities.

What is swine flu?

2009-05-06T10:19:00.001-07:00

By Julie Henry Last

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/5219579/What-is-swine-flu.html

Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs.

Caused by influenza type A virus, there are regular outbreaks among herds of pigs, where the disease causes high levels of illness but is rarely fatal.

It tends to spread in autumn and winter but can circulate all year round.

There are many different types of swine flu and like human flu, the infection is constantly changing.

Swine flu does not normally infect humans, although sporadic cases do occur usually in people who have had close contact with pigs.

There have also been rare documented cases of humans passing the infection to other humans.
Human to human transmission of swine flu thought to spread in the same way as seasonal flu – through coughing and sneezing.

The outbreak in Mexico seems to involve a new type of swine flu that contains DNA that is typically found in avian and human viruses.

The World Health Organization has confirmed at least some of the cases are caused by this new strain of H1N1.

"We are very, very concerned," World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Thomas Abraham said. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human... It's all hands on deck at the moment."

It is genetically different from the fully human H1N1 seasonal influenza virus that has been circulating globally for the past few years. It contains DNA that is typical to avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses

When any new strain of flu emerges that acquires the ability to pass from person to person, it is monitored very closely in case it has the potential to spark a pandemic.

The WHO is concerned but says it is too soon to change the threat level warning for a pandemic. However, it has convened an expert panel to consider whether to raise the alert level or issue travel advisories.

It might already be too late to contain the outbreak, a prominent US pandemic flu expert said.
Dr Michael Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota, said given how quickly flu can spread around the globe, if these are the first signs of a pandemic, then there are probably cases incubating in other parts of the world already.

"Literally hundreds and thousands of travellers come in and out of Mexico City every day," Dr Osterholm said. "You'd have to believe there's been more unrecognised transmission that's occurred."

There is no vaccine that specifically protects against swine flu, and it was unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

However, the CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested.

Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective. There have also been concerns that some forms of flu have been developing resistance to the drugs.

Scientists have long been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a worldwide pandemic of a killer disease.

A new pandemic flu virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defences against it.

The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968

My Reaction

There are no best way to protect yourself from swine flu better than to protect yourself first. So, I have some tips to protection yourself from the outbreak.

14 Protection tips from Swine Flu infection

1. Wash your hands often

2. Use hand sanitizer

3. Avoid touching things in public such as banisters, doorknobs, countertops, etc

4. Clean things such as doorknobs, telephone receivers, etc. with rubbing alcohol.

5. Avoid touching other people and pets.

6. Don't share food, drinks, cigarettes, etc. with others

7. Encourage children to cover their mouth/nose when they cough or sneeze.

8. Stay home if you suspect you're sick.

9. Don't send sick children to school.

10. Wear a mask if you are in a place where Swine Flu is spreading.

11. Use a zapper.

12. Stock up on food, water, medication, or whatever else you need, and prepare to stay indoors

while others in your community are sick.

13. If you have some symptom in case of swine flu, you should go to see doctor to get checking

and treatment thoroughly.

14. People who appear unwell and who have fever and a cough should not take the antiviral drug or Oseltamivir by themselves without medical supervision. It also raised the risk of viruses developing resistance and reducing the effectiveness of the drugs

My Conclusion

There have been no reported cases of the H1N1 strain of swine flu in Thailand now.

However, Swine flu or the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) from Mexico has already infected more than 658 people in 16 countries around the world at present. Seventeen people have died.

The Human to human transmission of swine flu thought to spread in the same way as seasonal flu – through coughing and sneezing.

There is no vaccine that specifically protects against swine flu, and it was unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

Even, two antiviral flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain.

Because of, both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective.

Therefore, the best way to protect swine flu is protection yourself by following the suggestion above.

Moreover, don’t forget to pay attention on news every day for prepare yourself to deal with swine flu, even it is quite far Thai people. And, the outbreak is not spread in Thailand now.