Preventing Human to Pig Spread: Swine May Also Be Vaccinated Against H1N1

Humans may not be the only ones guarding against swine flu by the time cold weather ushers in influenza season. The flu namesakes could also be getting new vaccinations.The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given several animal vaccine manufacturers the "master seed virus" from the swine flu strain now circulating among humans. At least one of the companies said Wednesday it's developing a vaccination for pigs, which can contract the virus from infected people-in much the same way people do...

School Nurses Fear Job Cuts Ahead of Possible H1N1 Outbreaks

Novartis Says H1N1 Vaccine May Work in One Dose

Swiss drugmaker Novartis said Thursday one of its swine flu vaccines may work with just one dose, rather than two as previously expected, a finding that could potentially boost global supplies.In early results from human tests on one of its swine flu vaccine candidates, Novartis AG said one shot of its vaccine provided enough protection against the virus, as set out by criteria by U.S. and European drug regulators.Most experts had thought two doses of vaccine would be necessary, since swine flu is a new virus to which virtually no one has immunity....

China Approves Single-Dose H1N1 Vaccine

The answer may be at hand to a crucial question about vaccination for the advancing swine flu-one shot or two? Chinese officials approved a vaccine Thursday that they say prevents the new flu in a single dose.If they're right, it would be good news. Many health researchers fear it will take two shots to protect people, vastly complicating efforts to stem the spread of the illness.The World Health Organization says it is encouraged after reviewing the test details from the vaccine by Beijing-based drug maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd.-one of several being developed in China....

Poll:"Half Of Pregnant Women Refuse Swine Flu Vaccine"

Revolt against untested vaccination continues as just 6% of pregnant women say they definitely will take the shot...

Swine flu 'debacle' of 1976 is recalled

The episode triggered an enduring public backlash against flu vaccination, embarrassed the federal government and cost the director of the CDC his job....

CDC Warns Neurologists To Watch For Nerve Disease Following Swine Flu Shots

The CDC has followed in the footsteps of British health authorities by warning neurologists to look out for cases of the nerve disease Guillain-Barre syndrome caused by the swine flu vaccine...

Massachusetts Senate Passes Draconian Flu Pandemic Bill

The corporate media is ignoring S. 2028, the flu pandemic bill that was unanimously passed by the Massachusetts Senate. The draconian bill was covered extensively by the alternative news sites, but not a word from the New York Times or the Washington Post. S. 2028 will be used as a template for legislation in other states. The bill imposes a virtual police state and martial law on Massachusetts at the behest of the governor in the event of a flu pandemic this autumn. It gives the state health commissioner, law enforcement, and medical personnel wide authority to mobilize forces, vaccinate the population, enter private property with no warrants, and even quarantine people against their will in violation of the Constitution. The bill allows the state to enter property without a search warrant and destroy the property without a court order. It would force in-state health care providers to assist in the performance of vaccination....
Read more....

NY Getting Ready for Swine Flu....

A woman hands out packages of hand sanitizing wipes at Times Square in New York in May 2009. New York announced free swine flu vaccinations Tuesday for all elementary school students ahead of the new academic year and a feared resurgence of H1N1 infections.(AFP/File/Timothy A. Clary)

Elmo joins H1N1 flu fight

Health and Human Services Department Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks to members of the news media as Sesame Street character Elmo stands besides her in Washington in May 2009. As US kids go back to school facing a likely resurgence of (A)H1N1 flu, the US government Tuesday enlisted Sesame Street muppets Elmo and Gordon in a new health campaign.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Robert Giroux)

The federal government is reintroducing a powerful weapon in the fight against the H1N1 flu virus: Elmo.The popular Sesame Street character will be featured in a series of public service advertisements meant to encourage better hygiene among young children, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.In the ads, Elmo teams up with Gordon, another Sesame Street veteran, to stress the importance of basic healthy habits such as frequent hand washing, sneezing into the bend of your arm, and not touching your mouth, nose, and eyes....

Feds Battle Flu With Vaccine,Elmo...

The government is starting a full-court press to combat expected outbreaks of swine flu this fall among students, starting with the distribution of vaccine. Helping to spread the word, a character from 'Sesame Street.'....

NYC Schools to Offer Free Swine Flu Vaccinations

The nation's largest school district said Tuesday it will offer free swine flu vaccinations to its 1 million-plus schoolchildren as New York City takes bold steps to avoid becoming the country's flu epicenter again in the fall...

Ga. Students With Swine Flu Sequestered

Approximately 50 Emory University students who have fallen ill with swine flu have voluntarily moved into a single dorm where they can recover without infecting other students....

H1N1 unlikely to mutate into “superbug”

The new H1N1 virus appears to outcompete seasonal flu, making it less likely to mix with other circulating flu viruses into a “superbug” as some had feared, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday...

Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology:"H1N1 May Hit Half of All Americans"

Swine flu could infect half the U.S. population this fall and winter, hospitalizing up to 1.8 million people and causing as many as 90,000 deaths — more than double the number that occur in an average flu season, according to an estimate from a presidential panel released Monday...

Mass. Health Bill Would Allow Warrantless Arrests,Quarantines...

A pandemic and disaster preparation bill (S. 2028) passed unanimously by the Massachusetts Senate earlier this year is receiving wide-spread criticism as citizens mobilize to oppose its passage in the commonwealth’s House of Representatives.“Under this bill, Massachusetts becomes a medical police state. There is no debating it,” wrote Natural News editor Michael Adams in an August 28 article entitled "Wake Up, America: Forced vaccinations, quarantine camps, health care interrogations and mandatory ‘decontaminations,’" where he suggested America was delving into medical fascism. “The citizens of Massachusetts will have no rights, period. The Constitution is ancient history. You are now the property of the State."....

Iowa Health Officials Engage in Damage Control Over Forced Quarantine Document

Health leaders in Iowa are reassuring people that there are no H1N1 related quarantines being ordered.Rumors started swirling after a quarantine form was found by someone on the internet.Polly Carver-Kimm from the state health department says that it’s simply a template that was made months ago.She says folks shouldn’t expect to see it used anytime soon."I can tell you that there are no plans to issue any quarantine or isolation orders this fall for H1N1,” said Carver-Kimm. “We do expect to see lots of cases of that in Iowa, but we also expect to see a large number of seasonal influenza cases."....

Cops jump on swine-flu power:Shots heard 'round the world;"Pandemic bill allows health authorities to enter homes,detain without warrant"

A "pandemic response bill" currently making its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow authorities to forcefully quarantine citizens in the event of a health emergency, compel health providers to vaccinate citizens, authorize forceful entry into private dwellings and destruction of citizen property and impose fines on citizens for noncompliance.If citizens refuse to comply with isolation or quarantine orders in the event of a health emergency, they may be imprisoned for up to 30 days and fined $1,000 per day that the violation continues...

University of Kansas students isolated by flu...

Arielle Spiridigliozzi is one of 350 students who have contracted H1N1 at the University of Kansas.

It started with a sore throat.Then her chest was burning.University of Kansas freshman Arielle Spiridigliozzi said she thought her symptoms were signs of allergies, or maybe even a sinus infection.It couldn't be H1N1, she thought.But it was."I mean, I'd never, ever guessed that coming into freshman year I would get the friggin' swine flu," Spiridigliozzi said.Now she accessorizes her royal blue T-shirt with a mask....

Obama:"Americans Should Get Swine Flu Vaccine"

Seasonal Flu Shots Available Nationally...:FOX Staff Gets Vaccinated Live....

Fuzzy Math:"Why Swine Flu Vaccines Don’t Add Up"

Here’s a seventh grade word problem for you: If swine flu has infected one million people and killed 500, how many people might be expected to die if it infects 150 million people (assuming no major changes in the virus)? The correct answer, of course, is 75,000 people, and that’s within the range of the number of swine flu deaths now being publicly predicted by the White House.
But there’s another part to this word problem: How many vaccine shots and hand washings does it take to boost vitamin D levels in the average person...

State preps to relocate quarantined H1N1 victims:'Your home and other less restrictive alternatives are not acceptable'

Iowa's Facility Quarantine Order

A blank document from the Iowa Department of Public Health has been discovered online, designed to be filled in with the name of an H1N1 virus victim who is required to relocate from his or her home to a quarantine facility.The form, which began appearing today in e-mail
and on the Internet, has concerned a confused public already swimming in conflicting reports about the severity of the swine flu and intrusive government measures that many fear may be taken if the disease becomes a pandemic....

Novavax says flu vaccine meets safety goal;shares soar...

Vaccine maker Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) said its seasonal flu vaccine candidate was well-tolerated in a mid-stage trial, sending its shares soaring to a new three-year high.The sudden outbreak of the new H1N1 flu strain, or swine flu virus, has pressured the supply of vaccines for seasonal influenza, which kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people a year globally.The company said its seasonal flu vaccine, which uses so-called virus-like particles, induced robust immune responses against three influenza strains-H3N2, H1N1 and B-and was well tolerated...

Pennsylvania Department of Health Launches Online H1N1 Vaccine Registry

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept.1-PRNewswire-USNewswire-Health care providers may now pre-register online if they are interested in receiving pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccines and supplies when those materials become available, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said today.
The Department of Health is offering pre-registration to providers including hospitals, clinics, pharmacists, schools and community vaccinators.Pre-registered providers will receive e-mail updates about the pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccination program including a vaccine provider agreement and ordering instructions, as well as important information to help prepare their facility to store, handle and administer the vaccine properly. Only providers that ultimately place orders and meet the conditions of the provider agreement will receive the vaccine....

"SOFA SCHOOL":Milwaukee's Plan for H1N1 Outbreak....

CDC Recommends Schools to Stay Open Through H1N1 Outbreaks...

Mexico Prepares for Second Wave of H1N1 Looking at What Worked, What Didn't Last Spring

Mexico is preparing for a second wave of swine flu, looking at what worked and what didn't last spring when it banned everything from dining out to attending school in an effort to control the virus.As the Northern Hemisphere flu season begins, the rest of the world is also studying Mexico's experience, looking for measures to replicate and costly mistakes to avoid...

French Government Plans Mass Swine Flu Vaccination Program

A shocking internal document outlines the French government’s plans to impose a mass swine flu vaccination program on the entire population which would be focused around regional vaccination centers and would be carried out by H1N1 injection teams, completely bypassing medical establishments and GP’s...

Minnesota's top flu fighter balances the worst-case scenario with plans and hopes for avoiding it...

Dr. Ruth Lynfield knows the numbers sound terrifying: 30,000 dead. 170,000 hospitalized. More than a million people infected-all in Minnesota alone.But she doesn't want people to get the wrong idea. As state epidemiologist, it's her job to lay out all the possibilities for the next wave of swine flu, including the worst-case scenario. Now, with summer winding down and students returning to school, she's out to make sure that Minnesota avoids the worst case and gets safely through the first worldwide flu pandemic in 40 years....

Picture Left:Dr. Ruth Lynfield at the Public Health Virology Laboratory in St. Paul: “The prudent thing to do is plan as best you can.”(David Joles/Star Tribune)