http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (AP) -- As swine flu cases hit 6,500 worldwide, World Health Organization officials were meeting with vaccine manufacturers and other experts in Geneva on Thursday to discuss making a vaccine to fight the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news161513537.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 May 2009 09:52:46 EST news161513537 (AP) -- Pregnant women should take prescription flu medicines if they are diagnosed with the new swine flu, health officials said Tuesday. So far, the swine flu has not proven to be much more dangerous than seasonal influenza, and it's not clear whether or not pregnant women catch swine flu more often than other people. But in general, flu poses added risks for pregnant women, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.physorg.com/news161364186.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 May 2009 16:23:22 EST news161364186 Industrial engineers Sandra Garrett of Clemson University and Barrett Caldwell of Purdue University have proposed a new system to warn of an impending pandemic by monitoring signals in human behavior. The system could result in using a simple icon on a television screen to warn of future phases of an outbreak of an illness such as the flu. http://www.physorg.com/news161352243.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 May 2009 13:04:27 EST news161352243 Early findings about the emerging pandemic of a new strain of influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico are published today in Science. http://www.physorg.com/news161277136.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 16:12:40 EST news161277136 (AP) -- As poor countries face a possible swine flu pandemic with only enough Tamiflu to treat a tiny fraction of their populations, some experts are calling for a simple but contentious solution: massive production of generics. http://www.physorg.com/news161243834.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 06:57:53 EST news161243834 Given his age, H. Byran Poff figures he has seen just about everything that can happen to mankind. http://www.physorg.com/news161183707.html Medicine & Health Sun, 10 May 2009 14:16:32 EST news161183707 (AP) -- The most pivotal moments in the swine flu saga are yet to come. Will it sweep through impoverished Southern Hemisphere countries in the next few months? Will it roar back in the rest of the world in the fall? And who will be vaccinated if it does? http://www.physorg.com/news161142339.html Medicine & Health Sun, 10 May 2009 02:46:25 EST news161142339 (AP) -- Bird flu kills more than 60 percent of its human victims, but doesn't easily pass from person to person. Swine flu can be spread with a sneeze or handshake, but kills only a small fraction of the people it infects. http://www.physorg.com/news160983779.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 May 2009 06:43:33 EST news160983779 (AP) -- The World Health Organization says up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu, if the current outbreak turns into a pandemic. http://www.physorg.com/news160920852.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 May 2009 13:14:27 EST news160920852 The global outbreak of swine flu hovering just below the pandemic threshold could provide immunity for those already infected if the virus mutates into a more deadly form, scientists have told AFP. http://www.physorg.com/news160896138.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 May 2009 06:22:46 EST news160896138 Some genetic markers of influenza infection severity have been identified from past outbreaks. Researchers have failed to find most of these markers, described in the open access journal BMC Microbiology, in samples of the current swine-flu strain. http://www.physorg.com/news160832514.html Biology Wed, 06 May 2009 12:42:38 EST news160832514 The new influenza A (H1N1), known as the swine flu, demonstrates the power of people's perceptions of risk. Sales of face masks are breaking all records not only in Mexico but also in Sweden. Hotel guests are being isolated at a hotel in Hong Kong, and people with the sniffles are being isolated in airports around the world. But before the outbreak of the flu, this was a risk that extremely few Swedes perceived as a serious threat to themselves. http://www.physorg.com/news160806348.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 May 2009 05:26:14 EST news160806348 When pandemics occur, correctional facilities are not immune. With more than 9 million people incarcerated across the globe 2.25 million in U.S. jails and prisons alone it is vital that correctional officials and health professionals be prepared for a worst-case scenario that involves pandemic influenza reaching inmates and staff. http://www.physorg.com/news160765232.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 18:01:08 EST news160765232 The swine flu outbreak that began in Mexico and continues to spread around the globe may be particularly dangerous for young, otherwise healthy adults because it contains genetic components of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which can induce a "cytokine storm," in which a patient's hyper-activated immune system causes potentially fatal damage to the lungs. Research studies and review articles exploring the regulation of cytokine responses in the lung and how infection-related dysregulation can cause a cytokine storm have been published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://www.physorg.com/news160761170.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 16:53:21 EST news160761170 (AP) -- Swine flu could shine a glaring light on the best and worst about American-style health care. http://www.physorg.com/news160681272.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 18:41:43 EST news160681272 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a global influenza pandemic, small stockpiles of a secondary flu medication - if used early in local outbreaks - could extend the effectiveness of primary drug stockpiles, according to research made available April 30 ahead of publication in PLoS Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news160666388.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 14:33:45 EST news160666388 (AP) -- Mexican officials lowered their flu alert level in the capital on Monday and said they will allow cafes, museums and libraries to reopen this week. World health officials weighed raising their pandemic alert to the highest level. http://www.physorg.com/news160654553.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 11:16:21 EST news160654553 (AP) -- A leading U.S. health expert said Monday that while "there are encouraging signs" of a leveling off in the severity of the swine flu threat, it's still too early to declare the problem under control. http://www.physorg.com/news160643484.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 08:12:05 EST news160643484 Hong Kong authorities said Saturday that a dead pigeon found in the city had tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus. http://www.physorg.com/news160459355.html Medicine & Health Sat, 02 May 2009 05:03:04 EST news160459355 (AP) -- The swine flu virus that has frightened the world is beginning to look a little less ominous. New York City officials reported Friday that the swine flu still has not spread beyond a few schools. In Mexico, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news160416786.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 May 2009 17:13:27 EST news160416786 Mexico began a five-day shutdown Friday to try to halt the spread of swine flu as the country was approved for three billion dollars in international loans to fund its battle against the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news160387775.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 May 2009 09:10:49 EST news160387775 The World Health Organisation on Thursday said there was no evidence to suggest that it should raise a pandemic flu alert from phase five to the highest level of six. http://www.physorg.com/news160313002.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:23:48 EST news160313002 A disease spread simulation has emphasized that flu interventions must be imposed quickly, if they are to be effective. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that staying at home, closing schools and isolating infected people within the home should reduce infection, but only if they are used in combination, activated without delay and maintained for a relatively long period. http://www.physorg.com/news160311362.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:56:32 EST news160311362 In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the central United States while a swine respiratory disease occurred concurrently. A Kansas State University researcher has found that the virus causing the pandemic was able to infect and replicate in pigs, but did not kill them, unlike in other mammalian hosts like monkeys, mice and ferrets where the infection has been lethal. http://www.physorg.com/news160309140.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:24:04 EST news160309140 A French study of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, which analysed mortality rates in approximately three-quarters of the European population, has concluded that it is unlikely that the virus, often described as Spanish Flu, originated in Europe. http://www.physorg.com/news160307159.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:46:33 EST news160307159 (AP) -- The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the swine flu outbreak is moving closer to becoming a pandemic, as the United States reported the first swine flu death outside of Mexico, and Germany and Austria became latest European nations hit by the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news160231985.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:53:25 EST news160231985 (AP) -- Virulent swine flu spread to at least 10 U.S. states from coast to coast Wednesday and swept deeper into Europe, extending its global reach as President Barack Obama mourned the first U.S. death, a Mexican toddler who had traveled with his family to Texas. Total American cases surged to nearly 100, and Obama said wider school closings might be necessary. http://www.physorg.com/news160231928.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:52:33 EST news160231928 A pandemic of swine flu has edged nearer but the threat can be avoided if governments and individuals join in limiting the contagion, The Lancet said in an editorial on Tuesday. http://www.physorg.com/news160141132.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:39:11 EST news160141132 The World Health Organization has six phases of pandemic alert to assess the potential for a new global flu outbreak. http://www.physorg.com/news160128691.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:11:53 EST news160128691 New research published today (Monday April 27) from the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust warns of a six-month time lag before effective vaccines can be manufactured in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. http://www.physorg.com/news160071628.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:20:55 EST news160071628