“Thursday, December 3, 2009 is one of the drugs used on the sickest patients, and it is not effective against the H1N1 virus in only a few cases. But epidemiologists said experience with other flu strains shows that resistance can spread quickly, making monitoring and prevention crucial”. Click Here for entire article

The AP reported yesterday that President Obama has declared H1N1 a National emergency.  ”The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government’s initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October”.

New York State backed off their mandate yesterday (requiring all New York Healthcare workers to receive H1N1  vaccine or lose their JOB) under the cover of a vaccine shortage.

Vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur said Wednesday that Children under 10 are likely to need2 swine flu vaccine doses.

For Updates on the Swine Flu please click here to access the the CDC website

the FDA has approved H1N1 vaccines made by Novartis AG.

H1N1 vaccinations scheduled to begin in three weeks in US.
Bloomberg News (9/14, Randall, Gale) reports, “Swine flu vaccinations may begin in three weeks, earlier than previously anticipated, after the first US tests found a single shot to be effective in eight to 10 days, US health officials said.

The  (6/12, A5, Esterl, subscription required) reports, “The World Health Organization declared the first flu pandemic in 41 years, even as it stressed there are no signs the H1N1 virus has turned more lethal as it spreads across the globe.” The declaration “requires countries not yet exposed to the new influenza strain to roll out pandemic-prevention plans and step up monitoring efforts. It also will likely accelerate efforts to develop a vaccine, expected to take several months.” Although Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the WHO, said the “overwhelming majority” of those diagnosed with H1N1 have “experienced mild symptoms and recovered quickly without medical treatment,” she also “warned that the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, is likely to continue to spread and that it could turn more virulent or affect populations differently.”

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