Public health officials on Tuesday announced five more swine flu-related cases in Santa Clara County.
Two of the cases were identified as probable and three were confirmed to be swine flu or H1N1.
The latest figures bring to 29 the total number of swine flu cases in Santa Clara County, including 14 confirmed and 15 probable, said Marty Fenstersheib, health officer for Santa Clara County.
Fenstersheib warns that people who are sick with fever, sore throat, stuffy nose and or coughing should stay at home for at least seven days after they experience symptoms, and should limit their contact with healthy people to avoid infecting them.
So far, there have been more than 4,150 confirmed cases of swine flu in 29 countries. Two people in the United States have died from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Showing posts with label Swine Flu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swine Flu. Show all posts
Why China is acting aggressively on swine flu
Six years ago, the Chinese government drew worldwide opprobrium for keeping SARS a secret while its citizens died or spread the disease abroad.
Nobody could accuse Beijing of a coverup over swine flu. The national TV evening news Monday, when the first confirmed case was reported on the mainland, reported little else, and the authorities broadcast a very public manhunt. Within 24 hours, they had tracked down and quarantined more than 80 percent of the people who had come in contact with the victim between Tokyo and the provincial Chinese city where he was hospitalized.
If all this seems rather like overkill, it illustrates just how determined China is to be above reproach in its reaction to this public-health scare after failing so badly over SARS. It also reflects a particular worry in a country where bird flu is endemic in many regions.
Bird flu has killed more than half the people it has infected, but is hardly transmissible among humans. Swine flu is benign in about 99 percent of cases, according to a study published this week in Science magazine, but it is very contagious.
Officials are afraid of a “reassortment,” a mix of two flu strains, the head of the Beijing office of the World Health Organization, Hans Troedsson, said earlier this year.
The Chinese authorities appear not to be taking any chances, drumming awareness of swine flu into the public consciousness. On the Monday evening news, the top story presented President Hu Jintao urging cadres to “strengthen our leadership and maintain our vigilance … sparing no effort to stem the spread of the epidemic.”
The second story was about the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao presiding over an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss prevention measures. Then viewers were treated to the sight of Li Keqiang, tipped to be the next prime minister, visiting the patient at the center of all the fuss. The fourth story was about the discovery of the patient.
This blanket coverage on state TV comes hard on the heels of draconian quarantine measures that have seen Mexicans confined to hospitals merely because they were Mexicans – regardless of whether they had been anywhere near Mexico in recent weeks.
Nearly 300 hotel guests and staff at Hong Kong’s Metropark Hotel found themselves under lockdown there for seven days last week because the city’s only swine flu patient had stayed at that hotel. All 166 passengers who had been on that man’s flight from Mexico City to Shanghai were tracked down – in 18 different Chinese provinces – and also put under effective house arrest for a week.
Nobody could accuse Beijing of a coverup over swine flu. The national TV evening news Monday, when the first confirmed case was reported on the mainland, reported little else, and the authorities broadcast a very public manhunt. Within 24 hours, they had tracked down and quarantined more than 80 percent of the people who had come in contact with the victim between Tokyo and the provincial Chinese city where he was hospitalized.
If all this seems rather like overkill, it illustrates just how determined China is to be above reproach in its reaction to this public-health scare after failing so badly over SARS. It also reflects a particular worry in a country where bird flu is endemic in many regions.
Bird flu has killed more than half the people it has infected, but is hardly transmissible among humans. Swine flu is benign in about 99 percent of cases, according to a study published this week in Science magazine, but it is very contagious.
Officials are afraid of a “reassortment,” a mix of two flu strains, the head of the Beijing office of the World Health Organization, Hans Troedsson, said earlier this year.
The Chinese authorities appear not to be taking any chances, drumming awareness of swine flu into the public consciousness. On the Monday evening news, the top story presented President Hu Jintao urging cadres to “strengthen our leadership and maintain our vigilance … sparing no effort to stem the spread of the epidemic.”
The second story was about the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao presiding over an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss prevention measures. Then viewers were treated to the sight of Li Keqiang, tipped to be the next prime minister, visiting the patient at the center of all the fuss. The fourth story was about the discovery of the patient.
This blanket coverage on state TV comes hard on the heels of draconian quarantine measures that have seen Mexicans confined to hospitals merely because they were Mexicans – regardless of whether they had been anywhere near Mexico in recent weeks.
Nearly 300 hotel guests and staff at Hong Kong’s Metropark Hotel found themselves under lockdown there for seven days last week because the city’s only swine flu patient had stayed at that hotel. All 166 passengers who had been on that man’s flight from Mexico City to Shanghai were tracked down – in 18 different Chinese provinces – and also put under effective house arrest for a week.
Swine Flu Drug for Pregnant Women
Pregnant women who get swine flu are at such high risk of complications like pneumonia, dehydration and premature labor that they should be treated at once with the antiviral drug Tamiflu — even though it is not normally recommended in pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
Because a positive test for the new H1N1 flu can take days, the agency said, Tamiflu should be given to any pregnant patient with flu symptoms and a history of likely contact with someone else with swine flu.
“If I’m thinking influenza — the classic symptoms, febrile, aching all over, came on all of a sudden — and this flu is in the community, and I’d otherwise give the patient Tamiflu if she wasn’t pregnant, we’re saying, ‘Don’t delay because she’s pregnant,’ ” said Dr. Denise Jamieson, a C.D.C. medical officer. “At that point, the benefit of giving Tamiflu outweighs the risk.”
Tamiflu is not normally recommended for use by pregnant women because the effects on the unborn child are unknown, according to its maker, Roche.
Dr. Jamieson, an obstetrician, said most medicines had insufficient safety data for pregnancy “because you don’t do clinical trials in pregnant women.” But she added, “Tamiflu and Relenza are fairly safe in pregnancy.”
Tamiflu and Relenza are in the same class of drugs. But Tamiflu is a pill and liquid, while Relenza is a powder that must be inhaled, so it is prescribed much less often.
The C.D.C. and the World Health Organization said case histories in Mexico and the United States suggested that pregnancy was emerging as a risk factor rivaling asthma, diabetes, immunosuppression and cardiovascular disease.
One of the three deaths in the United States involved a pregnant Texas woman who was on no medication other than prenatal vitamins, the disease centers said. The agency knows of 20 confirmed or probable swine flu infections in pregnant Americans, and “a few have had severe complications,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for public health.
American doctors are often reluctant to prescribe flu drugs for pregnant women unless they develop severe symptoms like pneumonia. Pregnant women are often reluctant to take medication. A pregnant woman is at higher risk from flu because hormonal changes depress the immune system to protect the fetus.
Details about the death of the pregnant woman in Texas emerged Friday in the disease centers’ weekly morbidity and mortality report. Dr. Jamieson said the woman had mild asthma and psoriasis, but was relatively healthy. The woman has been widely identified as Judy Trunnell, 33.
Mrs. Trunnell was eight months pregnant when she entered the hospital with pneumonia on April 19, five days after flu symptoms began and she had been found flu-positive in a doctor’s office test. Her baby was delivered by Caesarean section and is healthy. She developed acute respiratory distress on April 21 and needed mechanical ventilation. She did not get Tamiflu until April 28. She died May 4.
It is becoming clear that the epidemic in the United States will mirror the epidemic in Mexico, and similar rates of severe illness should be expected. The outbreak across Europe is still spreading slowly because the Europeans aggressively treat every suspected mild case with Tamiflu, health officials said.
The United States now has more than 3,000 confirmed cases — two-thirds in people younger than 18 — but only 116 hospitalizations. But officials note that hospitalizations take slightly longer to appear in statistics and deaths take much longer.
Because a positive test for the new H1N1 flu can take days, the agency said, Tamiflu should be given to any pregnant patient with flu symptoms and a history of likely contact with someone else with swine flu.
“If I’m thinking influenza — the classic symptoms, febrile, aching all over, came on all of a sudden — and this flu is in the community, and I’d otherwise give the patient Tamiflu if she wasn’t pregnant, we’re saying, ‘Don’t delay because she’s pregnant,’ ” said Dr. Denise Jamieson, a C.D.C. medical officer. “At that point, the benefit of giving Tamiflu outweighs the risk.”
Tamiflu is not normally recommended for use by pregnant women because the effects on the unborn child are unknown, according to its maker, Roche.
Dr. Jamieson, an obstetrician, said most medicines had insufficient safety data for pregnancy “because you don’t do clinical trials in pregnant women.” But she added, “Tamiflu and Relenza are fairly safe in pregnancy.”
Tamiflu and Relenza are in the same class of drugs. But Tamiflu is a pill and liquid, while Relenza is a powder that must be inhaled, so it is prescribed much less often.
The C.D.C. and the World Health Organization said case histories in Mexico and the United States suggested that pregnancy was emerging as a risk factor rivaling asthma, diabetes, immunosuppression and cardiovascular disease.
One of the three deaths in the United States involved a pregnant Texas woman who was on no medication other than prenatal vitamins, the disease centers said. The agency knows of 20 confirmed or probable swine flu infections in pregnant Americans, and “a few have had severe complications,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for public health.
American doctors are often reluctant to prescribe flu drugs for pregnant women unless they develop severe symptoms like pneumonia. Pregnant women are often reluctant to take medication. A pregnant woman is at higher risk from flu because hormonal changes depress the immune system to protect the fetus.
Details about the death of the pregnant woman in Texas emerged Friday in the disease centers’ weekly morbidity and mortality report. Dr. Jamieson said the woman had mild asthma and psoriasis, but was relatively healthy. The woman has been widely identified as Judy Trunnell, 33.
Mrs. Trunnell was eight months pregnant when she entered the hospital with pneumonia on April 19, five days after flu symptoms began and she had been found flu-positive in a doctor’s office test. Her baby was delivered by Caesarean section and is healthy. She developed acute respiratory distress on April 21 and needed mechanical ventilation. She did not get Tamiflu until April 28. She died May 4.
It is becoming clear that the epidemic in the United States will mirror the epidemic in Mexico, and similar rates of severe illness should be expected. The outbreak across Europe is still spreading slowly because the Europeans aggressively treat every suspected mild case with Tamiflu, health officials said.
The United States now has more than 3,000 confirmed cases — two-thirds in people younger than 18 — but only 116 hospitalizations. But officials note that hospitalizations take slightly longer to appear in statistics and deaths take much longer.
Many Swine Flu Cases Have No Fever
Many people suffering from swine influenza, even those who are severely ill, do not have fever, an odd feature of the new virus that could increase the difficulty of controlling the epidemic, said a leading American infectious-disease expert who examined cases in Mexico last week.
Fever is a hallmark of influenza, often rising abruptly to 104 degrees at the onset of illness. Because many infectious-disease experts consider fever the most important sign of the disease, the presence of fever is a critical part of screening patients.
But about a third of the patients at two hospitals in Mexico City where the American expert, Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, consulted for four days last week had no fever when screened, he said.
“It surprised me and my Mexican colleagues, because the textbooks say that in an influenza outbreak the predictive value of fever and cough is 90 percent,” Dr. Wenzel said by telephone from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he is chairman of the department of internal medicine.
While many people with severe cases went on to develop fever after they were admitted, about half of the milder cases did not; nearly all patients had coughing and malaise, Dr. Wenzel said.
Also, about 12 percent of patients at the two Mexican hospitals had severe diarrhea in addition to respiratory symptoms like coughing and breathing difficulty, said Dr. Wenzel, who is also a former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. He said many such patients had six bowel movements a day for three days.
Dr. Wenzel said he had urged his Mexican colleagues to test the stools for the presence of the swine virus, named A(H1N1). “If the A(H1N1) virus goes from person to person and there is virus in the stool, infection control will be much more difficult,” particularly if it spreads in poor countries, he said.
The doctor said he had also urged his Mexican colleagues to perform tests to determine whether some people without symptoms still carried the virus.
He also said he had examined patients and data at the invitation of Dr. Samuel Ponce de León, who directs Mexico’s national vaccination program.
Dr. Wenzel said that an unusual feature of the Mexican epidemic, which complicates the understanding of it, was that “in recent months five different influenza viruses have been circulating in Mexico simultaneously.”
Pneumonia rates at one of the hospitals Dr. Wenzel visited, the National Institute for Respiratory Diseases, reached 120 per week recently compared with 20 per week during the past two years, suggesting a possible relation to the swine flu.
The pneumonias that the flu patients developed did not resemble the staphylococcal lung infections that were believed to be a common complication in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, Dr. Wenzel said.
He said the two Mexican hospitals were well prepared for an outbreak of respiratory disease. Mexican doctors activated a program to allay anxiety among staff members, offering the staff information, a hot line, psychological support and medical examinations.
“This aspect of epidemic response is not well appreciated in the United States in my estimation, yet is critical for success,” Dr. Wenzel said. “We haven’t put nearly enough into managing fear among health workers.”
Fever is a hallmark of influenza, often rising abruptly to 104 degrees at the onset of illness. Because many infectious-disease experts consider fever the most important sign of the disease, the presence of fever is a critical part of screening patients.
But about a third of the patients at two hospitals in Mexico City where the American expert, Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, consulted for four days last week had no fever when screened, he said.
“It surprised me and my Mexican colleagues, because the textbooks say that in an influenza outbreak the predictive value of fever and cough is 90 percent,” Dr. Wenzel said by telephone from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he is chairman of the department of internal medicine.
While many people with severe cases went on to develop fever after they were admitted, about half of the milder cases did not; nearly all patients had coughing and malaise, Dr. Wenzel said.
Also, about 12 percent of patients at the two Mexican hospitals had severe diarrhea in addition to respiratory symptoms like coughing and breathing difficulty, said Dr. Wenzel, who is also a former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. He said many such patients had six bowel movements a day for three days.
Dr. Wenzel said he had urged his Mexican colleagues to test the stools for the presence of the swine virus, named A(H1N1). “If the A(H1N1) virus goes from person to person and there is virus in the stool, infection control will be much more difficult,” particularly if it spreads in poor countries, he said.
The doctor said he had also urged his Mexican colleagues to perform tests to determine whether some people without symptoms still carried the virus.
He also said he had examined patients and data at the invitation of Dr. Samuel Ponce de León, who directs Mexico’s national vaccination program.
Dr. Wenzel said that an unusual feature of the Mexican epidemic, which complicates the understanding of it, was that “in recent months five different influenza viruses have been circulating in Mexico simultaneously.”
Pneumonia rates at one of the hospitals Dr. Wenzel visited, the National Institute for Respiratory Diseases, reached 120 per week recently compared with 20 per week during the past two years, suggesting a possible relation to the swine flu.
The pneumonias that the flu patients developed did not resemble the staphylococcal lung infections that were believed to be a common complication in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, Dr. Wenzel said.
He said the two Mexican hospitals were well prepared for an outbreak of respiratory disease. Mexican doctors activated a program to allay anxiety among staff members, offering the staff information, a hot line, psychological support and medical examinations.
“This aspect of epidemic response is not well appreciated in the United States in my estimation, yet is critical for success,” Dr. Wenzel said. “We haven’t put nearly enough into managing fear among health workers.”
Global Swine Flu Cases Top 5,200
The World Health Organization says the number of swine influenza A-H1N1 cases now tops 5,200 in 30 countries, while two additional countries reported their first cases Tuesday.
Finland and Thailand on Tuesday each confirmed two cases of swine flu. Authorities in both countries say each of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.
In addition, Cuba confirmed its first case Monday. In an essay published online, former Cuban President Fidel Castro accused Mexico of waiting to notify the public about the outbreak until after U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Mexico last month.
Mexico has announced two more deaths from the virus, bringing its total fatalities to 58. Mexico's health minister, Jose Angel Cordova, said the outbreak in Mexico continues to decline.
Tens of thousands of Mexican primary school children returned to freshly-scrubbed classrooms Monday after a nationwide shutdown aimed at containing the virus.
The swine flu has also killed three people in the United States, one person in Costa Rica and one in Canada.
Other swine flu cases have been confirmed in Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Israel, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand.
The World Health Organization has released a report warning that although a flu virus may be considered mild, it can change over time as it spreads around the globe.
Finland and Thailand on Tuesday each confirmed two cases of swine flu. Authorities in both countries say each of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.
In addition, Cuba confirmed its first case Monday. In an essay published online, former Cuban President Fidel Castro accused Mexico of waiting to notify the public about the outbreak until after U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Mexico last month.
Mexico has announced two more deaths from the virus, bringing its total fatalities to 58. Mexico's health minister, Jose Angel Cordova, said the outbreak in Mexico continues to decline.
Tens of thousands of Mexican primary school children returned to freshly-scrubbed classrooms Monday after a nationwide shutdown aimed at containing the virus.
The swine flu has also killed three people in the United States, one person in Costa Rica and one in Canada.
Other swine flu cases have been confirmed in Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Austria, Israel, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand.
The World Health Organization has released a report warning that although a flu virus may be considered mild, it can change over time as it spreads around the globe.
Asia Day Ahead: U.S. Stocks Fall; Swine Flu May Be Human Error
Most U.S. stocks fell for a second day as share sales at Ford Motor Co., U.S. Bancorp and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. heightened concern that earnings will be diluted by capital-raising efforts. The World Health Organization is investigating an Australian researcher’s claim that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.
TOP STORIES/MOST READ ON BLOOMBERG
Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter
Home prices in the U.S. dropped the most on record in the first quarter from a year earlier, led by California and Florida, as banks sold foreclosed properties.
Aston Martin Owner Is First to Default on Gulf Sukuk
Investment Dar Co., the owner of half of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., missed a payment on $100 million of debt, becoming the first Persian Gulf company to default on Islamic bonds.
Swine Flu May Be Human Error, Scientist Says; WHO Probes Claim
The World Health Organization is investigating an Australian researcher’s claim that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.
Greenspan Sees ‘Seeds of a Bottoming’ in U.S. Housing
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the U.S. housing market may be on the verge of recovery and that it’s “very easy to see” financial markets continuing to improve.
MAIN ECONOMIC RELEASES TODAY NZ Central Bank Chief Bollard Speaks at 9 a.m. Wellington Time Japan Current Account Surplus Seen Narrowing on Export Slump Japan Bank Lending Figures for April Released by Central Bank China Industrial Production Growth Seen Accelerating to 8.6% China Retail Sales Seen Rising 14.5% in April From Year Earlier Australian Consumer Sentiment Index Released Japan Corporate Bankruptcies May Rise in April From Year Ago South Korea’s April Unemployment Rate Is Released Japan Merchant Confidence May Rise for Fourth Month in April
MAIN ANALYST UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES *MITSUI OSK CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT NOMURA *WOORI FINANCE RAISED TO ‘HOLD’ AT BNP PARIBAS *NIKON RAISED TO ‘OVERWEIGHT’ AT JPMORGAN *SECOM CUT TO ‘HOLD’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT KBC *SINO-FOREST RAISED TO ‘OUTPERFORM’ AT RBC *DAIICHI SANKYO CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ AT CREDIT SUISSE *SUMITOMO OSAKA CEMENT CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ AT CREDIT SUISSE *CTRIP RAISED TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘SELL’ AT GOLDMAN SACHS
ASIAN MARKETS
The Nikkei 225 futures contract due in June fell 25 points to 9,290. The Hang Seng Index futures for May gained 378 to 17,188. The S&P/ASX 200 Index futures contract due in June rose 20 to 3,889 at 6:59 a.m. in Sydney.
Most U.S. Stocks Decline as Share Sales Raise Dilution Concern
Most U.S. stocks fell for a second day as share sales at Ford Motor Co., U.S. Bancorp and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. heightened concern that earnings will be diluted by capital- raising efforts.
Treasuries Little Changed as Stocks Fluctuate, Fed Buys Debt
Treasury notes were little changed as stocks fluctuated and the Federal Reserve bought U.S. debt for the second time this week.
Dollar Slides Beyond $1.37 Versus Euro on Pared Safety Demand
The dollar slid beyond $1.37 against the euro for the first time since March as evidence the worst of the global economic slump may be over pared demand for safety.
European Stocks Fall for Second Day; ThyssenKrupp, EADS Decline
European stocks declined for a second day as some investors speculated further gains in equities are not justified by the outlook for economic growth and corporate earnings.
European Bonds Decline as Netherlands and Finland Issue Debt
European bonds dropped after the Netherlands and Finland sold 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) of debt and a government report showed German inflation accelerated more than forecast in April.
Gold, Silver Rise as Dollar’s Drop Boosts Appeal of Commodities
Gold and silver prices rose for the first time in three sessions in New York as speculation that the economy may resume growing soon and the dollar’s decline boosted the appeal of the precious metals as hedges against inflation.
Crude Oil Rises to a 6-Month High as Chinese Imports Surge
Oil rose to a six-month high after China, the world’s second-biggest energy-consuming country, increased crude imports by 14 percent in April.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM NEWSPAPERS
South Korean President May Meet With Japan Leader, Nikkei Says
President Lee Myung Bak of South Korea may visit Japan in late June and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Nikkei English News reported without specifying how it obtained the information.
TOP STORIES/MOST READ ON BLOOMBERG
Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter
Home prices in the U.S. dropped the most on record in the first quarter from a year earlier, led by California and Florida, as banks sold foreclosed properties.
Aston Martin Owner Is First to Default on Gulf Sukuk
Investment Dar Co., the owner of half of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., missed a payment on $100 million of debt, becoming the first Persian Gulf company to default on Islamic bonds.
Swine Flu May Be Human Error, Scientist Says; WHO Probes Claim
The World Health Organization is investigating an Australian researcher’s claim that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.
Greenspan Sees ‘Seeds of a Bottoming’ in U.S. Housing
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the U.S. housing market may be on the verge of recovery and that it’s “very easy to see” financial markets continuing to improve.
MAIN ECONOMIC RELEASES TODAY NZ Central Bank Chief Bollard Speaks at 9 a.m. Wellington Time Japan Current Account Surplus Seen Narrowing on Export Slump Japan Bank Lending Figures for April Released by Central Bank China Industrial Production Growth Seen Accelerating to 8.6% China Retail Sales Seen Rising 14.5% in April From Year Earlier Australian Consumer Sentiment Index Released Japan Corporate Bankruptcies May Rise in April From Year Ago South Korea’s April Unemployment Rate Is Released Japan Merchant Confidence May Rise for Fourth Month in April
MAIN ANALYST UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES *MITSUI OSK CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT NOMURA *WOORI FINANCE RAISED TO ‘HOLD’ AT BNP PARIBAS *NIKON RAISED TO ‘OVERWEIGHT’ AT JPMORGAN *SECOM CUT TO ‘HOLD’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT KBC *SINO-FOREST RAISED TO ‘OUTPERFORM’ AT RBC *DAIICHI SANKYO CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ AT CREDIT SUISSE *SUMITOMO OSAKA CEMENT CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ AT CREDIT SUISSE *CTRIP RAISED TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘SELL’ AT GOLDMAN SACHS
ASIAN MARKETS
The Nikkei 225 futures contract due in June fell 25 points to 9,290. The Hang Seng Index futures for May gained 378 to 17,188. The S&P/ASX 200 Index futures contract due in June rose 20 to 3,889 at 6:59 a.m. in Sydney.
Most U.S. Stocks Decline as Share Sales Raise Dilution Concern
Most U.S. stocks fell for a second day as share sales at Ford Motor Co., U.S. Bancorp and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. heightened concern that earnings will be diluted by capital- raising efforts.
Treasuries Little Changed as Stocks Fluctuate, Fed Buys Debt
Treasury notes were little changed as stocks fluctuated and the Federal Reserve bought U.S. debt for the second time this week.
Dollar Slides Beyond $1.37 Versus Euro on Pared Safety Demand
The dollar slid beyond $1.37 against the euro for the first time since March as evidence the worst of the global economic slump may be over pared demand for safety.
European Stocks Fall for Second Day; ThyssenKrupp, EADS Decline
European stocks declined for a second day as some investors speculated further gains in equities are not justified by the outlook for economic growth and corporate earnings.
European Bonds Decline as Netherlands and Finland Issue Debt
European bonds dropped after the Netherlands and Finland sold 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) of debt and a government report showed German inflation accelerated more than forecast in April.
Gold, Silver Rise as Dollar’s Drop Boosts Appeal of Commodities
Gold and silver prices rose for the first time in three sessions in New York as speculation that the economy may resume growing soon and the dollar’s decline boosted the appeal of the precious metals as hedges against inflation.
Crude Oil Rises to a 6-Month High as Chinese Imports Surge
Oil rose to a six-month high after China, the world’s second-biggest energy-consuming country, increased crude imports by 14 percent in April.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM NEWSPAPERS
South Korean President May Meet With Japan Leader, Nikkei Says
President Lee Myung Bak of South Korea may visit Japan in late June and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Nikkei English News reported without specifying how it obtained the information.
Swine Flu Is as Severe as Pandemic Virus in 1957, Study Shows
The swine flu strain that has sickened people in 30 countries rivals the severity of the 1957 “Asian flu” pandemic that killed 2 million people, scientists said.
About four of 1,000 people infected with the new H1N1 strain in Mexico by late April died, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Science that was led by Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London. Seasonal flu epidemics cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year, the World Health Organization has said.
Scientists are trying to determine whether swine flu will mutate and become more deadly as it spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and back. The virus is more contagious than seasonal flu, the Geneva-based WHO said yesterday. A “moderate” pandemic like the 1957 Asian flu could kill 14.2 million people and shave 2 percent from the global economy in the first year, the World Bank said in October.
“While substantial uncertainty remains, clinical severity appears less than that seen in 1918 but comparable with that seen in 1957,” the Science study authors wrote.
Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the disease to which few people have immunity evolves and begins spreading. Pandemics usually occur two to three times a century, scientists have said. A worldwide outbreak as severe as the 1918 Spanish flu might cause 180 million to 260 million deaths, the World Bank said, citing a 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The last pandemic hit in 1968, and health officials have been anticipating another since the H5N1 strain began spreading widely in birds in 2003.
World Spread
Swine flu has been confirmed in 4,694 people, according to the WHO, the health agency of the United Nations. Sixty-one people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica, health officials said. The U.S. confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each person infected with swine flu in Mexico in April gave it to 1.4 more people on average, the study said. While that’s in the lower range of transmission speed for a pandemic virus, it’s quicker than most seasonal flus, the authors said.
An estimated 23,000 people in Mexico were infected by late April, the researchers said. That number was based on case reports and assumptions about the speed of spread, and may have been as high as 32,000 and as low as 6,000, according to the study.
More Contagious
In seasonal flu, each person who comes in contact with someone who’s sick has a 5 percent to 15 percent probability of illness, according to a statement on the WHO’s Web site. In swine flu, the probability increases to 22 percent to 33 percent, WHO said.
Swine flu has been “overwhelmingly mild outside Mexico,” the WHO statement said. The reason for that variation “is still not fully understood,” it said.
Swine flu is making more young people seriously ill, compared with seasonal flu, and “is of particular concern” because it’s causing more significant medical effects in people with other health conditions, the WHO said.
About four of 1,000 people infected with the new H1N1 strain in Mexico by late April died, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Science that was led by Neil Ferguson of the Imperial College London. Seasonal flu epidemics cause 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year, the World Health Organization has said.
Scientists are trying to determine whether swine flu will mutate and become more deadly as it spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and back. The virus is more contagious than seasonal flu, the Geneva-based WHO said yesterday. A “moderate” pandemic like the 1957 Asian flu could kill 14.2 million people and shave 2 percent from the global economy in the first year, the World Bank said in October.
“While substantial uncertainty remains, clinical severity appears less than that seen in 1918 but comparable with that seen in 1957,” the Science study authors wrote.
Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the disease to which few people have immunity evolves and begins spreading. Pandemics usually occur two to three times a century, scientists have said. A worldwide outbreak as severe as the 1918 Spanish flu might cause 180 million to 260 million deaths, the World Bank said, citing a 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The last pandemic hit in 1968, and health officials have been anticipating another since the H5N1 strain began spreading widely in birds in 2003.
World Spread
Swine flu has been confirmed in 4,694 people, according to the WHO, the health agency of the United Nations. Sixty-one people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica, health officials said. The U.S. confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each person infected with swine flu in Mexico in April gave it to 1.4 more people on average, the study said. While that’s in the lower range of transmission speed for a pandemic virus, it’s quicker than most seasonal flus, the authors said.
An estimated 23,000 people in Mexico were infected by late April, the researchers said. That number was based on case reports and assumptions about the speed of spread, and may have been as high as 32,000 and as low as 6,000, according to the study.
More Contagious
In seasonal flu, each person who comes in contact with someone who’s sick has a 5 percent to 15 percent probability of illness, according to a statement on the WHO’s Web site. In swine flu, the probability increases to 22 percent to 33 percent, WHO said.
Swine flu has been “overwhelmingly mild outside Mexico,” the WHO statement said. The reason for that variation “is still not fully understood,” it said.
Swine flu is making more young people seriously ill, compared with seasonal flu, and “is of particular concern” because it’s causing more significant medical effects in people with other health conditions, the WHO said.
More Mexican Schools Re-Open: Swine Flu Death Toll Rises
Tens of thousands of Mexican primary school children have returned to freshly-scrubbed classrooms following a nationwide shutdown prompted by the H1NI swine flu virus that has now left 56 Mexicans dead.
The move came Monday, four days after Mexican universities and high schools restarted, but in at least six states, schools for younger children remained closed due to further fears about the flu.
Mexico is attempting to restore a sense of normalcy following the outbreak. Mexico has been the epicenter of the illness, which is expected to cost the economy at least $2.2 billion.
The World Health Organization says Mexico is one of 30 countries that have reported cases of the virus. In addition to the fatalities in Mexico, the United States has reported three deaths, while Canada and Costa Rica each have reported one fatality.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are more than 2,600 confirmed cases in 44 U.S. states.
Cuba reported its first case of the illness Monday. Official media reported the patient is a student from Mexico.
The Chinese Health Ministry says a 30-year-old Chinese national, who traveled to China from the U.S., is the mainland's first case of the swine flu.
Officials say the man is quarantined in Chengdu, after flying to China from the United States, where he is a student.
In other news, Mexico says it will not participate in a Shanghai trade fair because of what it calls China's unacceptable policies regarding swine flu.
Mexico says China has unfairly quarantined Mexican travelers and canceled direct flights from Mexico. China denied targeting Mexican nationals with the quarantine measures.
The move came Monday, four days after Mexican universities and high schools restarted, but in at least six states, schools for younger children remained closed due to further fears about the flu.
Mexico is attempting to restore a sense of normalcy following the outbreak. Mexico has been the epicenter of the illness, which is expected to cost the economy at least $2.2 billion.
The World Health Organization says Mexico is one of 30 countries that have reported cases of the virus. In addition to the fatalities in Mexico, the United States has reported three deaths, while Canada and Costa Rica each have reported one fatality.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are more than 2,600 confirmed cases in 44 U.S. states.
Cuba reported its first case of the illness Monday. Official media reported the patient is a student from Mexico.
The Chinese Health Ministry says a 30-year-old Chinese national, who traveled to China from the U.S., is the mainland's first case of the swine flu.
Officials say the man is quarantined in Chengdu, after flying to China from the United States, where he is a student.
In other news, Mexico says it will not participate in a Shanghai trade fair because of what it calls China's unacceptable policies regarding swine flu.
Mexico says China has unfairly quarantined Mexican travelers and canceled direct flights from Mexico. China denied targeting Mexican nationals with the quarantine measures.
Mexico swine flu death toll rises to 56
The death toll in Mexico from the H1N1 flu outbreak that has spread globally has risen to 56, the health ministry said on Monday, as results of tests on people who died in recent weeks came in.
Mexico has had a total of 2,059 cases of the swine flu distributed throughout all but three of the country's 32 states, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
Mexico, the epicenter of the epidemic, had previously reported 48 deaths from the new flu, a genetic mixture of swine, bird and human viruses.
Millions of Mexican elementary and junior high school students began returning to classes on Monday morning for the first time since April 23 when the government closed schools to prevent infection.
A total of 30 countries have reported cases of the flu, which has killed people in Canada, the United States and Costa Rica as well as Mexico.
Mexico has had a total of 2,059 cases of the swine flu distributed throughout all but three of the country's 32 states, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.
Mexico, the epicenter of the epidemic, had previously reported 48 deaths from the new flu, a genetic mixture of swine, bird and human viruses.
Millions of Mexican elementary and junior high school students began returning to classes on Monday morning for the first time since April 23 when the government closed schools to prevent infection.
A total of 30 countries have reported cases of the flu, which has killed people in Canada, the United States and Costa Rica as well as Mexico.
Health officials confirm more swine flu cases in Missouri, Kansas
Four new cases of swine flu were confirmed in Johnson and Wyandotte counties on Sunday, bringing the state’s total confirmed cases to 22, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said.
Two new cases in Johnson County involve one adult and one child, and two new cases in Wyandotte County both involve children.
The agency said no additional cases have been identified as of Monday.
Missouri health officials have identified 14 confirmed and four probable cases of swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, Kit Wagar, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said Monday. Four of those confirmed cases were verified during the weekend: one child in Kansas City and three adolescents in the St. Louis suburbs.
Symptoms are similar to those of seasonal flu, according to the KDHE, and include a fever higher than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, diarrhea and vomiting.
The KDHE advises anyone with these symptoms to contact their health care provider.
To reduce the spread of H1N1, the KDHE advises people to:
? Wash their hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to kill most germs, and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.
? Stay home when sick to avoid spreading illness to co-workers and others.
? Cough or sneeze into the elbow or a tissue, and properly dispose of used tissues.
? Stay healthy by eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and getting adequate rest and exercise.
The virus is not transmitted by food and can’t be contracted from eating pork or pork products, the KDHE said in the release.
Two new cases in Johnson County involve one adult and one child, and two new cases in Wyandotte County both involve children.
The agency said no additional cases have been identified as of Monday.
Missouri health officials have identified 14 confirmed and four probable cases of swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, Kit Wagar, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said Monday. Four of those confirmed cases were verified during the weekend: one child in Kansas City and three adolescents in the St. Louis suburbs.
Symptoms are similar to those of seasonal flu, according to the KDHE, and include a fever higher than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, diarrhea and vomiting.
The KDHE advises anyone with these symptoms to contact their health care provider.
To reduce the spread of H1N1, the KDHE advises people to:
? Wash their hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to kill most germs, and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.
? Stay home when sick to avoid spreading illness to co-workers and others.
? Cough or sneeze into the elbow or a tissue, and properly dispose of used tissues.
? Stay healthy by eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and getting adequate rest and exercise.
The virus is not transmitted by food and can’t be contracted from eating pork or pork products, the KDHE said in the release.
China Confirms a Swine Flu Case; Starts Quarantine
China confirmed its first case of A/H1N1 swine flu Monday and said it was attempting to quarantine all the passengers who had flown with the sick man aboard a flight from Tokyo.
The patient, identified only as a 30-year-old with the surname Bao, is a university student in the U.S., Chinese health officials said. He flew from St. Louis via St. Paul, Minnesota, to Tokyo before boarding Northwest Airlines flight NW029 to Beijing Saturday. He then took an internal flight to Chengdu, the capital of western China's Sichuan province.
About 120 of the 143 passengers on the flight from Tokyo have been contacted, including several dozen foreign nationals. So far, none are known to have symptoms, but the officials said they were "persuading them to take quarantine measures." It was unclear how many are already in quarantine.
Chinese medical authorities said that 130 of 150 passengers on the domestic flight with the sick man also were put in quarantine.
The patient was first suspected of having the flu after checking into a hospital on Sunday. By Monday, health authorities said they had confirmed the swine flu. China has developed its own rapid flu-detection kits, officials said. Mr. Bao appears to be recovering, Chinese health officials said.
In Hong Kong, authorities on Friday lifted a quarantine that had kept nearly 300 guests and employees in a hotel for a week after coming into contact with a Mexican traveler infected with the influenza. Other passengers in some 19 provinces across China who had traveled with him were also released from.
China, which had been criticized for its handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003, has reacted aggressively this time to isolate any cases. But it has been accused of unfairly targeting some foreign citizens.
Overall, health officials around the world have confirmed 4,694 cases, the World Health Organization said Monday on its Web site, though thousands of other cases are suspected.
The WHO recommends isolating and putting under medical observation anyone in close contact with a confirmed flu case, but leaves up to individual countries the details of implementation. The organization on Sunday said 49 people -- 45 in Mexico, two in the U.S. and one each in Canada and Costa Rica have died of confirmed cases of the flu. Washington state health officials have confirmed a third U.S. fatality. (The WHO tends to lag behind current data, but its figures are considered more authoritative.)
Elsewhere, a 32-year-old Dutch woman who arrived in Indonesia over the weekend is suspected of having A/H1N1 and has been placed in isolation at a hospital on the island of Bali, the state news service Antara said. And Singapore's Ministry of Health lowered its alert level amid signs the flu virus is milder than originally feared.
Taiwan's two positive flu cases were disclosed as false alarms hours later. Early Monday morning, health officials there backtracked and said the patients had tested negative after all.
The patient, identified only as a 30-year-old with the surname Bao, is a university student in the U.S., Chinese health officials said. He flew from St. Louis via St. Paul, Minnesota, to Tokyo before boarding Northwest Airlines flight NW029 to Beijing Saturday. He then took an internal flight to Chengdu, the capital of western China's Sichuan province.
About 120 of the 143 passengers on the flight from Tokyo have been contacted, including several dozen foreign nationals. So far, none are known to have symptoms, but the officials said they were "persuading them to take quarantine measures." It was unclear how many are already in quarantine.
Chinese medical authorities said that 130 of 150 passengers on the domestic flight with the sick man also were put in quarantine.
The patient was first suspected of having the flu after checking into a hospital on Sunday. By Monday, health authorities said they had confirmed the swine flu. China has developed its own rapid flu-detection kits, officials said. Mr. Bao appears to be recovering, Chinese health officials said.
In Hong Kong, authorities on Friday lifted a quarantine that had kept nearly 300 guests and employees in a hotel for a week after coming into contact with a Mexican traveler infected with the influenza. Other passengers in some 19 provinces across China who had traveled with him were also released from.
China, which had been criticized for its handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003, has reacted aggressively this time to isolate any cases. But it has been accused of unfairly targeting some foreign citizens.
Overall, health officials around the world have confirmed 4,694 cases, the World Health Organization said Monday on its Web site, though thousands of other cases are suspected.
The WHO recommends isolating and putting under medical observation anyone in close contact with a confirmed flu case, but leaves up to individual countries the details of implementation. The organization on Sunday said 49 people -- 45 in Mexico, two in the U.S. and one each in Canada and Costa Rica have died of confirmed cases of the flu. Washington state health officials have confirmed a third U.S. fatality. (The WHO tends to lag behind current data, but its figures are considered more authoritative.)
Elsewhere, a 32-year-old Dutch woman who arrived in Indonesia over the weekend is suspected of having A/H1N1 and has been placed in isolation at a hospital on the island of Bali, the state news service Antara said. And Singapore's Ministry of Health lowered its alert level amid signs the flu virus is milder than originally feared.
Taiwan's two positive flu cases were disclosed as false alarms hours later. Early Monday morning, health officials there backtracked and said the patients had tested negative after all.
Alaska awaits verification of swine flu finding
State health officials had expected to get verification Monday that a crew member aboard a cruise ship in Alaska waters contracted swine flu, but officials may have to wait a bit longer.
Ann Potempa, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Social Services, said it looks increasingly unlikely the verification would come Monday.
The testing was done at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory and was being verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Dr. Jay Butler, Alaska's chief medical officer, announced Sunday that the crew member aboard the Serenade of the Seas had a probable case of swine flu but testing was being conducted by the federal health agency for confirmation. No other people aboard the ship reported flu-like symptoms since the woman became ill on May 2. She was placed in isolation two days later.
The female crew member underwent a course of treatment with Tamiflu, an anti-viral medication that is effective against swine flu. She has not had flu symptoms or been running a fever for several days.
Cynthia Martinez, spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International, said the female crew member completed a CDC-recommended 7-day period of isolation, but she did not know if the crew member had been cleared to rejoin the crew. She said the woman will have to meet with the ship's doctor and be cleared to go back to work.
The Serenade of the Seas is on a 14-day cruise to southeast Alaska and Canada. Its next port-of-call is in Sitka on Tuesday. It departed San Francisco and headed north on May 2, the same day the female crew member began feeling sick.
Butler has said there is no reason to restrict the movement of passengers aboard the ship, as long as they are not reporting flu-like symptoms.
Before embarking on the Alaska cruise, the Serenade of the Seas departed San Juan, Puerto Rico for a 14-night Panama Canal voyage in which the ship visited Mexico, the country hit hardest by swine flu. Scientists now say that the new strain of swine flu could have sickened 23,000 people in Mexico before anyone realized it was an epidemic on April 23.
Butler said the ship's medical staff followed strict isolation procedures to prevent the spread of the illness.
At least 61 people have been killed by swine flu around the world, and the World Health Organization has confirmed 4,800 cases.
Butler said the case aboard the ship can't be considered Alaska's first case for several reasons, including that the testing was done outside Alaska and the crew member is not an Alaskan.
Ann Potempa, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Social Services, said it looks increasingly unlikely the verification would come Monday.
The testing was done at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory and was being verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Dr. Jay Butler, Alaska's chief medical officer, announced Sunday that the crew member aboard the Serenade of the Seas had a probable case of swine flu but testing was being conducted by the federal health agency for confirmation. No other people aboard the ship reported flu-like symptoms since the woman became ill on May 2. She was placed in isolation two days later.
The female crew member underwent a course of treatment with Tamiflu, an anti-viral medication that is effective against swine flu. She has not had flu symptoms or been running a fever for several days.
Cynthia Martinez, spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International, said the female crew member completed a CDC-recommended 7-day period of isolation, but she did not know if the crew member had been cleared to rejoin the crew. She said the woman will have to meet with the ship's doctor and be cleared to go back to work.
The Serenade of the Seas is on a 14-day cruise to southeast Alaska and Canada. Its next port-of-call is in Sitka on Tuesday. It departed San Francisco and headed north on May 2, the same day the female crew member began feeling sick.
Butler has said there is no reason to restrict the movement of passengers aboard the ship, as long as they are not reporting flu-like symptoms.
Before embarking on the Alaska cruise, the Serenade of the Seas departed San Juan, Puerto Rico for a 14-night Panama Canal voyage in which the ship visited Mexico, the country hit hardest by swine flu. Scientists now say that the new strain of swine flu could have sickened 23,000 people in Mexico before anyone realized it was an epidemic on April 23.
Butler said the ship's medical staff followed strict isolation procedures to prevent the spread of the illness.
At least 61 people have been killed by swine flu around the world, and the World Health Organization has confirmed 4,800 cases.
Butler said the case aboard the ship can't be considered Alaska's first case for several reasons, including that the testing was done outside Alaska and the crew member is not an Alaskan.
After swine flu cases, Deer Park schools reopen
When Kathleen Donlon returned to school in Deer Park Monday after it had been shut down because several students were sickened with swine flu, the fourth-grader did as her mother asked: She washed her hands throughout the day.
"About four times," Kathleen, 10, said in an interview in the John F. Kennedy Intermediate School parking lot Monday when her mother, Peggy Donlon, 44, picked her up.
The school is cleaner and notices that once hung on bulletin boards throughout the building were gone, Kathleen said, but other than that everything seemed normal again.
At first, she said, she was a tad apprehensive about going back to class.
"A little bit because I didn't want to catch it," Kathleen said.
JFK and Deer Park's five other public schools, which serve 4,400 students, total, were closed all last week as a precaution after it was learned that three female students contracted the swine flu, also known as H1N1 virus. A fourth student was confirmed to have the virus on Thursday.
All four students have recovered and are back at school, said Elizabeth Marino, superintendent of the Deer Park school district.
Monday, Humayun J. Chaudhry, commissioner of Suffolk County's Department of Health Services, said there have been no additional cases of H1N1 flu reported in Suffolk since Thursday.
With the school closings, Marino said the district took the opportunity to scrub and clean its six buildings and school buses.
Monday at JFK, only 37 students out of 987 were absent, she said. That's a stark contrast to April 30, when 321 students did not come to class at JFK.
Yvonne Mirabito sent her daughter, a third-grader, back to class Monday with a bottle of hand sanitizer and instructed her not to drink from the school's water fountains.
"As a precaution I gave her the hand sanitizer, even though I do feel very confident that they cleaned the school from top to bottom," said Mirabito.
Linda Ponterio, of Deer Park, reminded her daughter, Kristin, a fifth-grader, about personal hygiene. She asked her daughter to cover her mouth when she sneezes and not eat her friends' foods or offer foods to her friends unless they were individually wrapped.
"I just reinforced them a bit more," Ponterio said.
All three women said they supported the district's decision to shut the schools down for a week.
"About four times," Kathleen, 10, said in an interview in the John F. Kennedy Intermediate School parking lot Monday when her mother, Peggy Donlon, 44, picked her up.
The school is cleaner and notices that once hung on bulletin boards throughout the building were gone, Kathleen said, but other than that everything seemed normal again.
At first, she said, she was a tad apprehensive about going back to class.
"A little bit because I didn't want to catch it," Kathleen said.
JFK and Deer Park's five other public schools, which serve 4,400 students, total, were closed all last week as a precaution after it was learned that three female students contracted the swine flu, also known as H1N1 virus. A fourth student was confirmed to have the virus on Thursday.
All four students have recovered and are back at school, said Elizabeth Marino, superintendent of the Deer Park school district.
Monday, Humayun J. Chaudhry, commissioner of Suffolk County's Department of Health Services, said there have been no additional cases of H1N1 flu reported in Suffolk since Thursday.
With the school closings, Marino said the district took the opportunity to scrub and clean its six buildings and school buses.
Monday at JFK, only 37 students out of 987 were absent, she said. That's a stark contrast to April 30, when 321 students did not come to class at JFK.
Yvonne Mirabito sent her daughter, a third-grader, back to class Monday with a bottle of hand sanitizer and instructed her not to drink from the school's water fountains.
"As a precaution I gave her the hand sanitizer, even though I do feel very confident that they cleaned the school from top to bottom," said Mirabito.
Linda Ponterio, of Deer Park, reminded her daughter, Kristin, a fifth-grader, about personal hygiene. She asked her daughter to cover her mouth when she sneezes and not eat her friends' foods or offer foods to her friends unless they were individually wrapped.
"I just reinforced them a bit more," Ponterio said.
All three women said they supported the district's decision to shut the schools down for a week.
Swine flu: is it safe to travel?
What every traveller wants to know is: am I increasing my risk of exposure to swine flu by travelling abroad or should I play it safe and stay at home?
As the alert level for a pandemic rises, one control measure has been strikingly absent – neither national governments nor the World Health Organisation (WHO) have attempted to bring international travel – even to Mexico – to a halt.
The reason is that such a ban would make almost no practical difference. For example, a 90 per cent ban on global travel, introduced at the earliest sign of trouble, would have delayed the arrival of people infected with swine flu into Britain by a week and a half. A 99 per cent ban – difficult to impose – would have delayed the arrival of such people by just three weeks.
Does that tell us that travel is safe? No, but the current risk of contracting flu from travel is still small. Leaving aside Mexico, is it safe to visit other countries with reported cases? How can we compare the risk of visiting a country with good surveillance systems in place, which has revealed and confirmed a number of imported cases, with the risk of travelling to a country with no reports of any problems but, perhaps, no reporting systems either? Is it safer to stay at home?
The greatest risks may come from the journey itself: a coughing cab driver, crowded airports, a febrile passenger in the next seat… The experience of Sars in 2003, and our subsequent efforts to understand and prepare for H5N1 bird flu, will be invaluable, but until we know much more about the new viral strain – how quickly and easily it spreads, and whether the illness is really as mild as we now believe – these will be the hardest risks to understand.
Prepare for a new etiquette – socially, in the workplace, and certainly in the aircraft cabin. "Social distancing" and self-isolation will be the new order of the day, and anyone with flu symptoms should opt to stay at home. We shall have to take much more care with hand washing, hygiene, blowing noses in public, shaking hands, and kissing our acquaintances and friends on the cheek. More people will be using face masks.
For those of a nervous disposition it won't be much fun to travel in this climate of anxiety, suspicion and alarm. But at least choosing whether to travel is still a matter for the individual. I'm heading for a conference in Istanbul next week and will not be changing my travel plans.
As the alert level for a pandemic rises, one control measure has been strikingly absent – neither national governments nor the World Health Organisation (WHO) have attempted to bring international travel – even to Mexico – to a halt.
The reason is that such a ban would make almost no practical difference. For example, a 90 per cent ban on global travel, introduced at the earliest sign of trouble, would have delayed the arrival of people infected with swine flu into Britain by a week and a half. A 99 per cent ban – difficult to impose – would have delayed the arrival of such people by just three weeks.
Does that tell us that travel is safe? No, but the current risk of contracting flu from travel is still small. Leaving aside Mexico, is it safe to visit other countries with reported cases? How can we compare the risk of visiting a country with good surveillance systems in place, which has revealed and confirmed a number of imported cases, with the risk of travelling to a country with no reports of any problems but, perhaps, no reporting systems either? Is it safer to stay at home?
The greatest risks may come from the journey itself: a coughing cab driver, crowded airports, a febrile passenger in the next seat… The experience of Sars in 2003, and our subsequent efforts to understand and prepare for H5N1 bird flu, will be invaluable, but until we know much more about the new viral strain – how quickly and easily it spreads, and whether the illness is really as mild as we now believe – these will be the hardest risks to understand.
Prepare for a new etiquette – socially, in the workplace, and certainly in the aircraft cabin. "Social distancing" and self-isolation will be the new order of the day, and anyone with flu symptoms should opt to stay at home. We shall have to take much more care with hand washing, hygiene, blowing noses in public, shaking hands, and kissing our acquaintances and friends on the cheek. More people will be using face masks.
For those of a nervous disposition it won't be much fun to travel in this climate of anxiety, suspicion and alarm. But at least choosing whether to travel is still a matter for the individual. I'm heading for a conference in Istanbul next week and will not be changing my travel plans.
With swine flu, we're all in this together
On the western edge of Mexico's capital, 10 new luxury apartment towers promise an antiseptically modern lifestyle with spas, private playgrounds and an exclusive shopping center. Blocks away, a world-class private hospital has opened.
But there's no escaping the view from these $1.5 million apartments: Just across a ravine is a slum where maids and construction workers make do in crowded, humid homes of raw concrete and spotty drinking water. For them, getting sick means medicating themselves at a discount pharmacy, or waiting for hours in an overcrowded public hospital.
Wealthy Mexicans aren't alone in trying — and failing — to distance themselves from deprivation and disease. People all over the world want to protect their families from the problems of the less fortunate.
But if there's anything we've learned from the swine flu epidemic, it is this: the virus doesn't discriminate.
"We're all in this together," President Barack Obama said as he urged public health agencies to reach all corners of America. "When one person gets sick, it has the potential of making us all sick."
The outbreak might not have become an epidemic if Mexico's first swine flu victims had been identified and treated quickly. We now know that for most, the virus causes only mild symptoms, and that nearly all of those who become quite sick can recover if they get proper treatment within 48 hours.
We also know that most of Mexico's dead didn't get that treatment in time.
But it feels awfully late to be pointing fingers over initial delays. And by ordering a nationwide shutdown last week of public gathering places where flu can spread, Mexico saved many more lives, experts say.
Now the world must face what Mexicans learned as they stayed home from schools and restaurants, venturing outside fearfully in face masks only to replenish their refrigerators: Rich and poor breathe the same air. The 53 people killed around the world so far range from poor day laborers to the grandson of one of the richest men in Mexico.
It's a moral challenge, as clear now as the view from those luxury living room windows: When vast numbers of poor people lack decent health care, no one is immune from disease.
A rural bricklayer with a bad cough, a kindergartner in a remote mountain village, a maintenance worker in a vast urban slum — these swine flu cases might have seemed a world away from the United States and Europe.
But it takes just four hours by bus for workers to reach the capital from the pig-farming community of La Gloria, where hundreds of villagers were suffering from acute respiratory infections for weeks before one of their kindergartners became Mexico's earliest confirmed swine flu case.
It takes even less time to fly from Mexico City to the U.S., where this strange new strain of swine flu was first identified in a 10-year-old San Diego boy.
No one knows yet where this outbreak began. Despite calls to close the U.S. border, scientists say the deadly chimera — a blend of bird, human and pig flu genes for which humans have limited natural immunity — may have jumped from pigs to humans in North Carolina, about 10 years and 10,000 generations of virus ago.
Millions of dollars have been spent on pandemic preparedness since scientists realized flu could jump between species. Top flu experts even developed a detailed containment plan — with an extremely limited window of opportunity.
World Health Organization experts determined that a virus with pandemic potential would have to be identified, the epicenter quarantined and 80 percent of the initially affected population blanketed with antiviral drugs within three weeks of the first symptoms.
Oh, and the outbreak would have to be limited to a small geographic area — like a remote village of about 1,000 people.
This H1N1 virus was likely spreading all over Mexico and parts of the United States long before anyone got sick enough to be tested. By the time the wheezing, sneezing villagers of La Gloria complained enough for their samples to be taken, dozens had been commuting to Mexico City for weeks.
Before anyone knew this flu's name, cases were popping up all over the megalopolis of 20 million.
A Canadian lab quickly confirmed that swine flu had reached Mexico, and a global alarm was raised. But only hours later, the WHO said it was useless to close borders and ban flights. Travelers had already carried the virus from Mexico to New York and New Zealand. It has since spread to at least 29 countries around the world.
So now Mexico's challenge has become a truly global problem. Experts say even normal seasonal flu infects millions and kills about 500,000 people worldwide every year. With the WHO warning that a possible swine flu pandemic could infect 2 billion people, how on earth can we protect the whole world?
The drug makers say they can "most likely" produce 917 million doses in 10 months, a number considered overly ambitious by some experts.
Even the first vaccines won't be ready for months — too late for the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is about to start. And if the virus evolves into something more contagious or deadly — possibly by mixing with regular flu or even H5N1 bird flu, which is endemic in parts of Asia and Africa — these vaccines may not provide much protection in the end.
Antiviral drugs will be critical if it comes to that, but they are expensive, and there aren't enough to go around. The largest stockpiles are kept by the wealthiest nations, for their own citizens' protection.
But hoarding antivirals could backfire. A 2007 study modeled what would happen in a flu pandemic if wealthy nations hoard or share these drugs.
They concluded that the hardest-hit populations should be blanketed with antivirals, even if they are too poor to pay for them, and even if it means people with reliable health care in wealthier nations would go untreated.
Doing so would save many millions of lives, they found — including in the wealthy countries that share.
Nobody knows where this current outbreak is headed as the swine flu virus evolves. It may lose its potency.
But there's no escaping the view from these $1.5 million apartments: Just across a ravine is a slum where maids and construction workers make do in crowded, humid homes of raw concrete and spotty drinking water. For them, getting sick means medicating themselves at a discount pharmacy, or waiting for hours in an overcrowded public hospital.
Wealthy Mexicans aren't alone in trying — and failing — to distance themselves from deprivation and disease. People all over the world want to protect their families from the problems of the less fortunate.
But if there's anything we've learned from the swine flu epidemic, it is this: the virus doesn't discriminate.
"We're all in this together," President Barack Obama said as he urged public health agencies to reach all corners of America. "When one person gets sick, it has the potential of making us all sick."
The outbreak might not have become an epidemic if Mexico's first swine flu victims had been identified and treated quickly. We now know that for most, the virus causes only mild symptoms, and that nearly all of those who become quite sick can recover if they get proper treatment within 48 hours.
We also know that most of Mexico's dead didn't get that treatment in time.
But it feels awfully late to be pointing fingers over initial delays. And by ordering a nationwide shutdown last week of public gathering places where flu can spread, Mexico saved many more lives, experts say.
Now the world must face what Mexicans learned as they stayed home from schools and restaurants, venturing outside fearfully in face masks only to replenish their refrigerators: Rich and poor breathe the same air. The 53 people killed around the world so far range from poor day laborers to the grandson of one of the richest men in Mexico.
It's a moral challenge, as clear now as the view from those luxury living room windows: When vast numbers of poor people lack decent health care, no one is immune from disease.
A rural bricklayer with a bad cough, a kindergartner in a remote mountain village, a maintenance worker in a vast urban slum — these swine flu cases might have seemed a world away from the United States and Europe.
But it takes just four hours by bus for workers to reach the capital from the pig-farming community of La Gloria, where hundreds of villagers were suffering from acute respiratory infections for weeks before one of their kindergartners became Mexico's earliest confirmed swine flu case.
It takes even less time to fly from Mexico City to the U.S., where this strange new strain of swine flu was first identified in a 10-year-old San Diego boy.
No one knows yet where this outbreak began. Despite calls to close the U.S. border, scientists say the deadly chimera — a blend of bird, human and pig flu genes for which humans have limited natural immunity — may have jumped from pigs to humans in North Carolina, about 10 years and 10,000 generations of virus ago.
Millions of dollars have been spent on pandemic preparedness since scientists realized flu could jump between species. Top flu experts even developed a detailed containment plan — with an extremely limited window of opportunity.
World Health Organization experts determined that a virus with pandemic potential would have to be identified, the epicenter quarantined and 80 percent of the initially affected population blanketed with antiviral drugs within three weeks of the first symptoms.
Oh, and the outbreak would have to be limited to a small geographic area — like a remote village of about 1,000 people.
This H1N1 virus was likely spreading all over Mexico and parts of the United States long before anyone got sick enough to be tested. By the time the wheezing, sneezing villagers of La Gloria complained enough for their samples to be taken, dozens had been commuting to Mexico City for weeks.
Before anyone knew this flu's name, cases were popping up all over the megalopolis of 20 million.
A Canadian lab quickly confirmed that swine flu had reached Mexico, and a global alarm was raised. But only hours later, the WHO said it was useless to close borders and ban flights. Travelers had already carried the virus from Mexico to New York and New Zealand. It has since spread to at least 29 countries around the world.
So now Mexico's challenge has become a truly global problem. Experts say even normal seasonal flu infects millions and kills about 500,000 people worldwide every year. With the WHO warning that a possible swine flu pandemic could infect 2 billion people, how on earth can we protect the whole world?
The drug makers say they can "most likely" produce 917 million doses in 10 months, a number considered overly ambitious by some experts.
Even the first vaccines won't be ready for months — too late for the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is about to start. And if the virus evolves into something more contagious or deadly — possibly by mixing with regular flu or even H5N1 bird flu, which is endemic in parts of Asia and Africa — these vaccines may not provide much protection in the end.
Antiviral drugs will be critical if it comes to that, but they are expensive, and there aren't enough to go around. The largest stockpiles are kept by the wealthiest nations, for their own citizens' protection.
But hoarding antivirals could backfire. A 2007 study modeled what would happen in a flu pandemic if wealthy nations hoard or share these drugs.
They concluded that the hardest-hit populations should be blanketed with antivirals, even if they are too poor to pay for them, and even if it means people with reliable health care in wealthier nations would go untreated.
Doing so would save many millions of lives, they found — including in the wealthy countries that share.
Nobody knows where this current outbreak is headed as the swine flu virus evolves. It may lose its potency.
Swine flu threat fades - for now
Almost as quickly as it appeared, swine flu has faded as a public health threat - for now. But that could change by winter.
Public health experts say the virus has a chance of returning in a new and more dangerous form when the influenza season picks up again in late November, and are deciding now how to protect people worldwide.
They are preparing even as an increasing number of infectious disease experts are saying that the swine flu does not show signs of reappearing in a more virulent form next winter. It could even disappear altogether or more likely, come back and join the other strains of usually mild flu that typically circulate among humans each winter, they say.
But no one knows for sure.
"I wish I could predict what we are going to see, because it would be very easy to make the kinds of decisions we need to make as a nation over the next few months," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in a news conference late last week.
The CDC has started growing the virus in labs as a first step toward making a swine flu vaccine, and World Health Organization leaders will meet Wednesday to discuss when - and how - global manufacturing of a vaccine should start.
At the same time, infectious disease experts will spend the next few months studying the swine flu - a strain of influenza A, subtype H1N1 - to figure out just how dangerous it is, or could become. And public health experts will prepare for ways to keep the swine flu contained if there is another outbreak, including devising plans to close schools again when necessary.
Even if swine flu turns out to be no more virulent than seasonal flu, that's nothing to dismiss - seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people every year.
The flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. Typically three strains of flu infect people every winter - two types of influenza A and one type of influenza B.
One of the distinguishing traits of influenza is its ability to mutate quickly and easily. The virus is made up of eight segments that will shift as the disease replicates. That leads to frequent small mutations, and when two different strains of influenza are in one person, or animal, the strains can mix and create significant mutations.
"That's why we have to vaccinate every year," said David Lewis, an infectious disease specialist with Stanford University School of Medicine. "There are always changes."
"Every time influenza replicates itself, it has a tendency to naturally make some mistakes," he said. "That means it's generating a whole bunch of slight changes that can be selected for a slight advantage. So it's a very rapid natural selection for whatever virus is able to elude the immune system."
That's what scientists believe happened with swine flu, which is a mix of viruses found in pigs, birds and humans. What alarmed infectious disease experts was the virus' ability to pass from person to person - a trait that could prove devastating if a virus is particularly harmful to humans.
So far the symptoms of swine flu appear to be mild, especially in the cases found in the United States. More than 1,600 confirmed cases of swine flu were reported in the United States over the past three weeks, about 50 people were hospitalized and two died. On Saturday, health officials in Washington state reported a death that also may have been caused by swine flu.
In the early days of the outbreak in Mexico, it seemed to be a serious health threat because it killed more than 150 people. But epidemiologists believe many thousands of mild cases of swine flu in Mexico were never reported - making it no more deadly than seasonal flu.
Why experts worry
But this particular strain is new to humans - leaving people with little natural immunity to it - which would mean more people would be vulnerable to infection. Given that vulnerability, a more virulent form in the winter would be all that much more worrisome.
So public health experts are preparing. The most famous influenza epidemic in recent history started in the spring of 1917 with a mild outbreak of the flu that returned months later and killed millions worldwide.
"I don't think this (swine flu) is going to be a pandemic. I worry about a true pandemic with a wholly new strain (of influenza) more than I worry about this one. But you can't ignore it," said Dr. Larry Drew, director of the UCSF virology lab. "We're going to have to address this strain."
The most important step, say infectious disease experts, will be preparing a vaccine. But public health officials have difficult decisions to make right now if they intend to have a vaccine ready by next winter.
They must decide whether the swine flu vaccine should be combined with the seasonal flu vaccine, which is already designed to combat three forms of influenza. Some vaccine experts worry that adding swine flu into the mix will dilute the protective abilities of the rest of the vaccine - and argue there probably won't be enough time to test the efficacy of combining all four.
If swine flu can't be combined in the usual vaccine, a separate one will have to be made. But that raises questions of how many vaccine doses to prepare worldwide, and whether developing a new vaccine will interrupt manufacturing of the seasonal vaccine.
Who gets vaccinated
Then there's the question of who would be best served by a vaccine. With swine flu getting so much attention, demand will almost definitely be higher than normal this year, say public health experts.
"Given the lead time, we probably have the ability to make a vaccine, at least for the United States. But part of it depends on how many people you're planning on vaccinating," Lewis said. "This next season there will probably be a real crush to get vaccines."
If there aren't enough vaccines to give to everyone who wants them, priority will go to the most vulnerable - young children and the elderly, along with people who have other health risks or who work in health care.
Since early evidence suggests that young people - particularly teenagers and young adults - make up most of the cases of swine flu, it may be logical to target a vaccine to high school and college students, said Drew. That's yet another piece of the swine flu mystery that researchers will be studying this summer.
Meanwhile, Besser of the CDC is urging local public health officials and communities to be prepared for the worst.
"What would they do if this came back and was really severe and we needed to take measures like closing schools?" he said. "That kind of preparedness over this period of time will really help minimize the impact, should this come back and be more severe."
Public health experts say the virus has a chance of returning in a new and more dangerous form when the influenza season picks up again in late November, and are deciding now how to protect people worldwide.
They are preparing even as an increasing number of infectious disease experts are saying that the swine flu does not show signs of reappearing in a more virulent form next winter. It could even disappear altogether or more likely, come back and join the other strains of usually mild flu that typically circulate among humans each winter, they say.
But no one knows for sure.
"I wish I could predict what we are going to see, because it would be very easy to make the kinds of decisions we need to make as a nation over the next few months," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in a news conference late last week.
The CDC has started growing the virus in labs as a first step toward making a swine flu vaccine, and World Health Organization leaders will meet Wednesday to discuss when - and how - global manufacturing of a vaccine should start.
At the same time, infectious disease experts will spend the next few months studying the swine flu - a strain of influenza A, subtype H1N1 - to figure out just how dangerous it is, or could become. And public health experts will prepare for ways to keep the swine flu contained if there is another outbreak, including devising plans to close schools again when necessary.
Even if swine flu turns out to be no more virulent than seasonal flu, that's nothing to dismiss - seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people every year.
The flu is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. Typically three strains of flu infect people every winter - two types of influenza A and one type of influenza B.
One of the distinguishing traits of influenza is its ability to mutate quickly and easily. The virus is made up of eight segments that will shift as the disease replicates. That leads to frequent small mutations, and when two different strains of influenza are in one person, or animal, the strains can mix and create significant mutations.
"That's why we have to vaccinate every year," said David Lewis, an infectious disease specialist with Stanford University School of Medicine. "There are always changes."
"Every time influenza replicates itself, it has a tendency to naturally make some mistakes," he said. "That means it's generating a whole bunch of slight changes that can be selected for a slight advantage. So it's a very rapid natural selection for whatever virus is able to elude the immune system."
That's what scientists believe happened with swine flu, which is a mix of viruses found in pigs, birds and humans. What alarmed infectious disease experts was the virus' ability to pass from person to person - a trait that could prove devastating if a virus is particularly harmful to humans.
So far the symptoms of swine flu appear to be mild, especially in the cases found in the United States. More than 1,600 confirmed cases of swine flu were reported in the United States over the past three weeks, about 50 people were hospitalized and two died. On Saturday, health officials in Washington state reported a death that also may have been caused by swine flu.
In the early days of the outbreak in Mexico, it seemed to be a serious health threat because it killed more than 150 people. But epidemiologists believe many thousands of mild cases of swine flu in Mexico were never reported - making it no more deadly than seasonal flu.
Why experts worry
But this particular strain is new to humans - leaving people with little natural immunity to it - which would mean more people would be vulnerable to infection. Given that vulnerability, a more virulent form in the winter would be all that much more worrisome.
So public health experts are preparing. The most famous influenza epidemic in recent history started in the spring of 1917 with a mild outbreak of the flu that returned months later and killed millions worldwide.
"I don't think this (swine flu) is going to be a pandemic. I worry about a true pandemic with a wholly new strain (of influenza) more than I worry about this one. But you can't ignore it," said Dr. Larry Drew, director of the UCSF virology lab. "We're going to have to address this strain."
The most important step, say infectious disease experts, will be preparing a vaccine. But public health officials have difficult decisions to make right now if they intend to have a vaccine ready by next winter.
They must decide whether the swine flu vaccine should be combined with the seasonal flu vaccine, which is already designed to combat three forms of influenza. Some vaccine experts worry that adding swine flu into the mix will dilute the protective abilities of the rest of the vaccine - and argue there probably won't be enough time to test the efficacy of combining all four.
If swine flu can't be combined in the usual vaccine, a separate one will have to be made. But that raises questions of how many vaccine doses to prepare worldwide, and whether developing a new vaccine will interrupt manufacturing of the seasonal vaccine.
Who gets vaccinated
Then there's the question of who would be best served by a vaccine. With swine flu getting so much attention, demand will almost definitely be higher than normal this year, say public health experts.
"Given the lead time, we probably have the ability to make a vaccine, at least for the United States. But part of it depends on how many people you're planning on vaccinating," Lewis said. "This next season there will probably be a real crush to get vaccines."
If there aren't enough vaccines to give to everyone who wants them, priority will go to the most vulnerable - young children and the elderly, along with people who have other health risks or who work in health care.
Since early evidence suggests that young people - particularly teenagers and young adults - make up most of the cases of swine flu, it may be logical to target a vaccine to high school and college students, said Drew. That's yet another piece of the swine flu mystery that researchers will be studying this summer.
Meanwhile, Besser of the CDC is urging local public health officials and communities to be prepared for the worst.
"What would they do if this came back and was really severe and we needed to take measures like closing schools?" he said. "That kind of preparedness over this period of time will really help minimize the impact, should this come back and be more severe."
Students rethink plans for traveling in swine flu's wake
Carlos Beltran, a first-year-business student at Michigan State University, is worried about H1N1 flu -- but not in Michigan where the illnesses have been few and mild. The Mexico City native has been trying to keep up with friends and family in his nation's capital, which was hard-hit by the novel virus.
"No one was concerned at first," he said. Then the Mexican government shut schools and businesses and told people to stay at home. The metropolis of 20 million became a ghost town for a while, he said.
Since the first public reports of swine flu in Mexico surfaced in late April, 44 people with flu-like symptoms have died and at least 1,204 have fallen ill. An early spate of deaths fueled belief it was particularly deadly, and U.S. health officials prepared for a pandemic.
H1N1 hasn't been as deadly in the United States, but health officials say not to assume swine flu is over. Consequently, people in Michigan with ties to Mexico are reconsidering travel plans.
In spite of the distance between him and the worst of swine flu, Beltran is feeling its wrath. The business school is leaving for China on Tuesday, and the 28-year-old said he isn't going, for fear of being quarantined. China recently quarantined, then released, several people from Mexico.
In Monterrey, Mexico, Priscila Martinez said, her grandparents "don't take precautions like they should." The 19-year-old and her mother left Mexico for Canton when she was 11. Now at the University of Michigan, the junior political science major said she didn't know what flu was until she came to the United States.
"We don't get vaccines," she said. "We don't talk about it."
David Hayes-Bautista, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies Latino health issues, said illnesses like flu are top-10 killers in Mexico. It's a perception problem, he said.
Former Mexican minister of health Julio Frenk said recently that about 10,000 people die of flu complications each year in Mexico, making its death rate slightly less than in the United States, where 36,000 of the 306 million Americans die each year.
Even with what has been learned since the outbreak began, Victoria Pardo , a 22-year-old math major from Dearborn at Wayne State University, still is rethinking her August trip to Chihuahua, a border state where the third-generation Mexican American has been a missionary.
"The thought of even being there worries me and my family," she said.
"No one was concerned at first," he said. Then the Mexican government shut schools and businesses and told people to stay at home. The metropolis of 20 million became a ghost town for a while, he said.
Since the first public reports of swine flu in Mexico surfaced in late April, 44 people with flu-like symptoms have died and at least 1,204 have fallen ill. An early spate of deaths fueled belief it was particularly deadly, and U.S. health officials prepared for a pandemic.
H1N1 hasn't been as deadly in the United States, but health officials say not to assume swine flu is over. Consequently, people in Michigan with ties to Mexico are reconsidering travel plans.
In spite of the distance between him and the worst of swine flu, Beltran is feeling its wrath. The business school is leaving for China on Tuesday, and the 28-year-old said he isn't going, for fear of being quarantined. China recently quarantined, then released, several people from Mexico.
In Monterrey, Mexico, Priscila Martinez said, her grandparents "don't take precautions like they should." The 19-year-old and her mother left Mexico for Canton when she was 11. Now at the University of Michigan, the junior political science major said she didn't know what flu was until she came to the United States.
"We don't get vaccines," she said. "We don't talk about it."
David Hayes-Bautista, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies Latino health issues, said illnesses like flu are top-10 killers in Mexico. It's a perception problem, he said.
Former Mexican minister of health Julio Frenk said recently that about 10,000 people die of flu complications each year in Mexico, making its death rate slightly less than in the United States, where 36,000 of the 306 million Americans die each year.
Even with what has been learned since the outbreak began, Victoria Pardo , a 22-year-old math major from Dearborn at Wayne State University, still is rethinking her August trip to Chihuahua, a border state where the third-generation Mexican American has been a missionary.
"The thought of even being there worries me and my family," she said.
Seven further UK swine flu cases
Seven new swine flu cases in the UK have been confirmed, the Department of Health has said.
A spokeswoman said all the people diagnosed were in England, bringing the total in the UK to 55.
She added that the cases involved two adults and four children in London and an adult in the east of England.
"So far, all infections in the UK have been mild, and cases have been diagnosed and treated early," the spokeswoman said.
Laboratory investigation
A Health Protection Agency (HPA) spokeswoman said the adult in the east of England and one of the London adults had been in contact with individuals who had previously been confirmed with swine flu.
The other adult in London and all four children "were swabbed last week and may have acquired their infection before the closure of their school", she said.
She added that anti-viral drugs had been given to all children and staff as a precaution, and all symptomatic patients were recovering at home.
According to the HPA, a further 384 cases were under laboratory investigation as of 1500BST on Sunday.
Of the 55 cases in the UK, 50 have been confirmed in England and five in Scotland.
A spokeswoman said all the people diagnosed were in England, bringing the total in the UK to 55.
She added that the cases involved two adults and four children in London and an adult in the east of England.
"So far, all infections in the UK have been mild, and cases have been diagnosed and treated early," the spokeswoman said.
Laboratory investigation
A Health Protection Agency (HPA) spokeswoman said the adult in the east of England and one of the London adults had been in contact with individuals who had previously been confirmed with swine flu.
The other adult in London and all four children "were swabbed last week and may have acquired their infection before the closure of their school", she said.
She added that anti-viral drugs had been given to all children and staff as a precaution, and all symptomatic patients were recovering at home.
According to the HPA, a further 384 cases were under laboratory investigation as of 1500BST on Sunday.
Of the 55 cases in the UK, 50 have been confirmed in England and five in Scotland.
Japan ramps up swine flu checks
Japan intensified follow-up checks to prevent the spread of swine flu Sunday after confirming its first cases of the virus in four Japanese recently returned from a trip to North America.
The health ministry announced early Sunday that a male high school student had tested positive for the A(H1N1) influenza virus in Japan's fourth confirmed case.
He was among 49 passengers who arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport on a flight from the US city of Detroit on Friday. The group was quarantined because they were seated close to the first three Japanese people found to have the virus.
They were taken to a hotel near the airport to be isolated for 10 days.
The ministry said it was also monitoring the condition of other people who had already entered Japan after arriving on the same Northwest Airlines flight. They have spread to 26 of the country's 47 prefectures.
"We will continue observing the health conditions of the 163 people by telephone calls and through their local public health centres for 10 days," said Yukiko Nakatani, an official at the ministry's medical department.
"We cannot say anything definite about the possibility of the disease spreading domestically," she told AFP.
The ministry said on Saturday that a 46-year-old male teacher and two of the student's male schoolmates, both 16, who had been on a study trip to Canada, tested positive for the virus. They were from a high school in Osaka, western Japan.
They stayed in Oakville, west of Toronto, from April 24 until last Thursday.
There were 409 passengers and crew members aboard the flight and many of them have travelled on to other countries after changing planes at Narita.
Nakatani said the conditions of the first three patients had improved.
"The teacher's body temperature is slightly high but those of the students have returned to normal," she said, adding that the fourth patient was in a "stable condition."
Japanese newspapers, warning the domestic spread of swine flu might be inevitable, urged the government Sunday to take effective measures against the viral infections.
The business daily Nikkei said, "It will become important hereafter to keep track of virus carriers as soon as possible and locally contain secondary infections."
Major daily Mainichi Shumbun called on the government to "prepare for a long-running battle" against the disease.
Japan has been on high alert as one of the year's busiest travel periods came to an end, the "Golden Week" of public holidays when tens of millions travel domestically and overseas.
The health ministry announced early Sunday that a male high school student had tested positive for the A(H1N1) influenza virus in Japan's fourth confirmed case.
He was among 49 passengers who arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport on a flight from the US city of Detroit on Friday. The group was quarantined because they were seated close to the first three Japanese people found to have the virus.
They were taken to a hotel near the airport to be isolated for 10 days.
The ministry said it was also monitoring the condition of other people who had already entered Japan after arriving on the same Northwest Airlines flight. They have spread to 26 of the country's 47 prefectures.
"We will continue observing the health conditions of the 163 people by telephone calls and through their local public health centres for 10 days," said Yukiko Nakatani, an official at the ministry's medical department.
"We cannot say anything definite about the possibility of the disease spreading domestically," she told AFP.
The ministry said on Saturday that a 46-year-old male teacher and two of the student's male schoolmates, both 16, who had been on a study trip to Canada, tested positive for the virus. They were from a high school in Osaka, western Japan.
They stayed in Oakville, west of Toronto, from April 24 until last Thursday.
There were 409 passengers and crew members aboard the flight and many of them have travelled on to other countries after changing planes at Narita.
Nakatani said the conditions of the first three patients had improved.
"The teacher's body temperature is slightly high but those of the students have returned to normal," she said, adding that the fourth patient was in a "stable condition."
Japanese newspapers, warning the domestic spread of swine flu might be inevitable, urged the government Sunday to take effective measures against the viral infections.
The business daily Nikkei said, "It will become important hereafter to keep track of virus carriers as soon as possible and locally contain secondary infections."
Major daily Mainichi Shumbun called on the government to "prepare for a long-running battle" against the disease.
Japan has been on high alert as one of the year's busiest travel periods came to an end, the "Golden Week" of public holidays when tens of millions travel domestically and overseas.
Developments on swine flu worldwide
Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and government officials:
Deaths: Global total of 53 — 48 in Mexico; three in the U.S.; one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. One of those who died in the U.S. was a toddler from Mexico. Officials said the Canadian, U.S. and Costa Rican victims also had other underlying medical conditions.
Confirmed cases, according to WHO and CDC: more than 4,500 in 29 countries, including at least 1,626 in Mexico, at least 2,532 in the United States and 280 in Canada.
Third U.S. death was a man in his 30s in Washington state, where health officials said he had underlying heart conditions.
Japan reported its first four cases: a teacher and three students who had been on a high school trip to Canada. Australia reported its first confirmed case Saturday.
WHO says up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu if outbreak turns into pandemic over months or years. But WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda says it's too early to tell how widespread or severe the outbreak will become.
President Barack Obama sought to reassure Hispanics that swine flu won't lead to epidemic of discrimination in the United States just because Mexico has been the center of the outbreak.
Mexico's U.N. envoy says nations need common rules for responding to flu outbreaks to prevent discrimination and unfair trade restrictions; says Mexicans unfairly singled out.
High schools, universities, dance halls, movie theaters and bars have reopened across Mexico. Primary schools will reopen next week.
CDC says only about 10 percent of Americans with swine flu are believed to have gotten it during trips to Mexico.
Deaths: Global total of 53 — 48 in Mexico; three in the U.S.; one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. One of those who died in the U.S. was a toddler from Mexico. Officials said the Canadian, U.S. and Costa Rican victims also had other underlying medical conditions.
Confirmed cases, according to WHO and CDC: more than 4,500 in 29 countries, including at least 1,626 in Mexico, at least 2,532 in the United States and 280 in Canada.
Third U.S. death was a man in his 30s in Washington state, where health officials said he had underlying heart conditions.
Japan reported its first four cases: a teacher and three students who had been on a high school trip to Canada. Australia reported its first confirmed case Saturday.
WHO says up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu if outbreak turns into pandemic over months or years. But WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda says it's too early to tell how widespread or severe the outbreak will become.
President Barack Obama sought to reassure Hispanics that swine flu won't lead to epidemic of discrimination in the United States just because Mexico has been the center of the outbreak.
Mexico's U.N. envoy says nations need common rules for responding to flu outbreaks to prevent discrimination and unfair trade restrictions; says Mexicans unfairly singled out.
High schools, universities, dance halls, movie theaters and bars have reopened across Mexico. Primary schools will reopen next week.
CDC says only about 10 percent of Americans with swine flu are believed to have gotten it during trips to Mexico.