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Flu Outbreak: Medicine Shortages And A Rising Death Toll In California
Flu Outbreak: Medicine Shortages And A Rising Death Toll In California
A severe flu outbreak has struck California making the medicine used to treat the illness sparse, and filling emergency rooms with those suffering from the symptoms. The death toll is also rising rapidly as more and more people are succumbing to the virus.
According to the LA Times, health officials said Friday that 27 people younger than 65 have died of the flu in California since October, compared with three at the same time last year. Nationwide and in California, flu activity spiked sharply in late December and continues to grow. For example, the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica typically treats about 140 patients a day, but at least one day this week had more than 200 patients mostly because of the flu, said the ER’s medical director, Dr. Wally Ghurabi. “The Northridge earthquake was the last time we saw over 200 patients,” Ghurabi said.
The flu season normally peaks in February, but experts claim that this year, it’s peaking early, and that’s why there have been so many flu victims. The flu season is typically worst around February but can reach its height anytime from October to April. Though influenza had only killed three Californians at this time last year, it had taken 68 lives by the end of February, according to state data.
Many California doctors, however, maintain that the recent surge has been unusually severe. “Rates of influenza are even exceeding last year, and last year was one of the worst flu seasons in the last decade,” said Dr. Randy Bergen, clinical lead of the flu vaccine program for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Flu Survival Guide: Kitchen Remedies and Natural Strategies to Battle the Bug
The Flu Survival Guide: Kitchen Remedies and Natural Strategies to Battle the Bug
If you are a flu shot avoider, like I am, you probably aren’t crazy about the drug store flu remedies. Here’s a flu survival guide loaded with natural strategies and kitchen remedies in case one or more of your family members gets sick.
Despite your best efforts at prevention, sometimes the flu just happens. If you work with the public or have children in school – or heck, even go to the store from time to time – you and your family will be exposed. Sometimes those viruses are simply tougher than your immune system. The flu is going wild right now and is widespread in 36 states, according to a report by the CDC.
Here’s an arsenal of strategies if someone gets sick.
Note: I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. These home remedies are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for medical attention from a professional.
Containing the Illness
When someone in your home is sick, one of your first goals is not to pass the illness on to other family members. The other priority is treating the sick people in the house with remedies that strengthen them rather than weaken them.
It’s important to make an effort to contain the illness. Despite your best efforts, it may not work, but it’s worth a try.
I’d like to note that antibacterial products are highly controversial. It’s my belief that the problem is the overuse of antibacterial products that causes the issues. I believe that if used judiciously, they can be very effective aids in preventing the spread of an illness.
Try these techniques to help contain the contagion.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Epidemic Levels: Tens of Thousands Infected as this Year’s Flu Vaccine Totally Ineffective
Epidemic Levels: Tens of Thousands Infected as this Year’s Flu Vaccine Totally Ineffective
Headlines across the country are indicative of epidemic fears.
- 9 Texas schools have closed due to flu outbreaks this month
- Several Tennessee schools closed due to the flu
- Flu has sent more than three times the number of people to the hospital in Colorado than usual
- The University of Chicago hospital is even taking steps to restrict visitors. In a recent article, the hospital “will not allow children under age 12 and those with a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion will not be allowed to visit patients.
- U.S. not prepared for a flu pandemic, experts warn
- Texas flu epidemic spreading rampantly
An Ineffective Flu Shot Has Led to Health Concerns
| Week 50 | Data Cumulative since October 1, 2017 (Week 40) |
|
|---|---|---|
| No. of specimens tested | 1,623 | 15,994 |
| No. of positive specimens* | 795 | 5,046 |
| Positive specimens by type/subtype | ||
| Influenza A | 689 (86.7%) | 4,387 (86.9%) |
| A(H1N1)pmd09 | 58 (8.4%) | 366 (8.3%) |
| H3N2 | 611 (88.7%) | 3,965 (90.4%) |
| Subtyping not performed | 20 (2.9%) | 56 (1.3%) |
| Influenza B | 106 (13.3%) | 659 (13.1%) |
| Yamagata lineage | 75 (70.8%) | 438 (66.5%) |
| Victoria lineage | 10 (9.4%) | 39 (5.9%) |
| Lineage not performed | 21 (19.8%) | 182 (27.6%) |
*The percent of specimens testing positive for influenza is not reported because public health laboratories often receive samples that have already tested positive for influenza at a clinical laboratory and therefore percent positive would not be a valid indicator of influenza activity. Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/overview.htm.
This Flu Season Begins the Risk of a Pandemic 2018-2019
A possible new pandemic is forming from a deadly strain of flu emerging from Australia and will be headed to the UK as the normal flow of travels would take it. Britain will perhaps be hit with the worst flu season in 50 years. Already, there are about 170,000 cases of flu reported in Australia which is more than double this season than usual.
The strain of flu is called H3N2, and the number of flu deaths in Australia over winter has not yet been released, but it’s thought to be the worst in many years. The last major flu epidemic was in the 1968 pandemic which began in Hong Kong killing more than a million people worldwide. Flu pandemics have been linked to fluctuations in climate, and new research connects the world’s four most recent pandemics to the cyclical cooling of the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
The cyclical research correlating everything reveals that the four flu outbreaks that swept the world in the past 100 years all followed periods of global cooling. These were in 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009 (in this last instance, the H1N1 “swine flu”). When sea-surface temperatures sank abnormally low, this correlates to large flu pandemics. This cooling is associated with La Niña, a phase in a larger climate pattern. La Niña is the cool counterpart to El Niño, which is marked by unusually warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. It is now clear that both events alter weather patterns around the globe.
While the typical Transverse Wave cycle event would be every 22.75 years, but the Longitudinal Wave structure simultaneously exists and the complexity of these wave points to this season as turning up the risk factors for a pandemic flu season in 2018 and 2019.
Italy Bans Flu Shot After 13 Deaths | Canadian Awareness Network
Italy Bans Flu Shot After 13 Deaths | Canadian Awareness Network.
enca.com
ROME – The number of people who have died in Italy after being administered a flu vaccine made by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has risen to 13, health authorities said Sunday.
The Italian Medical Agency (AIFA) has warned against panic and stressed there is not proof yet that it was the vaccine that led to the deaths.
It said it banned two batches of the product – called FLUAD – as a precautionary measure, pending further studies.
AIFA said the European Medical Agency would start examining the problem on Monday, and would report back on Thursday.
Italian authorities issued a partial ban on FLUAD on Thursday after being alerted that three people had died and a fourth had been taken seriously ill within 48 hours of being administered the product. More cases came to light in the following days.
