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Swine Flu declared a, “National Emergency” in US by Obama

Barack Obama has declared swine flu or H1N1 a national emergency.

The White House confirmed the president signed the swine flu proclamation on Friday evening, officials said the president’s declaration was similar to ones issued before hurricanes make landfall.

US officials said that last week swine flu activity was widespread in 46 states with over 1,000 deaths linked to the virus. Although figures are hard to verify, it is thought H1N1 has hospitalised about 20,000 people in the US.

The directive authorities to bypass certain federal requirements in order to deal more effectively with emergencies. The aim is to remove bureaucratic hurdles, allowing sick patients to receive treatment more quickly and giving health-care providers more flexibility in providing it.

Paperwork on patients can be reduced and additional health centres set up outside hospitals to care for the sick.

In his proclamation statement, Barack Obama says the 2009 H1N1 pandemic “continues to evolve”.

“The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities.”

Barack said the US had already been “proactive” by implementing public health measures and developing an effective H1N1 vaccine.

Children and young adults have been among the hardest hit by H1N1. Almost 100 of the deaths have been children.

In a seperate warning to the public, the FDA warned about bogus Swine Flu Internet sites that claim to sell Tamiflu without a prescription. The FDA bought and tested five such products. One contained powdered talc and generic Tylenol, with no Tamiflu.

Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza are the only drugs recommended for treating swine flu and are available from your doctor or GP, but are rationed and subject to medical guidelines, experience and expertise in dealing with H1N1.

         

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Swine Flu vaccination, “Pandemrix” confirmed start October 26th

A pregnant teen who died on thursday from Swine Flu, (H1N1) became the 106th British confirmed death from H1N1. The Department of Health announced that a national vaccination campaign will start on October 26th using the GlaxoSmithKline product, “Pandemrix”.

Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson said that patients deemed “at risk”, such as pregnant women will begin receiving a jab. Six woman have died while pregnant or after giving birth as a result of contracting the Swine Flu virus and estimates are that about 370,000 people have contracted Swine Flu in Britain.

There have been 83 deaths in England, 15 in Scotland, 4 in Wales and 4 in Northern Ireland.

On vaccinations for mothers-to-be, Sir Liam said: “While the disease is mild for the majority of people including pregnant women, pregnant women are at higher risk of complications caused by flu. I know they wish to reduce risks to themselves and their unborn babies and therefore the sensible thing would be to have the vaccine. I do not want to see pregnant women dying from a preventable disease.”

The World Health Organisation updated its guidance for expectant mothers yesterday to support the use of Pandemrix. It said: “The World Health Organisation supports the use of vaccines as recommended by functional regulatory authorities. The GSK [GlaxoSmithKline] vaccine has been licensed for use in pregnant women in Europe, as of September 2009.”

The vaccine will also be offered to frontline health workers.