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Flu News Avian Flu Avian (or bird) flu is caused by influenza viruses that occur naturally among wild birds. The H5N1 variant is deadly to domestic fowl and can be transmitted from birds to humans. There is no human immunity and no vaccine is available.
New Bird Flu Death in China A 19-year-old woman, who handled ducks in northern China, has died in Beijing from bird flu, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The woman died Monday morning after she was admitted to hospital on December 27, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. She had been in close contact with ducks at a market in Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing, on December 19. She bought nine ducks from the market and cleaned the dead fowl before giving them to some relatives and friends. No other cases of the H5N1 avian influenza have been reported from the same area, Xinhua reported. An official with the local government in Langfang City, where the market is located, told Xinhua that they have taken steps to detect the source of the deadly virus. China Culls Poultry After Bird Flu Surface About 380,000 fowls were culled in east China's Jiangsu province after the discovery of bird flu virus, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday. The deadly H5N1 strain of the virus was discovered in Dongtai city and Hai'an county in the province, the ministry said in a statement. No outbreak of bird flu was reported in the counties, the ministry said. Bird Flu Antibodies American scientists found that people who lived through the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 can still produce antibodies that kill the deadly strain of the H1N1 flu. The study, published in the journal Nature, could help develop emergency treatments for future outbreaks. Thirty-two people who lived through the 1918 flu were studied, and all still had antibodies in their blood to destroy the virus. Some of the volunteers - aged from 91 to 101 - even had the cells which produce the antibodies. The researchers used the antibodies to cure infected mice - showing, they said, that 90 years on, the survivors of the epidemic were still protected. For the full story, click here.
Seasonal Influenza Seasonal (or common) flu is a respiratory illness that can be transmitted person to person. Most people have some immunity, and a vaccine is available.
Google Tool Used to Detect Flu Outbreaks If you have a fever, headache and runny nose, you might go to Google and type the words "flu symptoms" to see whether you've come down with influenza. Google knows that you might do something like that, and it also knows which U.S. state you're in. Now, it's putting that information together in a tool that Google says could detect flu outbreaks faster than traditional systems currently in use. Google's new public health initiative, Google Flu Trends, looks at the relative popularity of a slew of flu-related search terms to determine where in the U.S. flu outbreaks may be occurring. For the full story, click here.
Children and OTC Remedies Children under 4 should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, drug companies said Tuesday in a concession to pediatricians who doubt the drugs work in kids and worry about their safety. The voluntary changes came less than a week after federal health officials said they also saw little evidence that the drugs work, but feared that parents would give kids adult medicines if the products were taken off store shelves. In addition, the drug makers said they will add a warning to their products that parents should not give children antihistamines to make them sleepy. These are allergy-relief medications often found in medicines that combine several ingredients to treat a variety of symptoms. For the full story, including tips on how to give cough and cold medicine to children, click here.
New Genetic Test for Flu Virus The government approved a new genetic test for the flu virus Tuesday that will allow labs across the country to identify flu strains within four hours instead of four days. The timesaving test could be crucial if a deadly new strain emerges, federal health officials said. The new test was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Applied Biosystems Inc. of Foster City, Calif. The Food and Drug Administration approved the test kit Tuesday, and state health labs are expected to start using it this fall. For the complete story, click here.
Pandemic Influenza Pandemic flu is virulent human flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness. Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu.
Created: 2006
Reviewed: 1/15/2009
Updated: 1/15/2009 
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