Category: Influenza

Can changing weather make you sick?

“In a sense, yes,” says Dr. Michael Robinson, a family medicine resident at Louisiana’s Lake Charles Memorial Health System. “The colder weather causes people to go inside and be in closer proximity to each other, but as far as just becoming sick, the weather doesn’t affect it.”

Spreading germs around

… out sick, it’s no good for your employer’s bottom line. The company should promote workplace cleanliness and employee health, perhaps by sending out a companywide memo with tips on how not to spread illness. If Dana keeps up her germ-factory ways, I …

Why asthmatics are less able to fight off flu

London, March 10 – People with asthma are likely to have worse symptoms when they get the flu and are more likely to end up in hospitals because of immune system differences, researchers said. The study showed that when exposed to the flu virus, people with asthma have weaker immune systems, whereas healthy people show a strong immune system-triggering reaction.

CDC: Outbreak of North American avian influenza A(H7N9) in poultry…

CDC is working closely with USDA APHIS and the Tennessee Department of Health to minimize any human health risk posed by the avian influenza outbreak in Lincoln County, Tennessee. This includes implementing a protocol to monitor the health of poultry workers exposed to commercial poultry involved in the USDA/APHIS-confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza A outbreak .

OK Flu Deaths, Hospitalizations Rise As Season Continues

The flu is getting worse in Oklahoma as doctors say they’re seeing more and more people sick with it. “It’s not as bad as some of the viruses that we’ve had even in the last five years, but still, the flu is something to be concerned about because it can make people really sick, particularly the elderly and particularly the very young,” said Dr. Brent Beasley.

NCC Statement on Confirmation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza at Tennessee Broiler-Breeder Farm

March 5, 2017 – The National Chicken Council today was notified by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that the agency has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza in a commercial broiler breeder flock in Lincoln County, Tennessee, along the Mississippi flyway. Tests are underway to identify the neuraminidase, or “N” number of the virus.

Can weather changes make you sick?

From 80 degree, humid weather, to windy, dry temperatures in the 40s, we are seeing quite the shift in seasons this week in Southwest Louisiana. But can the weather truly be to blame when you “feel under the weather?” Flu cases are up, along with stomach bugs and upper respiratory infections, so we stopped by the Memorial/LSUHSC clini c to ask family medicine resident, Dr. Michael Robinson, if the weather has anything to do with all of these sicknesses.

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New Mexico health officials say the state has widespread flu activity and that heightened flu activity is expected for weeks to come. Health officials: Flu activity widespread in New Mexico New Mexico health officials say the state has widespread flu activity and that heightened flu activity is expected for weeks to come.

Alberta flu death toll hits 47 in 2016-17 season

The data released March 2 showed one more death in each of the Edmonton and North zones since last week’s report. So far this season, there have been 3,522 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza A, 83 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza B, and 1,267 Albertans have been admitted to hospital.

UN sees bird flu changes but calls risk of people spread low

The World Health Organization says it has noticed changes in the bird flu virus now spreading in China, but says the risk of the disease spreading easily between people remains low. The genetic mutations have been seen from birds and infected people, but because flu viruses change constantly, experts aren’t exactly sure how significant the differences may be.

UN sees bird flu changes but calls risk of people spread low

The World Health Organization says it has noticed mutations in the bird flu virus now spreading in China, but says the risk of the disease spreading easily between people remains low. In a press briefing Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said in about 7 percent of the people infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu, scientists have identified genetic changes suggesting the viruses are resistant to Tamiflu, the recommended treatment for the disease and the drug that is being stockpiled worldwide in preparation for a flu pandemic.

Call for East Anglian consumers to stay loyal as many ‘free range’ hens stay indoors

East Anglian egg producers who are keeping their birds inside because of the threat of bird flu are hoping that consumers will stay loyal to them, even though their eggs will temporarily lose their ‘free range’ status tomorrow. An avian influenza prevention zone was declared on December 6, forcing owners to keep poultry and captive birds indoors or to take steps to separate them from wild birds, meaning millions of birds stand to lose their free range status.

Call for East Anglian consumers to stay loyal as many ‘free range’ hens stay indoors

East Anglian egg producers who are keeping their birds inside because of the threat of bird flu are hoping that consumers will stay loyal to them, even though their eggs will temporarily lose their ‘free range’ status tomorrow. An avian influenza prevention zone was declared on December 6, forcing owners to keep poultry and captive birds indoors or to take steps to separate them from wild birds, meaning millions of birds stand to lose their free range status.

Flu season slams small businesses

… expected to last into the spring, Insperity’s Marcum advises business owners to be proactive to protect staffers’ health as well as company operations. Employees should be encouraged to work at home if they’re not feeling well, and to get flu shots …

Surveillance and Research Group at YSPH Refunded with $14 Million Grant

The Connecticut Emerging Infections Program , a collaboration between Yale School of Public Health and CT Department of Public Health, has been awarded a five-year, $14 million grant from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to continue its ongoing research and surveillance of infectious diseases in Connecticut. The Yale EIP tracks a wide range of infectious diseases that impact state residents, including cases of food-borne disease caused by common bacteria and parasites, C. difficile and other infections in health care and community settings, influenza-related hospitalizations, pre-cancerous cervical lesions due to human papillomavirus infections and Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

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Two more people have died in Delaware in connection with the flu, bringing the state’s total number of flu-related deaths this season to five. The Division of Public Health says the first week of February, an 86-year-old Kent County man living in a nursing home died after being infected with Influenza A. Then last week, a 90-year-old New Castle County man who lived at home died after being infected with the same string of flu.

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Three weeks ago, an outbreak of Avian influenza was confirmed along the shores of Lake Victoria at Lutembe bay in Wakiso and Bukakata in Masaka district. South Sudan Livestock Minister Martin Daku sharing a moment with Uganda’s Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry, And Fisheries Vincent Ssempijja during a press conference on bird flu at the Ministry head offices in Entebbe Wakiso district.

Harrison County schools dealing with flu outbreak

The Harrison County Board of Education sent a letter to parents earlier this week warning of an outbreak of flu in schools that has affected up to 15 percent of students in the county. “This is the first year that I can recall that we’ve seen this many children out at one given time with the flu,” Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department Nurse Director Margaret Howe-White said Wednesday.