Haiti Earthquake Appeal

So there's already a lot of good charitable events and ways people can help the people of Haiti, but in case you're still wondering in what way you can contribute and help in some way the efforts of the diasaster recovery there, then I'm providing a link which lets you donate to the Red Cross - a very reputable British humanitarian organization. It's a sad way to start of the year with this kind of post, (I was hoping to recap on last year and how the swine flu pandemic broke out and then eventually died down, but now this seems trivial). Thanks for reading this.

Help the people of Haiti
Please make your donation today to the Red Cross.

Happy New Year!

Well as the first blog post of 2010, it seems only fitting to do the obligatory Happy New Year Post. 2009 was one in which we all witnessed the fear - spread largely by the media, of the pandemic outbreak that broke in april 2009. But the tail end of 2009 saw it dying down, and fears softened by the release of a general vaccination widely available and initially dispensed to vulnerable groups. 2010 will probably still have some media coverage here and then, so I shall endeveaour to keep the blog running, with some updated information as and when it's released. But, let's hope that I don't need to write about a new outbreak of swine flu in 2010.

Thanks for following, and continue to post me your comments and ideas for the blog.

Happy New Year.

Swine Flu takes a back seat to climate change

With the climate talks taking place in Copenhagen this week, people will be noticing how this will now dominate the news headlines, and swine flu takes a backseat. Although, it can be argued for the last few weeks and months, the news and media about swine flu has died down even before this conference. It just shows, how quickly news stories that linger around for months can come and go, and how quickly news stories can change. However, this week is still going to be interesting to see what actual progress is made. So far not a mention on the news has been made about how climate change might be affecting outbreaks of new diseases and viruses, which I think is a worthwhile point. Indeed, it's a valid point, that if there was no climate change, would we have experiences outbreaks like bird and swine flu. I'shall be watching with close attention to see what dialogues take place, and what proposals are put forward. It always seems we do too little and it comes too late, let's hope it's not the same with climate change.

Many people still "ducking" swine fly shots in US

There's an interesting article from the US, about swine fly shots, and despite them being readily available, many people still have issues about taking the immunization shots:

http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2009/11/30/955252

Christmas looks to be swine-quiet

With many countries and local health care authorities making adequate provisions for the festive holidays, it remains to be seen if there will be another panic that either the swine flu outbreak has mutated and broken out again, or that there will be a shortage of vaccinations in some countries, regions. It seems as though, swine flu is still on the minds of a lot of people, although in Taiwan i have noticed less people wear face masks, although its still very much on the consciousness of the Taiwanese, and you still see parents making their children wear them on the way to school and definitely there's still a lot of people wearing them on the underground.

In other countries, many governments are still advising their populace to carry out better Hygeinic practices and go to a doctor if they start to feel ill with flu like symptoms. It's also comforting to see that even poorer countries being able to stock pile vaccination shots for their most vulnerable groups.

Swine Flu - Over by Christmas?

An interesting article by Wales Online, following research in Wales and medical professionals have been quoted as saying that the peak of swine flu has fallen and we could well be on our way to see swine flu fizzle out by Christmas. However, with the winter temperatures well and truly drawing in on us, we should still remain on heightened alert as it stands to reason that the vulnerable groups are going to be susceptible to normal seasonal flus and this will weaken their immunity to the H1N1 virus. Many people are expecting the second wave of the swine flu virus to hit, as seen with previous pandemics and outbreaks. However, in wales alone in the coming the month there is expected to be over 750,000 swine flu vaccinations. So the message is clear from health professionals and the government alike, we should still remain cautious and not get complacement that the swine flu virus has been eradicated, and there could at anytime be a second wave.

Vaccination shortages in Canada

Seems they've had some trouble in Canada with their swine flu vaccine provisions, leading to large line-ups and some disappointed people. It has beset Canada's health campaign against the H1N1 virus. Even though the huge pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline forewarned health authorities in Ottawa that switching to the production of this vaccine would slow down production little was done to compensate for this. Thus, Glaxo now have been ordered to manufacture a further 400,000 doses of the vaccine this week. The reason why the slowdown has occurred is that Glaxo switch from making a more adjuvenated version of the vaccine to a slimline vaccine catering especially batches for children and young women. However, production is expected to go into overdrive this week, and the health authorities in Ottawa are not expecting any more hiccups.

Cases such as in Ottawa, Canada, highlight how very rushed the whole process of releasing the h1n1 vaccine seems to have been compared to the trials of drug compounds that are rigorously tested before they can be released on the market. However, saying this we are constantly told this new vaccine is just a simple modification of the seasonal flu vaccine we've had for a few years now. Again time will tell just how successful the vaccine has been in preventing deaths from this flu.