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Monthly Archives: August 2009
Death in the Pacific Islands – Does History Repeat Itself?
From New Zealand History Online: On 7 November 1918, the New Zealand passenger and cargo ship Talune arrived at Apia from Auckland. On board were people suffering from pneumonic influenza, a highly infectious disease already responsible for hundreds of thousands … Continue reading
Posted in Outbreak, public health
Tagged case fatality rate, flu, H1N1, Pacific Islands, pandemic, Samoa, swine flu
1 Comment
Pandemic Update – August 30, 2009
There have been over 3,000 deaths due to the new H1N1 virus. Brazil has now overtaken the US in the number of deaths. 602 deaths have been reported in Brazil, while 555 have been reported in the US. There are … Continue reading
Incidence of Death
Although it is natural to focus on the case fatality rate when considering the risk of a new virus like pandemic H1N1, comparing countries with this metric has become increasingly difficult given the variations in testing procedures. Some countries continue … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged case fatality rate, China, death, H1N1, incidence, Indonesia, pandemic, swine flu
2 Comments
Severe Strains of H1N1?
Back in July, I argued that there might be strains of H1N1 flu with differing abilities to cause severe disease. I formed this hypothesis from a meta-analysis of several studies in ferrets. Briefly, ferrets that were infected with viral isolates … Continue reading
CDC vs PCAST, Politicians vs Scientists
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recently released a report suggesting that up to 90,000 Americans might die in the pandemic. I think this is a grossly optimistic prediction, but Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the … Continue reading
Posted in public health
Tagged deaths, H1N1, Harold Varmus, pandemic, prediction, swine flu, Thomas Frieden
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The Tenth Level
In 1961, Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, wanted an answer to a simple question: Was there something specific to Germans that allowed the Holocaust to occur? At the time, many people assumed that there was. Germans were said … Continue reading
Posted in public health, Schools
Tagged CDC, H1N1, obediance, pandemic, Stanley Milgram, swine flu, Thomas Frieden
1 Comment
The German Paradox
Germany now has 14,325 laboratory confirmed cases of the new H1N1 virus. That makes it the country with the 4th most infections in the world. However, no deaths have been reported in Germany. Among the top 10 countries for H1N1 … Continue reading
Posted in public health
Tagged case fatalty rate, Germany, H1N1, incidence, swine flu, Tamiflu, Treatment
4 Comments
Does the CDC have an Institutional Review Board?
When a scientist at a University wishes to do an experiment involving human beings, he must first write a proposal describing what will be done and submit the experimental protocol to an Institutional Review B0ard (IRB). The IRB evaluates the … Continue reading
Pandemic Update – August 23, 2009
There have been over 2,600 deaths due to the new H1N1 virus. There have been at least 522 deaths in the United States. Of special note, 30 cases have recently been reported in Puerto Rico. Most states have reported declining … Continue reading
Got Tamiflu?
One of the striking features of the list of countries with many cases of the new H1N1 virus is that a few of them have few or no deaths. How can this be? One possibility is that they simply have … Continue reading
Posted in public health, Treatment
Tagged case fatality rate, Japan, oseltamivir, relenza, Tamiflu
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