Critical illness from 2009 influenza A(H1N1) in Mexico had a fatality rate of about 40 per cent, according to a new study. Novel 2009 influenza A(H1N1) was first reported in the south-western United States and Mexico in March of 2009. Between March 18 and June 1, some 5,029 cases and 97 deaths occurred in Mexico. [...]
Penicillin and several other antibacterial medications commonly taken by pregnant women do not appear to be associated with many birth defects, according to a new report. However, the same report found that other antibiotics, such as sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins, may be associated with several severe birth defects and require additional scrutiny. The report followed a [...]
More flu viruses could qualify as pandemic strains as a result of recent changes to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for a flu pandemic, according to a leading expert. Under criteria introduced by the WHO in 2005, the appearance of a new influenza subtype (for example, a change from A [H2N2] to A [H3N2] [...]
Despite the severity of disease and the intensity of treatment, most patients in Australia and New Zealand who experienced respiratory failure as a result of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) and were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) survived the disease, according to a new study. The influenza A(H1N1) pandemic affected Australia and New Zealand during the [...]
Rory Hafford talks to Dr Eamonn Kenny and Dr Sean O’Domhnaill about their work treating and researching schizophrenia at Tallaght and St James’s hospitals, respectively, and where we’re going Dr Eamonn Kenny is perched – a little precariously it has to be said – on the edge of a table in the Training Unit in [...]
Mr Oliver McAnena and Dr Helen M Heneghan examine the issue of obesity which Irish GPs believe to be the greatest threat to the health of the Irish population Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with an estimated 300 million adults affected, as well as a rising number of children and adolescents. It is a [...]
Hygiene and physical measures, such as handwashing, wearing masks and isolating potentially infected patients, are highly effective in preventing the spread of viral infections and should be given higher priority in national pandemic preparation plans, according to researchers. Those recommendations followed an analysis of 59 published studies on the effectiveness of physical measures to interrupt [...]
The 2008-2009 seasonal flu vaccine, the trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV), provides some protection against swine flu, particularly the most severe forms of the disease, according to new preliminary research. Despite such findings, the study’s authors emphasised that the results should be considered cautiously ‘and in no way indicate that seasonal vaccine should replace vaccination against [...]
If a new UK study is any indication for Ireland, a resurgance in swine flu in the winter months could mean a shortage of intensive care beds for children. In the UK study, researchers at the University of Cambridge researchers used a model developed in the United States to predict likely demand for paediatric intensive [...]
Critical illness among Canadian patients with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severely low levels of oxygen in the blood, multi-system organ failure, a need for prolonged mechanical ventilation, and frequent use of rescue therapies, according to a new study. In the study, doctors with [...]
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