The European Medicines Agency warns that young children given GlaxoSmithKline's swine flu shot may get a fever after their second dose. In a statement issued Friday, the European drug regulator said data from GlaxoSmithKline PLC showed a higher number of children aged six months to 3 years had a fever after their second dose of the Pandemrix vaccine, compared with the first. Kids were also more likely to have side effects like muscle pain, drowsiness, and irritability. The European regulator... Read Full Story
US health officials on Thursday warned of an Internet scam doing the rounds which says all adults are required to register a personal swine flu vaccination profile with the federal authorities. The bogus message says that although vaccination against pandemic (A)H1N1 flu is not obligatory, anyone aged 18 or older whether they have had the vaccine or not, is required to create a "personal H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination profile" with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If... Read Full Story
Dutch authorities said on Thursday a patient infected by a mutant strain of the swine flu virus had died. Harald Wychgel, spokesman for the Dutch Institute for Health and the Environment, told AFP that there had been a "minor change in the virus to make it resistant to Tamiflu," a key treatment for influenza. "The patient was already seriously ill and being treated for that. He was infected by the Mexican flu and developed a resistance to Tamiflu," Wychgel told AFP. The Dutch ANP news agency... Read Full Story
All those swine flu warnings have made a difference: People are washing their hands more, whipping out hand sanitizer and giving the stink-eye to coughers in their proximity. But for people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, all the talk about germs has been ominous. People who treat those affected with OCD are seeing an uptick in those seeking help. "We've gotten more calls this year — there is no doubt. And a large percentage of those callers talk about H1N1 contamination," says Ellen... Read Full Story
Swine flu has killed 14 people in Iraq since May, a spokesman for the health ministry said on Thursday, doubling the previously disclosed toll. "Since May, 14 people have died from A(H1N1) flu in Iraq," said Sabah Abdullah, without detailing where the victims came from. In November, the ministry said seven people had died from swine flu -- five in Baghdad, one in the southern port city of Basra and another in the central Shiite shrine city of Najaf. Abdullah said about 1,000 Iraqis have been... Read Full Story
The vaccination of millions of Europeans against swine flu has yet to raise any major safety concerns, the European Union's medicines watchdog said Thursday. About 10 million people have been vaccinated against the A(H1N1) virus across the 27-nation bloc so far and "to date, no unexpected serious safety issues have been identified", the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said. "The vaccine adverse effects reported so far have mainly been symptoms such as fever, nausea, headache, allergic... Read Full Story
LONDON (Reuters) - Some 10 million people across the European Union have now been vaccinated against H1N1 swine flu and so far no unexpected serious safety issues have been identified, the region's drugs watchdog said on Thursday. The most frequent adverse reactions have been fever, nausea, headache, allergic reactions and injection site pain, but these were mostly non-serious and had been expected, the European Medicines Agency said. The safety update is the first analysis of adverse... Read Full Story
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian health officials said on Wednesday that the H1N1 flu outbreak might have reached its peak in Canada, but cautioned that the fight is not yet over. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, said that while some areas of the country have displayed reduced incidents of swine flu, other regions have seen an uptick in cases in recent weeks. "We are trying to be very careful when using the term 'the peak'. We won't know we have reached a peak in flu... Read Full Story
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stung by the continuing struggle to make a vaccine against the swine flu pandemic, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Tuesday her department would review its approach to disaster preparedness. The goal, Sebelius said, will be streamlined regulations that will speed the approval of new technologies that are promoted through government contracts with private companies. The administration of President Barack Obama has been worried that H1N1 flu... Read Full Story
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stung by the continuing struggle to make a vaccine against the swine flu pandemic, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Tuesday her department would review its approach to disaster preparedness. The goal, Sebelius said, will be streamlined regulations that will speed the approval of new technologies that are promoted through government contracts with private companies. The administration of President Barack Obama has been worried that H1N1 flu... Read Full Story
