Although the CDC report of May 22, 2009 suggests there is no significant immunity to the novel H1N1 virus from the seasonal flu vaccine, scientists are still at a loss to explain why the H1N1 virus appears to affect pregnant women and children more than the elderly- a striking departure from the epidemiology of seasonal flu. The logical conclusion is…
Posts By Frank Gillingham, MD
The H1N1 virus is no longer front page news, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has not classified the current outbreak as a pandemic despite 40 countries collectively reporting over 10,000 cases, including 79 deaths. Most epidemiologists agree that widespread transmission of H1N1 is inevitable, and that a more virulent strain may emerge in the fall. This sobering prediction and…
As the evidence mounts that the H1N1 virus is beginning to stall out at as a "near pandemic" (currently WHO Level 5), what have we learned so far? First, although intense media coverage has sparked the sales of face masks and engendered a great deal of anxiety, CDC and WHO officials and the federal government have managed the outbreak with…
As quickly as swine flu is popping up around the globe, "news" about swine flu is being consumed at an even faster pace. If you ever played Whisper Down the Lane, you know that information often changes as it passes from person to person. With the advent of social networks such as Twitter, basic facts can morph into panicky fiction…
Not since the panic of 1976, when a Fort Dix, New Jersey soldier died and four of his fellow recruits became ill, has there been such attention paid to swine flu. The 1976 "outbreak" triggered a massive effort from the US government to immunize the entire population. The pandemic never materialized despite only 24 per cent of the population receiving…
High season is nearing the end in the annual battle against meningitis in many countries of equatorial Africa. According to the Centers for Disease Control , there have been over 25,000 suspected cases so far this year in an area that stretches from Mali and Senegal in the west to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the east. Nigeria and Niger have…
Ever since pilgrims to Epidaurus sought the healing powers of Asclepius, the Greek God of Medicine, people have traveled to distant destinations to obtain medical care. Today published reports suggest that a new medical migration is taking place. Some estimate that as many as one million patients worldwide leave their home countries to be treated for everything from a toothache,…
