Animal study shows how easily swine flu overtakes regular flu strains, eases ’superbug’ fears

September 21st, 2009 Study: Flu viruses can spark heart attacksLONDON — Heart patients who catch the flu may have more to worry about than just a fever or the sniffles: the virus could also spark a heart attack, new research shows. Amid the global outbreak of swine flu, experts say it's crucial that heart patients get vaccinated against both regular flu and swine flu to avoid medical problems.

September 10th, 2009 Vical's swine flu vaccine works in mice, rabbitsSAN DIEGO — Biotechnology company Vical Inc. said Thursday its developing swine flu vaccine prompted "robust" immune responses in 100 percent of animals infected with distinct strains of the virus.

August 27th, 2009 Swine flu sends more blacks, Hispanics to hospitalATLANTA — Swine flu was four times more likely to send blacks and Hispanics to the hospital than whites, according to a study in Chicago that offers one of the first looks at how the virus has affected different racial groups. The report echoes some unpublished information from Boston that found three out of four Bostonians hospitalized from swine flu were black or Hispanic.

August 21st, 2009 WHO: No Tamiflu for healthy people with swine fluLONDON — Healthy people who catch swine flu do not need antivirals like Tamiflu, but the young, the old and the pregnant surely do, the World Health Organization declared Friday in new advice to doctors. The U.N. health agency said people who are otherwise healthy with mild to moderate cases of swine flu or regular flu don't need the popular drug, calling the medical evidence for giving it to those people "low quality." But people thought to be at risk for complications from swine flu — children less than five years old, pregnant women, people over age 65 and those with other health problems like heart disease, HIV or diabetes — should definitely get the drug, WHO said.

August 21st, 2009 WHO: No Tamiflu for regular people with swine fluLONDON — Healthy people who catch swine flu do not need antivirals like Tamiflu, but the young, the old and the pregnant surely do, the World Health Organization declared Friday in new advice to doctors. The U.N. health agency said people who are otherwise healthy with mild to moderate cases of swine flu or regular flu don't need the popular drug, calling the medical evidence for giving it to those people "low quality." But people thought to be at risk for complications from swine flu — children less than five years old, pregnant women, people over age 65 and those with other health problems like heart disease, HIV or diabetes — should definitely get the drug, WHO said.

August 11th, 2009 Presently deadly swine flu virus H1N1 is spreading quickly across India. The World Health Organisation already warned about the global swine flu pandemic possibility.

July 13th, 2009 Study finds pig role in 1918 pandemic's evolutionWASHINGTON — History's deadliest flu pandemic, in 1918, may not have made a sudden jump from birds to people after all. New research says the pig played a big role as an influenza mixing bowl — a gene probe with lessons for tracking today's swine flu outbreak.

July 13th, 2009 Study: 1918 flu survivors seem immune to swine fluWASHINGTON — The way swine flu multiplies in the respiratory system is more severe than ordinary winter flu, a new study in animals finds. Tests in monkeys, mice and ferrets show that the swine flu thrives in greater numbers all over the respiratory system, including the lungs, and causes lesions, instead of staying in the nose and throat like seasonal flu.

June 29th, 2009 UK: 9-year-old girl with swine flu diesLONDON — A 9-year-old girl infected with swine flu has died in Britain, the third swine flu fatality in the U.K., a hospital reported Monday. Birmingham Children's Hospital said the girl who died Friday had other serious underlying health problems.

May 12th, 2009 Flu drug advised for pregnant women with swine fluATLANTA — Pregnant women should take prescription flu medicines if they are diagnosed with the new swine flu, health officials said Tuesday. So far, the swine flu has not proven to be much more dangerous than seasonal influenza, and it's not clear whether or not pregnant women catch swine flu more often than other people.

May 8th, 2009 15 is median age of US swine flu hospital casesATLANTA — There were more signs Wednesday that those hardest-hit by swine flu are the young. U.S. health officials said the median age for confirmed hospital cases in the United States is 15.

May 3rd, 2009 Cautious optimism on flu but US 'not out of woods'WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are cautiously optimistic that the new swine flu isn't as dangerous as first feared, but urged people to keep taking commonsense precautions — and they can't predict if it will roar back in the fall.

May 3rd, 2009 UN-WTO: No need to ban pork due to swine fluROME — The U.N. and World Trade Organization said Saturday there is no justification for anti-pork trade measures as a result of the swine flu epidemic since there is no evidence the virus is spread by food.

April 28th, 2009 Gold prices fall, close below $900 an ounceNEW YORK — Gold prices are lower as fears of a global swine flu pandemic rattle commodities markets. Oil and other metals have also fallen, while agriculture futures are up slightly.

April 25th, 2009 Q&A: What is swine flu?GENEVA — A swine flu outbreak that appears to have caused fatalities in humans in Mexico and nonfatal cases in the United States prompted the World Health Organization this weekend to urge countries around the world to be alert for suspicious cases of influenza. WHO chief Margaret Chan says the global body is taking the outbreak very seriously, though comparisons with the 1918 epidemic are premature.