Author Archives 
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Who can slow the swine flu? You can
Who’s on the front line of this fall’s flu fight? You are, say HHS and CDC officials.Until Thanksgiving, at the earliest, it’s going to be up to you to try not to catch the flu. And if you do catch it, you can stop the spread. (WebMD)
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CDC leery of swine flu toll predictions
Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu. “Everything we’ve seen in the U.S. and everything we’ve seen around the world suggests we won’t see that kind of number if the virus doesn’t change,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC. (Associated Press)
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Swine flu could cripple workplaces
Schools aren’t the only ones that need to be on guard about H1N1. The Centers for Disease Control has just released guidelines for helping businesses and employers prepare for the flu season. (WISH-TV Video via YouTube)
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Study: Kids 14 times more likely than elderly to get swine flu
One of the unusual things about the swine flu is that it often strikes young, healthy people, while skipping over the elderly. The Chicago Department of Public health reports that kids between 5 and 14 were 14 times more likely than the those over 60 to come down with with the H1N1 pandemic flu. (WSJ)
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Are minorities at a higher risk?
In the early stages of the pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak in Chicago, blacks and Latinos were about four times more likely than Caucasians to contract the virus, according to the first study that has examined the racial composition of those who caught the flu. (Los Angeles Times)
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CDC turns to social media to get flu news out
U.S. health authorities are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in a bid to prepare people to be vaccinated against the pandemic H1N1 virus. (Reuters)
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Pregnant women, new parents urged to get vaccinated
Health officials are stressing that it is vital for pregnant women and new parents to get the swine flu vaccine to protect themselves and their children. (Associated Press)
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The presidential advisors’ report
Read the report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on the nation’s readiness. It details a scenario in which half the U.S. population could become infected with the H1N1 virus. Up to 1.8 million people could be hospitalized. And as many as 90,000 could die. (PDF format)
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China’s big effort to fight the flu
While the United States prepares for an H1N1 pandemic this fall, China is acting as if it’s already under way. “We are taking all the precautions we can,” said Wang Shuai, a deputy director at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Kansas City Star)
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What you need to know about the H1N1 virus
Good information about the swine flu, and what you can do. (Baltimore Sun)
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WHO warns of a severe form of swine flu
Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday. (Reuters)