Word: flu
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...surgical face mask has become perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the H1N1 pandemic threat, but if the currently circulating flu virus does in fact reach full-fledged pandemic proportions, U.S. health officials say there won't be enough face masks to go around...
...Authorities in East Asia - which has suffered heavily in recent years from outbreaks of various infectious diseases - have clamped down early and quickly on suspected cases of swine flu. Just over a week ago, Hong Kong released some 300 people stuck at a business hotel after cooping them up in a weeklong quarantine when one guest was found to be carrying the virus. The city, one of Asia's busiest business and travel hubs, was ravaged by the 2003 SARS epidemic as well as subsequent scares over avian flu. As a consequence, its counterpandemic procedures are among the most draconian...
...spike in Japan's cases shows that swine flu can infiltrate safety nets there and elsewhere, lingering beneath the radar of health monitors. Government officials are still unsure of how the virus reached Osaka and Hyogo, or how long it has been circulating in the region's highly populated urban centers of Osaka and Kobe. In addition to schools, movie theaters in the outbreak-hit prefectures were advised to close today, and Tokyo has blocked its own educational institutions from visiting the areas on field trips. "We must be prepared for a further expansion [of the virus]," says Toru Hashimoto...
...Japan's four earlier suspected swine flu cases came from travelers inbound from North America, but this new bout appears to be wholly domestic. Most of the cases involve teenagers - the first confirmed infected on Saturday were high school students on a volleyball team - but those sick with the new strain of flu now range from 5 years old to 60. "It circulated silently, without anybody thinking of it," says Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the WHO in Manila. "The virus is highly transmittable, and signs of it breaking out of a contained area into the greater community must be watched...
...Swine flu's known symptoms vary little from those of winter flu, which is one of the main reasons it is difficult to track. Those with underlying health problems, such as diabetes or heart disease, seem especially vulnerable -a particular concern for a nation like Japan with a high elderly population. None of the infected are in critical condition, but, as deadly influenza pandemics have proved in the past, the current strain of H1N1 may mutate and become far more virulent - and lethal - by the next flu season. (Read "How to Deal with Swine Flu: Heeding the Mistakes...