Word: flu
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...good has come of the global H1N1 flu pandemic, it may have started with a child like Nayeli Quispe, 7, a second-grader from the impoverished hillsides of La Paz, Bolivia. Prompted by a massive campaign by the country's public-health officials to contain the spread of the new flu virus, Nayeli and millions of other Bolivian schoolchildren have been washing their hands a lot more than usual - after recess, before meals and every time the animated dancing hands pop up in public-service announcements on TV. "First you wet them really well, then you rub the soap...
...groups, compared with last year's numbers at this time," says Dr. René Lenis, Bolivia's director of epidemiology, referring to data collected on the number of weekly cases of diarrheal disease reported in medical centers nationwide in 2008 and 2009. (See how not to get the H1N1 flu...
Although the new statistics, and the apparent link between hand-washing practices and disease reduction, need further investigation, "this certainly raises our attention," says Lenis. Diarrheal diseases are the biggest killer of children under age 5 worldwide; in Bolivia, 30,000 children die each year from such illnesses. Swine flu, as H1N1 is still referred to there, has hit Bolivia hard as well, with more than 2,000 infections and 55 deaths in a country of 9 million, most having occurred during the southern hemisphere's winter (June through August). (Read "Child-Care Centers and Parents Brace for Flu Season...
...Read "Side Effects of 1918 Flu Seen Decades Later...
...vaccinations are, there are relevant concerns with getting vaccinations. For example, the H1N1 vaccine packaged in a multidose vial contains the mercury compound thimersol, which though present in trace amounts, could still bother consumers. And there is the infamous case from 1976 when the vaccine used to treat swine flu was associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, causing paralysis in some patients. There are few data to provide conclusive evidence of causation, and scientists now assure us that the production of vaccines has greatly improved in the last 30 years, but consumers may still be worried. If the worker feels...