PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION -WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

News and Public Information * MEDIA ADVISORY

PAHO Briefing Monday May 4 on Influenza Epidemic 2 PM (Eastern time)

WHAT: Briefing on new A/H1N1 influenza outbreaks by Dr. Jon K. Andrus, Pan American Health Organization

WHEN: Monday, May 4, at 14:00 HS (Washington, DC Time)

WHERE: PAHO. 525 23rd St. NW, Washington, DC (Corner 23rd St. & Virginia Ave)

WHO: Dr. Jon K. Andrus, Pan American Health Organization, regional office for the Americas, World Health Organization

Amartya Sen, is Lamont University Professor at Harvard. He received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998.
His most recent book is Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny. (March 2009)

The New York Review of Books - Volume 56, Number 5 · March 26, 2009

Available online at: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22490

Philip Blumenshine,*1 Arthur Reingold,† Susan Egerter,‡ Robin Mockenhaupt,§ Paula Braveman,‡ and James Marks§

*Weill/Cornell Medical College, Ithaca, New York, USA; †University of California, Berkeley, California, USA; ‡University of California, San Francisco, California, USA; and §Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
EID Journal Home > Volume 14, Number 5–May 2008
CDC Journal Emerging Infectious Disease

Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/5/709.htm

Lots of mixed messages this morning about the threat of swine flu. Below are quotes from the latest AP summary story, which reflect the fact that government and political figures appear to believe that the worst is over, while government health officials and scientists are urging caution. A Gallup poll yesterday found 19 percent say they personally worried Sunday about getting swine flu, down from 25 percent Thursday night. And swine flu is no longer getting the amount of coverage it was last week by national news organizations.

As tests suggest the swine flu virus in Mexico may be less virulent than first feared, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City looks at whether the response was an over-reaction.

Pedro Aparicio stocked up on food so his family would not need to go outside. Pedro Aparicio shows me his receipt from the supermarket.
"My wife thinks I spent too much," he says.
Just before the partial shutdown of this country, the primary school teacher stocked up on everything he thinks he, his wife, and their young daughter Naomi will need for the next five days.

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent
Saturday, 2 May 2009

On the anniversary of the Burmese cyclone, more than a hundred thousand survivors are still living in makeshift shelters hopelessly inadequate to the monsoon rains that will soon engulf the country.

But despite the population's desperate need, the ruling junta has now tightened regulations to make it harder for aid workers to get visas.

By Madison Park
(CNN)

A runny nose. A cough. A sore throat. And even pork eaten a week ago.

Hospitals like Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, California, set up triage tents to handle overcrowding

After a week of headlines about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, many emergency rooms and hospitals are crammed with people, many of whom don't need to be there.

The visits by the "worried well" have triggered concerns of overburdening the nation's hospitals and emergency departments, several health care professionals told CNN.

2008, iv + 28 pages ISBN 978 92 890 7186 4
WHO Regional Office for Europe- Copenhagen, Denmark

Available online PDF [36p.] at: http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E91310.pdf

“…..The Eleventh Futures Forum reviewed some countries’ experience in applying ethical governance approaches to a major contemporary policy concern for WHO and its Member States: preparedness for an influenza pandemic. The topic provided a concrete policy-making example that participants could use to discuss broader and more generic ethical governance approaches in European health systems.

First Flu Death Provides Clues to Mexico Toll

Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

By MARC LACEY and ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: April 30, 2009

OAXACA, Mexico — Adela María Gutiérrez fell ill in the beginning of April with what she thought was a bad cold. She tried aspirin and antibiotics, bed rest and moist towels, but nothing brought down her soaring fever, reduced her aches and pains, or boosted her energy level.

By Catherine Bremer

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico began shutting down parts of its economy on Thursday to slow the spread of a new flu strain as officials urged increased worldwide precautions against an imminent pandemic.

-- snip --

New confirmed flu cases were reported in the United States, Canada and Europe, although a case in Peru, which would have been the first confirmed case in Latin America outside of Mexico, was later discounted.