Woman dies, bringing H1N1—related deaths in Singapore to 9
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, August 9

SINGAPORE: A 27—year—old woman has died, bringing H1N1—related deaths in Singapore to nine.

The woman had no known underlying medical conditions. She went to Changi General Hospital’s Emergency Department on 23 July with a four—day history of fever, cough and lethargy.

She was admitted to the intensive care unit and intubated. But her condition deteriorated and she died on Sunday morning from a heart attack, with H1N1—infection and pneumonia as contributing factors.

— CNA/ir

Worst of first H1N1 wave in S’pore could be over
Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, August 8

SINGAPORE: Singapore may be past the worst of its first H1N1 wave

According to head of the Communicable Diseases Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Dr Leo Yee Sin, it appears “to be (on) a downward trend”.

This seems to reaffirm Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan’s outlook in late July that H1N1 infections here would peak over the subsequent two weeks before starting to decline.

But Dr Leo added: “I think we need to wait one or two more weeks for things to become clearer.”

Speaking on Friday at the 43rd Singapore—Malaysia Congress of Medicine, she pointed out that Singapore’s experience with H1N1 has been the “mirror image” of the experience of the United States.

That being so, the good news is this virus could, in fact, be “a milder one” than the seasonal flu bug. There are fewer H1N1— related deaths in the US, than deaths from the normal flu.

At TTSH, while there was an increase in patients with pneumonia admitted during the earlier surge in H1N1 cases, there was no increase in pneumonia deaths due specifically to H1N1, said Dr Leo.

Still, she cautioned: “We’re possibly still in the middle of the H1N1 pandemic. There is a lot to learn and watch closely.”

On influenza in general, speakers at the congress touched on the disease’s impact on, among other things, the economy and employers. And in Dr Leo’s view, flu “treatments and vaccines are grossly underutilised in our population”.

When TTSH started testing patients with flu—like illnesses — before Singapore had its first H1N1 case — only six per cent had a history of flu vaccinations.

She also called for more structured programmes to monitor and manage flu. “With our biomedical research capability, we can be a leading centre for influenza research in the tropics.”

WHO sees swine flu vaccination from next month
Reuters - Friday, August 7

GENEVA - The first vaccines to combat H1N1 swine flu should be approved and ready for use in some countries from September, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, said manufacturers had initially reported poor yields in making vaccine, leading to worries about supplies, but this was now improving.

"We are on track in development," Kieny told reporters.

First results from clinical trials are expected early next month and these tests will show whether one or two doses are needed to provide immunity -- another big swing factor in determining how many people can be vaccinated.

Once initial clinical trial results are in, regulators will be able to approve the vaccines from next month, Kieny added.

The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic on June 11, has spread around the world and could eventually affect 2 billion people, according to WHO estimates.

Fears the strain could become resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu have underscored the need to get vaccines to market quickly. The H1N1 vaccines would be given separately from regular seasonal flu shots.

Leading flu vaccine makers include Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Baxter, CSL and Solvay.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan has said the H1N1 virus is stable and there were no signs of it mixing with other more dangerous types of influenza such as the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain.

At present, patients with mild symptoms generally do not need any medicines to recover, and Chan has stressed hospital visits are not necessary unless those infected with flu have certain warning signs.

These include long-lasting high fever in adults and a lack of alertness in children. Pregnant women and people with health problems including diabetes are also vulnerable to more severe effects from the new flu strain.