Lebih sebulan yang lalu..dunia dikecohkan dengan kejadian swine flu dimana di Malaysia sekarang telah ditukarkan namanya menjadi
INFLUENZA A (H1N1)
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Swine flu vaccine ready for tests after pandemic declared
AFP - Saturday, June 13
GENEVA (AFP) - - A Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Friday it has a swine flu vaccine ready for trial as governments stepped up precautions to counter the newly-declared influenza pandemic.
While millions could catch the flu, governments and health experts around the world have sought to play down fears that the A(H1N1) virus could become a major killer.
Swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures.
Novartis stole a march on competitors by announcing it has completed a first batch of vaccine for pre-clinical trials. A spokesman told AFP it hoped to have a vaccine in production by September or October.
"Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations," the company said in a statement.
Novartis said it hopes to start trials on patients in July and to gain a licence soon after. It said more than 30 governments had already asked for A(H1N1) virus "vaccine ingredients".
The US government gave Novartis 289 million dollars to help develop a vaccine. It also made an order with Sanofi-Pasteur of France which said it hopes to have doses ready for clinical trials in coming weeks.
British-controlled GlaxoSmithKline said Friday that it could produce a vaccine in four to six months and that it was ready to convert a donation of 50 million doses of vaccine against H5N1 bird flu for the WHO to swine flu doses.
The UN health agency raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday saying it had reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the declaration of a "moderate" pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the A(H1N1) death toll would rise sharply.
She said raising the alert "means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century."
The WHO said it would ask drug-makers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines once the production of seasonal flu vaccine ends.
The Southern Hemisphere is currently heading into winter and the height of its flu season. Northern Hemisphere countries expect to see a swine flu surge when their winter starts later.
Mexico has been worst hit. Its government on Thursday increased the country's death toll to 109 with 6,294 A(H1N1) infections. The United States comes next. Its health authorities have reported 27 deaths and 13,217 cases.
Australia, the worst hit in the Asia-Pacific region, was mulling raising its national flu alert and adopting powers to cancel sports events, restrict travel and even shut national borders. There are currently 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care.
In Hong Kong, which was hit hard by the 2003 SARS outbreak, authorities closed all primary schools after a group of children became the Chinese city's first "cluster" of cases.
Israel's health ministry raised its alert to the highest level following the WHO decision, ordering the stocking of vaccines to inoculate up to 25 percent of the country's 7.2 million population.
Canada is investigating possible swine flu outbreaks in aboriginal communities after the WHO raised concerns over "a disproportionate number of serious cases" among Inuits and other native Americans.
Morocco reported its first swine flu case Friday while Egypt and Saudi Arabia each announced three new confirmed infections.
Britain is Europe's worst hit country with 909 recorded cases, but the total has risen significantly in recent days.
In Spain, where there are 488 confirmed cases, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez called for calm after WHO raised its alert, saying that the symptoms were "slight" and the flu could be easily treated.
"It is true we must remain attentive because you never know what will happen in the future," she said. "We must be calm and get on with our lives as normal."
France, where there are 80 cases, and Germany (95) said they are not changing their alert levels.
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Wani tidak sempat lagi untum membaca dan mengkaji dengan teliti apakah punca sebenar H1N1 ini..
Ini sekadar apa yang didapati melalui pencarian internet yang sekejap
sumber:
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=0524&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Luar_Negara&pg=lu_01.htm
ARKIB : 24/05/2009
Sah babi punca H1N1
WASHINGTON 23 Mei – Pusat Kawalan dan Pencegahan Penyakit Amerika Syarikat (AS) mendapati virus baru influenza A (H1N1) yang menyebabkan wabak selesema babi telah tersebar tanpa dikesan sejak beberapa tahun lepas, sebahagian besarnya berpunca daripada babi.
Ketua Bahagian Influenza di pusat tersebut, Dr. Nancy Cox berkata, berdasarkan satu kajian yang dijalankan pihaknya, babi adalah punca jelas yang membawa kepada pandemik tersebut.
‘‘Keputusan kajian itu menunjukkan keperluan global untuk menjalankan pengawasan yang lebih bersistematik berkenaan virus tersebut pada babi,’’ katanya kepada pemberita melalui telefon.
Laporan oleh Cox bersama sekumpulan penyelidik antarabangsa dalam jurnal sains itu menyebut virus berkenaan ‘mungkin telah tersebar tanpa dikesan di kalangan kawanan babi di suatu kawasan di dunia ini’.
Kumpulan penyelidik itu turut mengesahkan campuran gen manusia, babi dan burung dalam virus terbabit yang telah menjangkiti lebih 11,000 orang di 42 buah negara, serta membunuh 86 orang.
Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) sebelum ini hampir mengumumkan status pandemik penuh terhadap virus tersebut.
Penyelidik berkata, campuran gen itu sama seperti campuran pelik lain yang menjangkiti babi, namun ia memang tidak pernah dilihat sebelum ini.
Mereka turut menyusun secara jujukan kod genetik 70 sampel berasingan virus terbabit yang diperoleh dari AS dan Mexico.
‘‘Kami boleh mengenal pasti dari mana setiap gen itu berasal,’’ kata Cox.
Virus baru itu merupakan satu campuran yang terhasil daripada campuran-campuran lain termasuklah sejenis virus yang ditemui pada 1998 yang mengandungi elemen manusia, burung dan babi.
Ia turut mengandungi sedikit selesema Eurasian termasuk satu segmen yang mempunyai kaitan dengan sampel yang diperoleh daripada seorang pesakit di Hong Kong yang dijangkiti selesema babi pada 1999.
Bagaimanapun, penyelidik berkata, kemunculan campuran baru virus itu masih menjadi satu misteri.