A H1N1: Prevention better than cure:

Be cautious always

Generally clinical symptoms of A H1N1 are similar to seasonal influenza but reported clinical presentation ranges broadly from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia resulting in death. Since typical clinical presentation of novel influenza infection in humans resembles seasonal influenza and other acute upper respiratory tract infections, most of the cases have been detected by chance through seasonal influenza surveillance. Mild or asymptomatic cases may have escaped from recognition; therefore the true extent of this disease among humans is unknown.

Infectious agent

The virus causing novel Influenza among human is being described by the USA as a new subtype of A/H1N1 not previously detected in humans. Genetically it is a reassortment of America-Eurasian novel influenza virus. This pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human.

Transmission

A (H1N1) virus is thought to be happening in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

Since pandemic influenza A[H1N1] is not directly associated to pigs the issue of transmission through consumption of pork does not arise.

Symptoms

The symptoms of pandemic flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhoea and vomiting associated with pandemic flu. In the past, severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported with pandemic flu infection in people. Like seasonal flu, pandemic flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

Groups at higher risk for seasonal influenza complications include children less than 2 years old, persons aged 65 years or older, children and adolescents (less than 18 years) who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy, pregnant women, adults and children who have chronic medical conditions, adults and children who have low immunity (caused by medications or by HIV) and residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities. They may be at higher risk for this disease as well.

Incubation period

The incubation period (the time from when the organism enters the body of a patient to the time the first symptom appears) for influenza is estimated to range from 1 to 4 days with an average of 2 days.

Period of Communicability: Influenza virus shedding (the time during which a person might be infectious to another person) begins the day before illness onset and can persist for 5 to 7 days, although some persons may shed virus for longer periods, particularly young children and severely immunocompromised persons.

The amount of virus shed is greatest in the first 2-3 days of illness and appears to correlate with fever, with higher amounts of virus shed when temperatures are highest.

Therefore the period of communicability or when infected people may be able to infect others begins 1 day before symptoms develop and extends up to 7 or more days after becoming sick.

Treatment

This virus is susceptible to antivirals like oseltamivir and zanamivir. The virus strain has been shown to be resistant to rimantadine and amantadine.Clinicians have to make decisions based on the clinical and epidemiological assessment and harms and benefit of the prophylaxis/treatment of the patient. For the ongoing pandemic of the novel influenza infection, global health authorities are recommending to use oseltamivir or zanamivir for treatment and prevention of the disease based on the virus' susceptibility profile.

Prevention: There is no vaccine available right now to protect against pandemic flu. There are everyday actions that can help to prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza.

* Cover nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Throw the tissue in the trash after using.

* Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

* Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

* If you are sick with influenza, it is recommended to stay home, away from work or school and limit contact with others to avoid infecting them.

* Consult a qualified medical practitioner.

Surveillance (Reporting) of suspected novel influenza cases

Every medical practitioner or person who professes to treat or attend on any person suffering from suspected, possible, probable and confirmed cases of pandemic Influenza should report the case to the Epidemiologist or Regional Epidemiologist.

The following case definitions have been adopted for the purpose of reporting/managing probable and confirmed cases of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection where community transmission of the infection exists.

Clinical case description

Acute febrile respiratory illness (fever 38C) with the spectrum of disease from influenza-like illness to pneumonia.

1. Suspected case of Pandemic Influenza Individuals presenting with acute febrile respiratory illness (fever 38C) with the spectrum of disease from influenza-like illness (cough, sore throat, shortness of breath,) to pneumonia With or Without One of the following epidemiological risk factors: Close contact to a suspected case of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection while the case was ill. Recent travel to an area where there are confirmed cases of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) Close contact: having cared for, lived with, or had direct contact with respiratory secretions or body fluids of a probable or confirmed case of pandemic influenza A(H1N1).

2. A Probable case of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection is defined as an individual with an influenza test that is positive for influenza A, but is unsubtypable by reagents used to detect seasonal influenza virus infection

3. A Confirmed case of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection is defined as an individual with laboratory confirmed pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection by one or more of the following tests: real-time (RT) - PCR viral culture four-fold rise in novel influenza A(H1N1) virus specific neutralizing antibodies

Courtesy: Epidemiology, Unit Ministry of Health

Benefits of green tea

by Tiran PEIRIS

Green tea has increasingly become a very popular drink worldwide because of its immensely powerful health benefits. It is extraordinarily amazing what green tea can do for your health. And if you're not drinking 3 to 4 cups of green tea today, you're definitely not doing your health a big favour.

Here are the 25 reasons why you should start drinking green tea right now:

Green tea and cancer:

Green tea helps reduce the risk of cancer. The antioxidant in green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 24 times better than vitamin E. This helps your body at protecting cells from damage believed to be linked to cancer.

Green tea and heart disease:

Green tea helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol. Even after the heart attack it prevents cell deaths and speeds up the recovery of heart cells.

Green tea and Anti-ageing:

Green tea contains antioxidant known as polyphenols which fight against free radicals. What this means it helps you fight against ageing and promotes longevity.

Green tea and weight loss:

Green tea helps with your body weight loss. Green tea burns fat and boosts your metabolism rate naturally. It can help you burn up to 70 calories in just one day. That translates to 7 pounds in one year.

Green tea and skin:

Antioxidant in green tea protects the skin from the harmful effects of free radicals, which cause wrinkling and skin ageing. Green tea also helps fight against skin cancer.

Green tea and arthritis:

Green tea can help prevent and reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Green tea has benefit for your health as it protects the cartilage by blocking the enzyme that destroys cartilage.

Green tea and bones:

The very key to this is high fluoride content found in green tea. It helps keep your bones strong. If you drink green tea every day, this will help you preserve your bone density.

Green tea and cholesterol:

Green tea can help lower cholesterol level. It also improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, by reducing bad cholesterol level.

Green tea and obesity:

Green tea prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells. If you are on a healthy diet, exercise regularly and drink green tea, it is unlikely you'll be obese.

Green tea and diabetes:

Green tea improves lipid and glucose metabolism, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level and balances your metabolism rate.

Green tea and alzheimer:

Green tea helps boost your memory. And although there's no cure for Alzheimer's it helps slow the process of reduced acetylcholine in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's.

Green tea and Parkinson's:

Antioxidants in green tea helps prevent against cell damage in the brain which could cause Parkinson's. People drinking green tea also are less likely to progress with Parkinson's.

Green tea and liver disease:

Green tea helps prevent transplant failure in people with liver failure. Researches showed that green tea destroys harmful free radicals in fatty livers.

Green tea and high blood pressure:

Green tea helps prevent high blood pressure. Drinking green tea helps keep your blood pressure down by repressing angiotensin, which leads to high blood pressure.

Green tea and food poisoning:

Catechin found in green tea can kill bacteria which causes food poisoning and kills the toxins produced by those bacteria.

Green tea and blood sugar:

Blood sugar tends to increase with age, but polyphenols and polysaccharides in green tea help lower your blood sugar level.

Green tea and immunity:

Polyphenols and flavonoids found in green tea help boost your immune system, making your health stronger in fighting against infections.

Green tea and cold and flu:

Green tea prevents you from getting a cold or flu. Vitamin C in green tea helps you treat the flu and the common cold.

Green tea and asthma:

Theophyline in green tea relaxes the muscles which support the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma.

Green tea and ear infection:

Green tea helps with ear infection problem. For natural ear cleaning soak a cotton ball in green tea and clean the infected ear.

Green tea and herpes:

Green tea increases the effectiveness of topical interferon treatment of herpes. First green tea compress is applied, and then let the skin dry before the interferon treatment.

Green tea and tooth decay:

Green tea destroys bacteria and viruses that cause many dental diseases. It also slows the growth of bacteria which leads to bad breath.

Green tea and stress:

L-the theanine, which is a kind of amino acids in green tea, can help relieve stress and anxiety.

Green tea and allergies:

EGCG found in green tea relieves allergies. So if you have allergies, you should really consider drinking green tea.

Green tea and HIV:

Scientists in Japan have found that EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) in green tea can stop HIV from binding to healthy immune cells. What this means is that green tea can help stop the HIV virus from spreading.

Long-term exercise can slow the effects of aging

by Drucilla DYESS

It's no secret that being a couch potato can lead to ill effects on your health. Scientists have long known that regular exercise can go a long way in the prevention of heart disease and cancer. However, agroup of German researchers have discovered that the secret to maintaining youth may also be connected to physical activity, and that the key to slowing the aging process may be revealed by looking at the body's cells.

The report was recently published in the journal of the American Heart Association, Circulation.Dr. Ulrich Laufs, a professor of clinical and experimental medicine inthe department of internal medicine at Saarland University in Homburg,Germany, and colleagues, found that the white blood cells of endurance athletes had longer telomeres than those of healthy, nonsmoking adultswho did not follow a regular exercise program. Telomeres are DNAlocated at the ends of chromosomes that protect the tips of the chromosomes from damage.According to Emmanuel Skordalakes, an assistant professor of geneexpression and regulation at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia,telomeres work in much the same way that shoelace tips prevent frayingof the laces.

Skordalakes explained that as cells continue to divideover the life span, the telomere is shortened with each division untilit becomes so short that the cells cease dividing.

This causes aging,leading to loss of muscle strength and skin elasticity, as well ashearing ability, vision, and mental abilities.During their analysis, the researchers compared the length of thewhite blood cell telomeres of endurance athletes to those of healthy nonsmokers of the same age who exercised less than one hour weekly.

One group of athletes who participated in the study were members ofthe German National track and field team, who ran more than 45 milesweekly, and had an average age of 20.

A second group of participatingathletes with an average age of 51 had taken part in endurance exercise by having run an average of about 50 miles weekly sinceyouth.

The athletes were found to have better cardiovascular health as indicated by a slower resting heart rate, lower blood pressure, alower body mass index, and lower cholesterol than the non-athletes. Inaddition, the athletes had longer telomeres, and increased activity oftelomerase, an enzyme that maintains the telomere.

The findingssupport previous research on telomere length in twins that found onaverage that exercise makes cells nine years younger, and indicatedthat the greater your activity, the greater your benefit.In addition to human subjects, the researchers also used mice toanalyze the impact of physical activity on proteins associated withheart disease and cancer. Results showed that mice given access to a running wheel for three weeks experienced increased activity of bothtumor-suppressing proteins, and proteins linked to telomere length.Regarding the study findings, Dr. Laufs said in a statement, "This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise."

In thestudy report, he and his colleagues concluded, "Our data improve themolecular understanding of the vasculoprotective effects of exerciseand underline the potency of physical training in reducing the impactof age-related diseases."

-www.dietitians.ca

Novel influenza A (H1N1)

How to protect yourself and others