There is no evidence that the H1N1 virus itself would have caused narcolepsy, which sees afflicted people suffer from sudden and frequent daytime ‘sleep attacks’, but those who received the Pandemrix injection were found to have a higher genetic propensity for the disorder than the general population.

A compensation system is in the process of being established in Finland for some of the 100 youngsters who have reported contracting narcolepsy since receiving the vaccine. Similar studies on Pandemrix results have also turned up the same results in Norway, Sweden and France.

According to the Assembly, the handling of the pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), EU health agencies and national governments led to a “waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public”. The adopted text says there was “overwhelming evidence that the seriousness of the pandemic was vastly overrated by WHO”, resulting in a distortion of public health priorities.

The parliamentarians indentified, as did the rapporteur Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC), “grave shortcomings” in the transparency of decision-making about the outbreak, generating concerns about the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on decisions taken. Plummeting confidence in such advice could prove “disastrous” in the case of a severe future pandemic, they said.

The WHO has been “highly defensive”, the adopted text underlines, and unwilling to accept that a change in the definition of a pandemic was made, or to revise its prognosis of the Swine Flu outbreak. The WHO and European health institutions were not willing to publish the names and declarations of interest of the members of the WHO Emergency Committee and relevant European advisory bodies directly involved in recommendations concerning the pandemic.

The Assembly did set out a series of urgent recommendations for greater transparency and better governance in public health, as well as safeguards against what it called “undue influence by vested interests”. It called for a public fund to support independent research, trials and expert advice, possibly financed by an obligatory contribution of the pharmaceutical industry. ” It also called the media to avoid “sensationalism and scaremongering in the public health domain”.

PRESS RELEASE

Liberal Party politician, Jan-Erik Brohede, has died of swine flu-related illnesses, local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda has reported. The 48-year-old politician was found dead at his Orebro-home in central Sweden on Saturday, October 31, 2009.

Medical officials from the Orebro county health board told the newspaper that Brohedo – who belonged to a demographic considered as a high risk for contracting the H1N1 virus – was likely killed by medical conditions resulting directly from the deadly infection.

Nerikes Allehanda reports that the Orebro county health board is now urging everybody in indentified risk-groups to get themselves immediately vaccinated against swine flu. Risk groups include pregnant women, diabetics, patients with lung and heart conditions and children below the age of two.

Mats Bjoreman, Orebro country medical advisor told the newspaper that Brohede had several risk factors that could have lead to a fatal bout of influenza, stressing that the politician had not been in contact with health authorities; and had not been vaccinated.

There have been a total of 2,126 recorded cases of swine flu infections in Sweden so far, according to official statistics released by medical authorities.

There have also been two patients diagnosed with swine flu in the northern town of Akureyri, three suspected cases in health institutes across the southern part of the country, and one in Blonduos, a small town with a population of around 1000 people in the North of Iceland.

“Towns and villages in the countryside are inevitably going to feel the impact as well,” says Haraldur Breim, Iceland’s Chief Epidemiologist.

However, according to the chief medical officer at the city hospital, preparations and proceedings in relation to the swine flu are going very well and day-to-day plans and strategies are all being dealt with and controlled by the hospital’s committee board.

Haraldur Breim confirmed there are now 32 people hospitalised because of the swine flu in Iceland.

Mbl.is reports

Haraldur Briem, Iceland’s Chief Epidemiologist told Visir.is that the injections will only go to healthcare workers in the first days, because their uninterrupted ability to do their jobs is the highest priority, he said.

The next group will be police and fire fighters, as well as search and rescue team members. After them, people with long-term illness will receive the medication and pregnant women. Public injections will begin at the end of this process.

The number of cases of swine flu in Iceland has increased rapidly over the last week, especially in the capital region. The illness has also been gaining a sure foothold elsewhere in the country.

On Thursday, Norwegian Health officials announced that a Danish truck driver had fallen victim to pneumonia brought on by the infection. The man is the first Danish casualty according to Denmark’s health authorities. Little else is known other than that he was in his thirties and was understood to have contracted the virus whilst working.

On Friday, the Swedish city of Uppsala declared that a man, also in his thirties, was pronounced dead at his home after displaying flu-like symptoms. Doctors from the nearby Akademiska hospital later declared that test results indicated the presence of the H1N1 virus.

The Swedish man had not travelled abroad and, while there are a small number of cases reported of the A-strain of the virus, none have been traced to the area surrounding the University town of Uppsala, some 80 kilometres north of Stockholm. Swedish officials have advised that close to one thousand cases of swine flu infections have been reported in the country this year.

In August, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, or SKL, prompted the government to order 18 million doses of the swine flu vaccine; enough for the entire population to receive the suggested double dosage for free. The first dosage is set to be administered in late September, with the follow-ups due three weeks later.

Sweden has taken the possibility of infection extremely seriously, with one school principal in Borlange banning teachers from shaking hands with students. There has also been some consternation amongst politicians in the lead-up to elections this month which will see restrictions on human contact. All baby holding photo opportunities are likely to be cancelled.

A number of Swedish churches have addressed the issue of communal wine cups transmitting the disease by changing from traditional alcohol free or light-wine to stronger, fortified wine in a move which has delighted patrons.

There was also a case of a 30 year old man who was infected with the virus but he was not traveling nor in contact with others who were infected.

See more information here. (site limited English)

The ship was en route to Copenhagen and on to Warnemunde and Rostock by way of Helsingborg in Sweden. There are 4,400 passengers and crewmembers on board the Emerald Princess. The city was debating whether to let the remaining passengers ashore in Copenhagen. “Initially we will be finding out how many have been infected and how ill they are,” said Copenhagen Chief Medical Officer Arne Scheel Thomsen.

Statens Seruminstitut, the Danish national serum institute, told the Politiken that the final decision whether to quarantine the ship was in the hands of the chief medical officer. “At sea, the captain’s word is supreme. But prior to arriving in port, vessel authorities must inform the authorities there if there are infected people on board, and the Medical Officer then decides what to do,” explained Statens Seruminstitut Departmental Medical Officer Steffen Glismann.

Glismann said that several ships have been denied access to the port in Copenhagen over the years. “In one case a cruiseship was quarantined at sea for 14 days with all its passengers on board before it was allowed in,” he said. Although there has yet to be a fatality from the flu virus in Denmark, there have been 58 people who contracted the H1N1 virus in Denmark so far. 

Read more at Politiken, Danish news source.

The compounds found in the Icelandic angelica herb are known to restrict viral proliferation and strengthen the body against infection by viruses, according to Dr. Gudbjarnason, head of research and development at SagaMedica and former President of the University of Iceland.

What can we learn from the 1918 flu pandemic to help prevent Influenza A (swine flu)?

Dr. Gudbjarnason says, “There are several important antiviral compounds in Angelica archangelica that might be important in prevention of viral infections. This should be considered if the Influenza A becomes a more severe epidemic and flu medication becomes scarce”

During the time of the Spanish influenza (1), there are accounts of Angelica archangelica being used as flu treatment in Denmark. Recent studies linking the origin of the swine flu virus to the Spanish influenza (2) of 1918 further suggest that the herb may prove to be an effective prophylactic for swine flu prevention people can use to avoid infection if the Influenza A virus becomes more severe.

Preventing colds and flu with natural herbs

Icelandic Angelica archangelica provides the basis for a variety of supplements from SagaMedica.

Herbal remedies SagaPro and Voxis lozenges are made using angelica leaf and therefore contain the antiviral compounds in question. They may be used to prevent viral infection.

More information at www.sagamedica.com

1. “So sent som under den stora influenzaepidemi på 1920-1930 tallet anvendes dette medel i Danmark”
Nielsen, H. Läkeväxter förr och nu. Borås 1978. Sweden, page 187.

2. Kansas State University (2009, May 1). 1918 Flu Resulted In Current Lineage Of H1N1 Swine Influenza Viruses. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 1, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/04/090430111640.htm

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Five other members of the man’s family displayed flu-like symptoms, as reported over the weekend, but were found to not be suffering from H1N1.

Chief epidemiologist Haraldur Briem said that Iceland will not be putting any large-scale measures in place to tackle the illness because it has so far proved to be a relatively mild strain, with no deaths yet reported in Europe.

Briem said that possible new cases will be treated very seriously, but that he does not intend to open a quarantine centre or declare any sort of emergency.

The man suffering from H1N1 travelled to Iceland from New York and started showing symptoms after getting to the country.