In contradiction to the World Health Organization's mandate, WHO chief Margaret Chan revealed Tuesday that she has yet to be vaccinated against the swine flu virus.
"I have asked my medical service to enquire where I can go to get my vaccination," she told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that she has just returned from leave.
The WHO director-general stressed that she would "of course" get vaccinated and that "many of my staff" at the WHO have already taken their jabs against the A(H1N1) virus.
Many countries rolled out their vaccination programmes over the past two months, but the take-up rate has been lower than expected.
Germany said in early December it wants to sell spare vaccines to other countries, while Switzerland said in mid-December that it would give away part of its stock to developing countries and sell another part to countries that are still trying to procure vaccines.
source: prevent disease2. Indonesia reports 20 H5N1 cases in 2009, 19 fatal
Robert Roos 
News Editor
Dec 30, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Indonesia's Ministry of Health, updating information on H5N1 avian influenza for the first time since January, quietly reported this week that the country has had 20 human cases so far this year, with 19 of them fatal—a 95% case-fatality rate (CFR).
A terse notice from the Ministry of Health on Dec 28 listed the figures and said the latest reported case was identified in South Jakarta on Sep 23. Indonesia's cumulative H5N1 toll since 2005 is now 161 cases with 134 deaths, for a CFR of 83%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its chart of H5N1 cases and deaths today to include the new numbers from Indonesia, but it posted no report on the cases. The global H5N1 total is 467 cases with 282 deaths, a CFR of 60%. Indonesia is the hardest-hit country overall, though Egypt has had more cases this year—39, with just 4 deaths.
...The often deadly H5N1 virus has not yet gained the ability to spread easily from person to person, though it has circulated widely in birds for the past 6 years. Disease experts still fear that it could gain transmissibility through mutation or by reassorting with another flu virus.read more @ CIDRAP
3. New Hampshire probes anthrax case -- appears to be naturally occurring
Robert Roos News Editor
Dec 29, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Health officials in New Hampshire are investigating whether a woman who is ill with gastrointestinal (GI) anthrax contracted the potentially deadly infection at a drum circle gathering in Durham, N.H.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported the anthrax case in a woman from Strafford County, N.H., on Dec 26 and said she was in critical condition. Officials think the woman may have been infected at a drumming circle at the United Campus Ministry building in Durham on Dec 4.
...DHHS officials believe the New Hampshire case is the first confirmed GI anthrax case reported in the United States, according to an Associated Press report today. The other two types of anthrax infection are inhalational and cutaneous.Contaminated animal hides from Africa were blamed for two cases of cutaneous anthrax in Connecticut in 2007. Also, African hides used in drum-making were linked to an inhalational anthrax case in a drummer from New York City in 2006. He was hospitalized for a month before recovering.
read more @ CIDRAP4. undeterred, Swedish researchers look for vaccine for stomach cancer -- big potential market
New research at Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg in western Sweden might be an important step towards creating a vaccine against ulcers and stomach cancer. Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers, tricks the immune system so that the body can't defend itself against the infection. “By tricking the immune cells, the bacteria can keep the infection – and itself – alive,” Malin Hansson, a PhD student at Sahlgrenska, told TT news agency. Around half of the earth's population are carriers of the Helicobacter pylori. Most people aren't affected by the bacteria at all, but it some individuals it can lead to ulcers or stomach cancer.
...Her research has received international attention. [eyeroll]
read more @ the local
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