Obama declares swine flu a national emergency

Are we there yet? .... looks like things are moving right along... it seems a bit odd to declare a national flu emergency when the suspected flu has already reached its peak and is starting to decline... my question to members... what are your thoughts as to where this will lead? will it usher in martial law, forced vaccination or will it be just another day in the neighborhood?

Obama declares swine flu a national emergency

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday.

The declaration will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that swine flu has become widespread in 46 of the 50 U.S. states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected.

Obama signed the statement on Friday night.

The White House statement said the declaration was intended to prepare the country in case of "a rapid increase in illness that may overburden health care resources." It was similar to disaster declarations issued before hurricanes hit coastal areas.

"It's important to note that this is a proactive measure -- not a response to a new development," an administration official said.

"H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected. By the time regions or healthcare systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly," he said.

Seasonal flu normally peaks sometime between late November and early March and kills about 36,000 Americans in an average year.

Swine flu has hit young adults and children the hardest, while seasonal flu normally is more dangerous for people over age 65.

H1N1, declared a public health emergency earlier in the year, has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States and put more than 20,000 in the hospital since it emerged earlier this year, the CDC said. But health officials are quick to note that the actual number of cases cannot be measured.

The new declaration clears the way for waivers of federal requirements that, for example, could prevent hospitals from establishing off-site, alternate care facilities that could help them deal with emergency department demands, the White House said.

The Health and Human Services Department is trying to deliver vaccines against H1N1 but says production is falling short of projections because companies are having trouble making them.

HHS has also moved to make available stockpiles of antiviral drugs oseltamivir, made by Roche AG under the brand name Tamiflu, and zanamivir, an inhaled drug made by GlaxoSmithKline under the brand name Relenza.

On Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for an experimental new drug called peramivir, made by Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc and licensed to Shionogi & Co Ltd.

The authorization allows the intravenous drug to be used in hospitalized patients who cannot take pills or inhale Relenza or when Tamiflu or Relenza do not seem to be helping.

(Additional reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)

to view article on site: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE59N19E20091024

Tags: emergency, flu, h1n1, national, obama

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Comment by Cathy on November 21, 2009 at 9:02am: Glad you posted this Turtle-funny how they can claim it is safe despite clear cases of serious and fatal reactions.

Comment by turtle on November 21, 2009 at 8:42am: Yet another case of vaccine contamination and mortality...

Canada: The Killer H1N1 Vaccine
"It is a serious thing [vaccine] that has the potential to kill" according to Dr. Neil Rau, an infectious disease expert, in a CTV interview, but do not worry: "leading experts insist, the benefits of the H1N1 vaccine vastly outweigh the risks" (Swine Flu Support Center, emphasis added)

A new development in the H1N1 Vaccine Saga is unfolding in Canada.

Whereas health officials are pushing for an acceleration of the vaccination program, there is evidence of so-called "unusual adverse reactions" including three recently recorded deaths directly resulting from the vaccine.

In the meantime, health authorities have called for the withdrawal of 170,000 (higher risk) doses of the vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline. The initiative, of which the importance is being downplayed, is said to have come from the manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which expressed concern on higher than normal adverse reactions to the vaccine.

"Canada's H1N1 flu vaccine manufacturer has asked the provinces to temporarily discontinue vaccinating Canadians from a lot of vaccine shipped in October due to a higher risk of adverse reactions, says a Manitoba health official.

Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief public health officer, said Thursday that GlaxoSmithKline has asked that the October batch be taken out of circulation because it produced serious and immediate anaphylactic reactions in one out of 20,000 vaccinations, compared with one out of 100,000 in other shipments.

"We've been asked by the manufacturer GSK to not use this vaccine at this time pending further investigation," he said. (Winnipeg Free Press, 20 November 2009)

The government is involved in a cover-up. The initial headlines stated "more than 100,000 doses", but then read on, the number is 170,000 doses.

The CTV report admits that "it is a serious thing, it has the potential to kill".

Too Late to Withdraw the 170,000 Defective Doses

The question is whether the doses can be withdrawn or whether they have already been used. The first news reports from Manitoba indicate that:

Of the 63,000 doses shipped [to Manitoba], only 630 remained unused by the four regional health authorities in Manitoba that received them. (Ibid)

This report would suggest that the risky GSK vaccine doses have already been used.

A subsequent report confirms that out of the 63,000 doses, 900 unused doses of the H1N1 were withdrawn by health authorities "after health authorities received word other vaccines from the same batch have been causing higher rates of allergic reactions than expected." (Flu vaccine batch pulled in Manitoba, Winnipeg Sun, 20 November 2009).

The question is what happened to the remaining 62,100 doses of the higher risk vaccine batch, which were used to vaccinate people in Manitoba?

Has there been a followup regarding those people in Manitoba who received the higher risk H1N1 vaccine injection.

Manitoba Health authorities casually confirm, in this regard, that "most of the vaccine Manitoba received from the suspect lot had already been used by the time the province received the alert on Wednesday" [November 18, 2009]. (Winnipeg Free Press, 20 November 2009, emphasis added)

Manitoba and Quebec : Three deaths resulting from the H1N1 Vaccine

The news reports have highlighted deaths allegedly resulting from the H1N1 flu, while obfuscating several recorded deaths resulting directly from the vaccine. These vaccine related deaths are occurring at the very outset of the vaccination program,

According to CTV News, 20 November 2009) "The province is currently investigating two deaths -- both adults who died within seven days of getting the H1N1 shot" (Family questions if H1N1 shot caused Manitoba woman's death, November 20, 2009, emphasis added).

Manitoba officials acknowledge 69 "adverse events" after people received the swine flu shot, including the two deaths. (CBC.ca report, 17 November 2009)

However, unless the families speak out, the authorities will not provide details. CTV interviewed the family of one of the victims. No details on the other death in Manitoba are available:

"The family of a 38-year-old Manitoba woman who died five days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine are looking for answers as to why it happened.

Soo Lee Wong and her daughter, Angela Truong, both got the H1N1 shot on November 5th.

The family says Wong, who had diabetes, started getting sick a day after getting vaccinated and died a few days later.

Doctors told the family Wong died of a blood infection. More tests will be done to see if the vaccine played any role.

Wong's husband, Thoon Truong, is also caring for his seven-year-old daughter Angela, who has been in the hospital with a fever and swollen, painful legs.

He wants to know whether the two cases related to the vaccine or to something else.

The province is currently investigating two deaths -- both adults who died within seven days of getting the H1N1 shot.

Although it's still early, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health Dr. Joel Kettner says immunizations were not likely the cause of the deaths. CTV News | Family questions if H1N1 shot caused Manitoba woman's death, November 20, 2009)

It should be noted that these two deaths in Manitoba may have been associated with the injection of the higher risk H1N1 vaccine doses, which health authorities had called for withdrawal.

Quebec: One Death

An 80-year-old Quebec man was reported dead after taking the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination. Health officials have dismissed the case, "stating that it's too soon to link the death and vaccine." Quebec man dies after taking H1N1 vaccine, Digital Journal, 18 November 2009).

The Quebec health authorities have refused to provide details:

"Quebec's Director of Public Health Protection, Dr. Horacio Arruda, did not know why the man took the vaccine and that final test results, which are expected to come in December, will determine whether or not the man died from the vaccine.

Canada.com reports the man died in the last three weeks but provincial officials declined to reveal details, citing confidentiality concerns. Arruda has said that most allergic reactions occur right away, which is the reason why many patients are asked to stay in the centers, “We can't say there is a causal association between the death and the flu shot.”

Nevertheless, Arruda is confident that the death will not discourage people from taking the vaccine but urged that serious reactions to the H1N1 shot are rare, “I understand that everyone is worried.”" (Quebec man dies after taking H1N1 vaccine, Digital Journal, 18 November 2009)

The statements by senior health officials are notoriously ambiguous: while they concur that: "there is no evidence the vaccine is dangerous.", they nonetheless acknowledge the deaths resulting from the vaccine (Statement of Quebec's Director of Public Health Protection, Dr. Horacio Arruda, (The Canadian Press: Quebec health officials investigating possible death from H1N1 vaccine. November 18, 2009).

Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky

Comment by Reg on November 12, 2009 at 10:15am: Another Boy Stricken Within Hours Of Getting H1N1 Vax! CDC Claims No Clear Link! I Guess Ya Gotta Die With The Needle In Your Arm!Posted by Guy Razer on November 11, 2009 at 8:23pm

GBS IS A REACTION TO THE VACCINE....AKA MERCURY POISONING!! WE ARE NOT STUPID!! THIS ARTICLE IS STANDARD MSM SPIN SO DONT BELIEVE ANYTHING THAT IS NOT REFERENCED WHICH IS EVERYTHING OTHER THAN HIS AGE AND THE FACT HE IS IN A WHEELCHAIR AFTER THE VAX AND WASNT BEFORE THE VAX!! HOW MANY CHILDREN NEED TO DIE OR BE CRIPPLED BEFORE THE ARSEHOLES AT CDC ADMIT WHAT IS GOING ON...IT TOOK 6 MONTHS TO STOP IT IN 1976!!

Boy diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, but CDC says no clear link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33845867/ns/health-cold_and_flu
Jordan is among the first people in the nation to report developing the potentially life-threatening muscle disorder after receiving the H1N1 vaccine this fall. His alarming reaction was submitted via msnbc.com's reader reporting tool, First Person, by his stepmother, Arlene Connin.

Increased cases of GBS were found in patients who received a 1976 swine flu vaccine, but government health officials say they've seen no rise in the condition associated with the current outbreak.

So far, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received five reports of GBS in people who received the H1N1 vaccine since Oct. 6, not including Jordan’s case, said Dr. Claudia J. Vellozzi, deputy director for immunization safety.
THIS PART IS DECEPTIVE MATH...YOU DONT USE VAXS AVAILABLE, YOU USE VAXS ADMINISTERED....
Out of about 40 million doses of H1N1 vaccine available to date, that’s a far lower rate of GBS than the 1 case that develops in every 1 million people who receive the regular flu vaccine.

"It's much less than we'd expect," she said, adding that many cases go unreported.

In 1976, about 1 additional case of GBS developed in every 100,000 people who were vaccinated against the swine flu, according to the CDC.

Jordan's parents said doctors diagnosed the teen with GBS, a rare muscle disorder that develops when a person’s own immune system attacks the nerves, causing muscle weakness, difficulty walking and sometimes paralysis and death.

Hospital officials didn't dispute that the boy had GBS, but refused to comment on the boy's condition or treatment, even after his family granted permission.

“They don’t want to create a fear or panic in the community,” said Jordan's stepmother, Connin.

Connin and Jordan’s father, Calvin McFarland, both 38, believe the shot sparked the illness that came on 18 hours after the boy’s vaccination.

No clear link
But Vellozzi said there’s no clear link between the new vaccine and the disease.

“We know that GBS and other illnesses occur routinely in the U.S.,” Vellozzi said, noting that 80 to 120 cases are diagnosed each week in the general population.

“There are events that follow vaccination. That’s what they are, they happened to follow vaccination.
Swine flu vaccine: Your stories

Are supplies of H1N1 vaccine reaching your community? Have you had to wait in long lines for vaccine — or been turned away entirely? Has anyone you know become seriously ill with the swine flu virus as a result? To send us your stories, click here.

GBS is among the most severe adverse events being tracked with updated systems developed by the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the American Association of Neurology in order to monitor the rollout of the H1N1 flu vaccine.

So far, CDC officials have received about 1,700 reports of adverse events linked to the new shot, Vellozzi said. Of those, only about 4 percent, or 68, were coded as serious. That’s on par with reports regarding seasonal vaccine.

While any harmful side effect can be devastating for an individual, when it comes to larger public health issues, the H1N1 virus is considerably riskier than the vaccine, experts say.
“The H1N1 illness is making lots of children very ill," Vellozzi said. "There’s lots of illness and lots of death."