U.S. flu season worsens as new vaccines ordered

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Influenza is widespread in 49 states, and this year's epidemic has killed at least 22 children, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.

On Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration agreed to completely change next year's flu vaccine mix because all three strains included in the flu shot cocktail have mutated. But companies have a head start on working with two of the three, the CDC's Dr. Nancy Cox said.

FDA advisers agreed with the World Health Organization recommendations made last week on changing the vaccine to match the drifting flu viruses.

"In brief, seasonal influenza activity has increased during the past week," Cox told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Flu has killed 22 children so far this season, Cox said. She did not have details on any of the cases.

Cox said the CDC was watching the epidemic and asking state health departments to collect data on who gets sick, whether the were vaccinated, and whether influenza drugs were effective in fighting the infections.

Several European countries have reported that people are becoming infected with strains that resist the effects of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug made by Roche AG and Gilead Sciences.

Cox said the CDC had seen little evidence that flu was resisting Tamiflu in the United States. "We have actually seen antiviral resistance only sporadically in eight states," she said.

And there are reports that some people who have become ill with confirmed flu did get vaccinated.

The flu was also found in Florida, but the CDC said it had not become widespread.

FRESH COCKTAILS

Flu vaccines contain a mixture of two influenza "A" strains, which currently are types known by the shorthand of H3N2 and H1N1, and a "B" strain. These mutate or "drift" a little each year, which is why the vaccine must be formulated freshly each season.

This happens in the late winter or early spring in each hemisphere -- February in the Northern Hemisphere and September in the Southern.

"We would say based on our laboratory data that the match is not optimal both for the H3N2 component of the vaccine and also for the influenza B component," Cox told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"In Europe they have primarily had influenza A H1N1. Data generated in Europe indicate that strains circulating there are not so well-matched with the vaccine."

The vaccines still help prevent serious disease, Cox said, even if they do not completely prevent infection.

Last year officials were already ready to change the H3N2 vaccine and labs have been working to make a type that could be easily made into vaccine, so they have a head start, Cox said.

It takes months to make a batch of vaccine. Samples of virus must be injected into carefully cultivated fertilized eggs and then grown. Some strains grow well in eggs and others do not, so it is months before companies know how much vaccine they will have to sell for the upcoming season.

Five companies make flu vaccine for the U.S. market -- Sanofi Pasteur, Australia's CSL Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and nasal spray maker MedImmune, recently acquired by AstraZeneca Plc.

Next week the CDC's Advisory Committee on Vaccine Practices will meet and discuss whether to expand recommendations for who gets influenza vaccine. Currently the vaccine is advised for all children between 6 months and 5 years old, people over 50, those with chronic illnesses and pregnant women.

Source:http://www.reuters.com

N.C. Mom Busts Negligent Babysitter On Nanny Cam

N.C. Mom Busts Negligent Babysitter On Nanny Cam

Mom Fired Nanny On The Spot

NEW YORK (CBS News) ― Earlier this month, Lindsay Addison, of North Carolina, had to leave her twin boys, 7-month-old Bryce and Gavin, at home to head back to work after maternity leave.

At the office Addison accessed her new nanny cam on her computer and started to see things she didn't like.

There was the nanny, a woman who came with glowing references and who had professed love for the boys, handling the twins like rag dolls.

"I'm screaming there at my desk, 'pick him up, pick him up,' and she proceeds to look at him and continue on doing whatever she was doing," Addison said.

That went on for six minutes, Addison said. She then rushed home and fired the nanny on the spot.

"She couldn't get out of the house fast enough," Addison said.

Unfortunately for Addison, the mistreatment was not just an isolated incident.

On the nanny-cam video, the nanny is seen repeatedly mishandling the boys. In one segment, one of the boys rolls between couch cushions while the nanny uses the TV remote.

Based on the video, Addison found that time after time, the nanny picked up the boys by one arm, by their clothing, and even dangled one child by his foot.

For Addison, the nanny cam was the best $300 she ever invested.

"I probably never would have suspected, never would have known, and she would still be here had I not had the camera. And it scares me to think what could have happened to my children," she said.


Source:http://wcbstv.com

U of C "nanovalve" discovery could be used to cut greenhouse gas emissions

CALGARY - Researchers at the University of Calgary say they have found a new way to trap and store gasses in molecule-sized tanks - a discovery that businesses could use to deal with their greenhouse gas emissions.

"This is fundamentally a different way of storing any gas," chemistry professor George Shimizu said in an interview.

Right now, gas storage can be tricky and pose safety risks because it needs to be kept at very high pressures, said Shimizu, who along with fellow researchers David Crab and Brett Chandler announced the discovery Friday.

But the scientists have invented a crystal structure that can store gas molecules indefinitely without the need for pressure using "molecular nanovalves." On top of that the gas can be released easily.

"If it was a static structure with pores, the gas could really just flow in and out. But it's the fact that the structure shifts and traps the gas that's really intriguing," Shimizu said.

Right now gas can be stored by chemically bonding the molecules to a surface, which makes it hard to access. Alternatively, gas can be absorbed onto a surface, but it doesn't usually stick very well.

"In this case it's neither of those. It's a mechanical trapping where we're forming a molecular cage around the gas. So the gas is stuck in there for a few hundred degrees, but you can access the gas at room temperature just by adding a little bit of water," Shimizu explained.

The research, published Friday in the journal "Nature Materials," could have a number of applications.

"From a commercial standpoint, anything that you'd want to store in a cylinder can be stored at lower pressure in this material," Shimizu said.

"One of the gasses that is stored efficiently in this material is carbon dioxide."

That could include carbon capture and storage, a technology touted by the Alberta government as a good way to cut the massive greenhouse gas emissions belched out by the energy sector.

A provincial-federal task force, chaired by TransAlta Corp. (TSX:TA) CEO Steve Snyder, said Thursday the government should shell out $2 billion to develop carbon capture technology. The process involves capturing the carbon dioxide emissions, compressing them and pumping them underground.

Critics have slammed that plan as too expensive and risky. Some environmentalists say it does nothing to address the crux of the climate change issue: the world's dependence on fossil fuels.

But TransAlta and a number of other energy companies have been trying hard to advance it.

"I believe it's something that needs to be done. The technology is available. It needs to be put into full-scale use," Snyder said Friday in a conference call to discuss his company's fourth-quarter earnings.

The University of Calgary discovery could serve another environmentally friendly purpose: the development of hydrogen fuel cells.

"The gas that globally would be of most interest would be hydrogen. If you ever plan on using hydrogen to power mobile vehicles, you need a way to store hydrogen on board," Shimizu said.

Source-Canadian Press