[...] – To learn what are the latest cases in Singapore and around the world, visit “Latest updates on H1N1″. [...]

Note how fast the number jumps since the 1st victim was identified. I also sympathise the persons who contracted H1N1 because they will be subjected to a lot of unwanted media attention. If H1N1 is so similar to the Spanish Flu Strain, how come the Spanish Flu can kill so many while this H1N1 outbreak seem relatively benign?

aiyoyo

scary scary… take care & have fun during the holidays.

economy already dark, so got to be healthy (health is wealth)

aiyoyo

To who,any or all of u, pls wake up. If u tink u contracted H1N1 overseas, pls stay there n contact the embassy/consular. If its too late n u already back in SGP, pls q yourself. The min u can do is to be civic minded n to stay clear from passing the virus around. Do u want yr love ones like yr parents, sibilings, friends or even colleagues to get it! Y should u pass the virus to others if u tink u should not pass it to yr love ones? Do not let other nations to laugh at us.

We finally reached the first turning point in the H1N1 Outbreak – the first case of close local contact of an infected traveller (reported on 18 June 2009).

I am resigned to contracting H1N1 within the next 6 months… it’s a flu bug – you will get it sooner or later.

Not everyone dies from it… And its not as serious as SARS… From what I heard its a normal Flu Bug thats more contagious and have a different name… Hmmm not sure tho

Hi Grimmy,

It is always an uphill task educating people on the seriousness of things. The general perception here and the world over is that the H1N1 Flu virus is not anymore as lethal as the common flu virus. Once we start to let our guards down and start to think nothing of it, then that will be the time when we will be hit the hardest.

Just a few days ago, the news coming out from South America was that the H1N1 virus has mutated. No one knows how lethal this new strain is going to be but one can imagine the panic it is going to create should this strain be as lethal as the SARS, Bird Flu or Nipah virus.

The major concern with all these viruses is the danger they possess should they start to mutate. And mutation is a real issue not to be trifled with. Take care of yourself by adopting good hygiene practices like frequently washing the hands, sneezing or coughing into your elbow, don’t share food etc. These are your best and only safeguards at the moment.

My predictions.

80+ By Monday

100+ By Thursday

120+ by Next Saturday

170 by first week of July

150+ by Tuesday or Wedenesday.

Hi mad93 #9,

Your initial prediction is so off. It already hit 126 people before Monday (22 June 2009). LOL. It seems Riverlife Church is the common destination of some new patients reported today. According to MOH Press Release dated 21 June 2009, 5 of the new 26 reported cases are from Riverlife Church. I wonder if there will be some sort of church quarantine.

# 6) Panache
# 7) Grimmy

If things are that easy and straight forward, you think WHO will issue the highest level of pandemic?

Governments all over the world have downplayed the severity of this pandemic, simply for the benefit of the global economy after the recent credit crisis. People are down on their guards and we see irresponsible people not practicing self-quarantine despite having symptoms of H1N1. These are the people having same thoughts like you.

Is it fair for the governments to downplay this pandemic? May not be as deadly as SARS, but still every life counts.

referring to 2) smallvice585 on June 8th, 2009 12.20 am:

If H1N1 is so similar to the Spanish Flu Strain, how come the Spanish Flu can kill so many while this H1N1 outbreak seem relatively benign?

Human do evolve also you know? There is a reason why chinese always say 肮脏吃肮脏大(some time you need to expose yourself to dirty environment).

@ 13) you do know that the spanish flu happened in 1918? Things have changed abit I think. Still, we have to be careful.

Straits Times today carried an article (main section page 4) under the header, “Doctors puzzled by over supply of expired Tamiflu” about Tamiflu with an MOH label extending the expiry dates to 7years from the date of manufacture.

“this means a box, manufactured in 2003, with an original expiry date of December 2007 can now bw used till December 2010.”

reason is…

“the manufacturer had applied to the US FDA earlier as well and was given a green lightthe extend the shelf lifein December 2007. the European Medicines Agency aprroved the extensions too.”

sit tight people, hope you dun pay for “expired” stuff. lol…

Hi mice is nice #15,

I really wonder if MOH will carry out a random sampling test to verify if the active ingredient in the “expired” tamiflu is still as good as new.

error spotted in my previous post…

////“the manufacturer had applied to the US FDA earlier as well and was given a green lightthe extend the shelf lifein December 2007. the European Medicines Agency aprroved the extensions too.”////

edited:
“the manufacturer had applied to the US FDA earlier as well and was given a green light to extend the shelf life in December 2007. the European Medicines Agency aprroved the extensions too.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

hi Smallvice585,

if radom sampling tests were done i hope they will fill that infomation in ASAP to re-assure the public, if not it would seem like the public will be the random sampling done in real time. let’s hope this is not the case…

-.-”

I think all singapore schools should closed down for two weeks because now singapore got 365 people got H1N1

In my opinion, I think it is quite serious as 365 people get H1N1 and singapore is a small country . So hope all school should close for at least two weeks to prevent from spreading virus. In the 2 weeks, all the students can go e-learning for lesson as this may not affect the children studies.

And if possible pls reply me!!

#DC

///Do not let other nations to laugh at us.///

How does a nation laugh?

///Let the Games continue!
Thursday, 25 June 2009, 9:45 am | 594 views
Ravi Philemon / Head, Current Affairs Desk

H1N1 not that dangerous////

Well make that 454 people.

Hi Mice is Nice #17

MOH has responded on the enquiry whether the expired Tamiflu is safe for consumption or that it remains pharmaceutically active for H1N1 treatment:

Below is an exerpt from TODAYonline (26 June 2009):

1. the Health Ministry clarified that the shelf-life of medicinal products can be extended, provided the drug retains its potency when stored at recommended levels.

2. Singapore’s national Tamiflu stockpiles are kept in a secure warehouse, with an air-conditioned environment at below 25ºC and an average humidity of 60 per cent.

3. Having assessed data provided by the drug’s manufacturer Roche, the Health Science Authority (HSA) found that such conditions can support the shelf-life of Tamiflu capsules for seven years from the date of manufacture.

Now we know that HSA stored Singapore’s national tamiflu stockpile in a dry and air-conditioned storeroom to maintain its condition while Roche has supplied data to support its application to extend the shelf-life of Tamiflu. But HSA still has not carried out a random sampling test on the Tamiflu in its possession.

Its alarming!!! WE are number 1 again. Comparing the number of Cases against our population, we made number 1 spots without difficulties.

Is it because of MOH not doing enough? or we not being responsible? or we just think that it is common flu? or we simply dont care.

hi Smallvice585 on June 30th, 2009 8.58 am,

thanks for the info.

as each patient’s own immune system, health, body reaction to any medicine is different i really wonder if there is any point extending the expiry dates of the stockpile.

this is the first time if i remember correctly, an expiry has been extended. i wonder what implications it holds for the future if its justified too often.

i agree random sampling should be done as an additional step to assure the public.

Hi Morvius #23,

I can’t wait for the H1N1 figures to hit 4-digit. The bookies are getting impatient too.

Last MOH Press Release on H1N1 Patient Statistics was 3 days ago.

The H1N1 numbers don’t make sense, unless CDC-TTSH clarify.

According to the latest ST report dated 10 July 2009, there are currently 70 confirmed H1N1 cases in hospitals here, including one in ICU.

This number does not correspond to 1,217 figure reported by Channel News Asia days ago. Surely it means H1N1 patients have recovered but this ambiguity still requires official clarification.

H1N1 is just like a normal flu. Why put so much effort into it? When the virus really becomes serious, all our medical professionals would be too burnt out fight the real war… and please, leave the virus alone. Throw all sorts of anti-viral and vaccine against it and it could mutate into something worse.

Hero0, you are as good as this name can get. H1N1 is mild but It is definately not a normal flu. What make you think the doctors or our government can fight the “real” deal when they can’t even contain a mild influenza? Even without burn.

Like I say H1N1 is mild but not a normal flu, average recovery takes 4 to 5 days and normal flu 1 to 2 the most. Most importantly, the pain is much greater than the normal flu when it is in full blown. By the way, do u know that in according to the WHO, there is a already a small group of people in the work with H1N1 are beginning to show sign of resisting the ant-viral drug?

What I think most people don’t see is that government step down on control of H1N1 is not because it is mild! It is purely:

1. Economy reason ( who will come to F1, youth game if the figure of infection kept on growing)

2. They simply have no idea how to control beside setting up thermal scan at the border for temperature screen, which already proven it don’t work that way.

Hero0, dream on.

How many people are infected by the H1N1 virus by now? 2,000, 5,000 or 20,000?

Who is tracking and monitoring the situation?

Why sudden black out of all news regarding H1N1 infections except those who have died from it or in intensive care units?

Are all our doctors treating the H1N1 flu as normal flu? If so, then we will never know the seriousness of this viral disease and its extent of spread.

Wouldn’t such attitude, behaviour and measures throw many people off-guard and therefore encourage the spread of the disease at a greater speed and wider spread on infections?

Hi Pandora,

On 7 July 2009, WHO announced that countries are no longer required to submit regular reports of individual laboratory-confirmed cases and deaths as the reporting of such numbers is no longer a useful monitoring tool.

33) Marketplace Thiologist on July 25th, 2009 1.01 am

while it is truth that WHO did annouce that. It is also the country responsibility to let the people know,

1. What is the trend of spread, it is going up or down?

2. Where are the location of spread, so that people can avoid those places.

By the way, it is not WHO to concern about individual, when they speak, they do not care about what happen to your country, they are looking at global scale. Your update is very much irrelevance.

If the goverment truthly believe that this is a fight that involve whole nation, they should come clean about the actual situation. Without all these informations, how do you expect people to do the right thing? So, when situation go out of proportion, don’t blame the people like they do it for mas salmat incident.

I can only conclude that government hide this information because:

1. Singaporean will not have the mean to know if the ministry is doing their work properly.

2. People will not go out to spend, if they know the situation. In the end, the government suffers economy lost.

3. Or worst still, people from other countries don’t dare to come.

The truth is, the PAP only concern about themselves and no one else. Thank you for giving us this group of elites.

It’s about balancing between providing info and not causing undue panic among the people. Personally, I have to go to work everyday and my company has some measures put in place.

Would I feel assured if I know exactly how many people have h1n1 or where I cannot go to ‘cos of h1n1? I would rather know what are the govt’s plans and evaluate them. Btw, I’ve just checked. You can find the no. of people hospitalised at http://www.h1n1.gov.sg/homepage.htm.

Hi RED-man,

I actually agree with MOH that it is pointless to publish figures on number of people who contracted H1N1 when the outbreak has reached the community phase.

At this phase, what is relevant is the number of people hospitalised due to H1N1 and their demographic profile. It is relatively good sign that the people hospitalised are children, old people and people who are already very sick.

GCh83 has pointed out this figures can be found at http://www.h1n1.gov.sg/