AN OUTBREAK of swine flu could lead to an increase in MRSA and other bacterial infections.

Public health experts said they would expect to see a range of secondary bacterial infections, if swine flu affects large numbers of people in Wales.

They are already braced to see a rise following the current measles outbreak in Mid and West Wales. So far there have been no cases in Wales of the disease, whose most serious recent outbreak was in Mexico.

Dr Jonathan Watkins, a consultant in public health at the National Public Health Service for Wales, said that a virus like flu can unlock the door to other bacterial infections, including the hospital superbug MRSA – methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. There were reports of cases of scarlet fever and other infections caused by streptococcus bacteria during the winter’s flu season, which caused higher than expected numbers of cases.

Dr Watkins said: “Our bodies are covered with bacteria all the time – we will find MRSA, meningococcal and pneumococcal bacteria happily living on people’s skin, up their noses and in their guts.

“The body also has its own defences, including good bacteria. Bacteria only cause problems when they get into part of the body where they shouldn’t be. Flu, along with a whole host of other viral illnesses will smash the body’s surface up and create portals through which the bacteria can enter the body.”

WASHINGTON (May 22, 2009) – From parades to somber ceremonies and a
Moment of silence, Americans will recall the sacrifices of military
Members who paid the ultimate price for freedom on Memorial Day, Monday,
May 25.

As veterans, we have a little bit more work to do to knock out and defeat CLL. Times are tough and so is each of our veterans. I ask each of you to come together as a band of Brothers and Sisters to donate “Whatever you Can” to help Chaya continue her critical work in the battle against CLL. Each and every veteran has protected us from enemies within and beyond our borders. One more time you are being asked to sacrifice in tough times and America knows you will respond.

It is easy to donate or send a check this weekend as the web site has all the information. Thank you Brothers and Sisters as I know you will respond.

Chaya is not aware of my request for donations to her web site, but the cost to opperate and do research on a first class web site, such as this one, is very costly.

Thank You.

As a society we have gotten so scared of creating a panic that it is no longer socially acceptable to discuss reasonable but nasty scenarios. There is an unspoken rule that citizens can no longer be trusted with scary reality. One aspect of it is the many times we are told CLL is a “good cancer”. Like hell it is.

Well, I think we are a slightly different crowd on this website. We have already faced scary reality; we have already come to grips (more or less) with a life threatening cancer. Perhaps we have a bit more steel in our spines now. Perhaps we can be trusted with real-life risk communication.

This patient group knows all about Watch & Wait. I would like to change that to Watch & Get ready, both for CLL and potential nasty flu season down the road this fall.

CLL patients and others with chronic medical conditions (especially those with immune system or pulmonary problems) are the canaries in the mine. Any community wide disease or disruption of medical services will be felt most acutely by us; we will be the first ones to feel the pain. Some of the issues are beyond our ability to control. But there are some things we can do to weather the storm (if it becomes one) a bit better.

The logic for preparing for a possible flu epidemic is no different than preparing for a CLL fight down the road. It is the same Watch & Get ready. Play it smart, make sure you and your family are reasonably well prepared for what may be ahead of us. The link I have provided in the article to the “Citizen’s Guide” is a good place to start.

“What happens next is chiefly up to the virus,” states John Barry, author of The Great Influenza, “What’s important to keep in mind in assessing the threat of the current outbreak is that all four of the well-known pandemics seem to have come in waves,”

The take-away message is that there WILL be a next wave to this particular influenza virus but we don’t KNOW what that next wave will being in terms of transmissability and virulence. The H1N1 virus will mutate – will it become more easily transmissable and/or more virulent/deadly or less? We do not know and cannot accurately predict the answers to these quesions.

What we do know is that the better prepared we are the better are our chances of doing well regardless of what happens. Get your seasonal flu and pneumonia vaccinations, be prepared to distance yourselves from others by having adequate supplies of food and medicines, and practice good personal hygiene. These small steps can dramatically improve your probability of a good outcome IF the next waves is a tidal wave rather than a blip.

And having met you in person, I know you will make smart choices.