In the rare cases when the H1N1 virus kills, scientists have found, it penetrates deep into the lungs, creating widespread damage — a pattern similar to what killed millions during previous flu pandemics in 1918 and 1957.

The New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner examined medical records, autopsy reports and microscopic slides of 34 people with H1N1 who died between May 15 and July 9, 2009, during the early days of the pandemic.

The report found that among those deaths, inflammation and damage in the lungs extended all the way to the alveoli, tiny sacs at the farthest end of the lungs’ airways.

“Generally, flu stays in the upper airways,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the national Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “What this shows is clearly this virus has capability of infecting and causing inflammation and destruction of cells from the trachea, all the way down into smaller cells of the lungs.

“The cells of the lung get directly attacked by the virus,” said Fauci.

Source/Full Story: CNN.com
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Iowa has officially recorded 21 H1N1 deaths, including seven in Polk County alone. But the county’s medical examiner said he has performed autopsies on some residents who were never diagnosed with H1N1, but actually had it.

“In the autopsy, what we’re seeing is very heavy, wet hemorrhagic lungs, lungs with a lot of blood in them,” said Dr. Gregory Schmunk.

He said the official count of seven H1N1 deaths is inaccurate, but patient rights laws prohibit him from giving specific numbers.

He said there are two reasons for the discrepancy. First, not all sick patients get tests and second, the virus is difficult to detect. Some patients may be too sick to receive the most accurate H1N1 test.

“They’re not always done and it can be hazardous to the patient if they’re in a respiratory critical situation,” Schmunk said.

He also said that some tests reveal a false negative.

Source/Full Story: KCCI
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A radiation leak at Three Mile Island contaminated about 100 employees Saturday afternoon, according to a TMI official.

Source/Full Story: 6abc.com
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The number of bankruptcies across the country was 43 per cent higher in September than at the same point a year ago, government data shows.

The latest figures provided by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada show the increase is disproportionately slanted towards consumer bankruptcies over business insolvencies. The September figure for the former was up by 45.5 per cent in the last year; the latter by only 1.6 per cent.
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“It’s got to do with unemployment,” he said. “It’s consumer driven in part because unemployment continues to rise, which makes it hard to keep up with bills. But companies are better structured to handle the recession because they weren’t as debt-addled as consumers,” he said.

Source/Full Story: CBC
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The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration defended the agency’s decision not to use an additive that could have stretched swine flu vaccine supplies, adding that doses should be coming more regularly.

The vaccine to prevent the H1N1 strain of influenza has been in short supply following production issues but more doses are becoming available, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said on Thursday at the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

“The gap between need and availability is narrowing. I think we are going to see doses coming off the lines and into people’s arms or noses on a regular basis now,” Hamburg said.

U.S. health officials have been scrambling to get the swine flu vaccine to market after the virus emerged too late to be included in this year’s regular seasonal flu version. Initially, officials said there would be enough for everyone, but the public quickly grew frustrated when supplies ran short.

The FDA has approved H1N1 vaccine from five makers who already produce seasonal flu vaccine — GlaxoSmithKline Plc, AstraZeneca Plc’s MedImmune unit, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, and CSL Limited.

Both products use an egg-based technology to produce the vaccine, but the H1N1 virus grew slower than expected in the eggs, Hamburg said. She added the agency is working with manufacturers to move toward other, more efficient technology such as cell-based cultures that could spur production.

Hamburg said it was not too late for people to benefit from immunization.

Source/Full Story: Reuters
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The number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance soared above 36 million for the first time in August, the eighth month in a row that enrollment set a record, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.

USDA said 36.492 million people were receiving food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In July, enrollment stood at 35.851 million. At the current rate, an estimated one in eight Americans receive benefits.
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Source/Full Story: Reuters
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After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.

The closely watched legislation would extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional six weeks. The proposal would be funded by extending a longstanding federal unemployment tax on employers through June 30, 2011.

The measure would apply to those whose benefits will run out by Dec. 31, which is nearly two million people, according to Senate estimates. Those whose checks have already stopped would be able to reapply for another round.

The vote was 98 to 0.

Source/Full Story: money.cnn.com
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Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.

The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

“Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it’s not the kind of thing people want to talk about,” Rank said.

The analysis was released Monday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The authors say it’s a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty.

“This is a real danger sign that we as a society need to do a lot more to protect children,” Rank said.
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“The current recession is likely to generate for children in the United States the greatest level of material deprivation that we will see in our professional lifetimes,” Stanford pediatrician Dr. Paul Wise wrote.

Wise said the Archives study estimate is believable.

“I find it terribly sad, but not surprising,” Wise said

Source/Full Story: Half of US kids will get food stamps, study says
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White House economic adviser Paul Volcker said his meeting on Monday with President Barack Obama focused in part on reducing U.S. economic reliance on consumer spending.

The alternatives to help bolster future economic growth include boosting exports, applying innovative technology to green issues and improving the nation’s infrastructure, Volcker said.

The former Federal Reserve chairman, who now heads the White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said Obama understands that “We cannot have so much consumption.”

Consumer spending accounted for 70 percent of the U.S. economy before last year’s economic meltdown, a level that Volcker said was sustained only by “the magic of financial engineering.”

“We cannot rebuild the economy to the tune of 70 percent consumption or housing booms. It will just break down again,” Volcker said.

Source/Full Story:  Reuters
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Source/Full Story: YouTube
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At least one pig in the US has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, the US department of agriculture said today, the country’s first case of a pig contracting the virus.

US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that USDA officials have begun to reach out to US trade partners and international organisations to emphasise that H1N1, also known as swine flu, cannot be contracted by eating pork products.

“We have fully engaged our trading partners to remind them … that there is no scientific basis to restrict trade in pork and pork products,” Vilsack said. “People cannot get this flu from eating pork or pork products. Pork is safe to eat.”

The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence of H1N1 after an initial test suggested that as many as three pigs may have had the virus. The USDA is continuing to conduct tests to confirm other potential positive tests from the pig samples. The original samples were taken as a part of a university research project from pigs shown at the Minnesota state fair between 26 August and 1 September.

Source/Full Story: guardian.co.uk
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Food production will have to increase by 70% over the next 40 years to feed the world’s growing population, the United Nations food agency predicts.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation says if more land is not used for food production now, 370 million people could be facing famine by 2050.

The world population is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.1 billion by mid-century.

Climate change, involving floods and droughts, will affect food production.

The FAO said net investments of $83bn (£52.5bn) a year – an increase of 50% – had to be made in agriculture in developing countries if there was to be enough food by 2050.

Climate challenges

“The combined effect of population growth, strong income growth and urbanisation… is expected to result in almost the doubling of demand for food, feed and fibre,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told delegates at a forum entitled How to Feed the World 2050.

Source/Full Story: BBC
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The US budget deficit is expected to hit a record $1.4 trillion this year, some $950 billion greater than the shortfall recorded last year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said.

Congress’s non-partisan financial watchdog said the forecast federal deficit for the fiscal year that ended last month was the highest shortfall – relative to the size of the economy – since 1945.

The deficit resulted from both declining revenues and increased spending, stemming mostly from aid to the financial system and fiscal stimulus to jolt the world’s largest economy from a prolonged recession, the CBO said.

Revenues were almost $420bn or 17 per cent below receipts chalked up last year, the lowest level in over 50 years.

At the same time, outlays increased by over $530bn or 18pc to the highest level also in over half a century. The federal deficit last year was $459bn.

The deficit estimates were based on data from daily statements from the US Treasury and CBO projections.

Source/Full Story:: Gulf Daily News
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Personal bankruptcies topped the 1 million mark in the first nine months of the year, the first time it has done so in four years, according to an industry research firm released Friday.

The personal bankruptcies were up 35% from the same period in 2008, according to the report from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

“Bankruptcy filings continue to climb as consumers look to shelter themselves from the effects of rising unemployment rates and housing debt,” said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

The recession triggered more individuals earning $40,000 or more per year and those with associate or bachelor degrees to file for bankruptcy in 2008 than in years past, according to the annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographic Report released by the Institute for Financial Literacy in June, and the organization expects the trend to continue.

“The folks going into bankruptcy are reflective of the middle class debtor,” said Leslie Linfield, executive director of the Institute for Financial Literacy. “The biggest problem is that people are over extended on their credit. It’s been the perfect storm of credit card debt and mortgage debt leading to delinquencies.”

Source/Full Story: money.cnn.com
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For those who expected General Motors’ once-funky Saturn brand to live on with a new owner, there has been a sad twist. Saturn, once billed as a different kind of car company, appears as dead as Pontiac and Oldsmobile.

At the brand’s 350 remaining dealers around the country, there were high hopes that a deal would be announced for GM to sell the brand to former race car driver and auto industry magnate Roger Penske.

Instead, Penske Automotive Group Inc. announced Wednesday it is walking away from the deal, unable to find a manufacturer to make Saturn cars when GM stops producing models sometime after the end of 2011. GM then announced it would stop making Saturns and soon would close down the brand, just like it did with Oldsmobile in 2004 and soon will do with Pontiac.

The day’s events mean an almost certain end to Saturn, a brand that was set up in 1990 to fight growing Japanese imports. Instead of celebrating a rebirth, the announcements sent dealers scrambling for ways to stay open and preserve about 13,000 jobs.

Source/Full Story: Yahoo! Finance
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