Jewish & World News

An Israeli health official says the public panic regarding mounting fears of a swine flu epidemic is "generally justified." More than 100 cases of swine flu have been diagnosed since December, and several deaths have already been accorded to the disease. Prof. Haim Bibi, pediatrics director at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, tried to calm the fears, saying that although there were some mortalities, "the range of the disease is wide, and some suffer more than others. It's not an easy disease but not everyone is gravely hurt.

The new flu vaccine for the upcoming 2012-2013 influenza season has been approved by The Food and Drug Administration. Each year the FDA works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to design a vaccine to protect against the three viral strains most likely to cause the flu in the upcoming year. This year's vaccine has one strain in common with last year's vaccine, plus two new viral strains its targeting.

Where is this flu season we keep hearing about? Brace yourself. Although it's seemed pretty quiet so far, flu season may already have arrived. Although official CDC data show little flu activity throughout the U.S. , it takes about two weeks to compile that data. More timely data from Google’s Flu Trends report  is showing "moderate" flu activity in the U.S. overall, with about half of states still in the "low" category. But Kentucky and Nevada have "high" flu activity. So do several cities -- Atlanta , Boston , Chicago , Miami , and Washington , D.C. -- although Google Flu Trends for cities is still experimental.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three cases of a new flu virus, which originated in pigs but apparently spread from person to person, in three Iowa children.