CNN reports:

Confirmed cases of swine flu jumped by more than 65 percent Saturday with the World Health Organization reporting 615 people in 15 countries infected with the virus commonly known as swine flu.

The organization had reported 367 cases on Friday. The jump in cases was due to ongoing testing of a backlog of specimens in Mexico, the WHO said.

The most cases were in Mexico, where 397 people were infected and 16 deaths were attributed to the virus, according to the WHO. Next was the United States, which has 141 cases and one death.

That is bad news. Let’s panic! Or not.

“What the increase reflects is that we are moving forward in confirming many of the cases that have been left untested for some time, so in an way that’s reassuring,” said WHO spokesman Paul Garwood. (more…)

Little Green Footballs has done much to expose the ‘anti-vaccination crowd’ who use flawed science and simply unscientific arguments to convince people to stop vaccinating children against important diseases.

One of the websites that gives room to such people is the liberal website the Huffington Post.

Writing for Discover Magazine Phil Plait comments:| MORE ›

Reuters reports:

Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.

As Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events, global health officials stopped short of declaring a pandemic.| MORE ›

The swine flu continues to spread over the American continent. The New York Times reports that eight New York students have fallen ill, probably suffering from this particular flu.| MORE ›

CNN is reporting that hours before the 2008 election, the McCain campaign has released a summary of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s overall health.

The verdict?  Fit for duty.

(more…)