BEIJING — China’s health ministry ordered accurate reporting of the spread of H1N1 influenza and threatened to punish officials who conceal cases of the virus after a prominent medical expert raised doubts about the true number of deaths reported to date.

In a statement posted late Thursday on the Ministry of Health’s Web site, spokesman Deng Haihua reiterated the need for local health departments to ensure timely reporting of H1N1 cases, and welcomed the media and the public to supervise and discuss the ministry’s work in fighting H1N1. Mr. Deng said that concealment, underreporting, or delays in transmitting information about the spread of the illness would be subject to punishment.

Earlier Thursday, state-run media in the southern province of Guangdong reported that Dr. Zhong Nanshan had voiced suspicions about the low number of reported fatalities from H1N1. Dr. Zhong, director of the Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Guangzhou, is best known for speaking out in 2003 against official reports that initially covered up the extent of the SARS epidemic.

“I basically don’t believe the current reported number of nationwide H1N1 deaths,” he was quoted as saying by the Guangzhou Daily. Dr. Zhong said he believed that some regions had concealed reports of H1N1 deaths to create the impression that they had been successful in their local prevention efforts, according to the report.

Since mainland China reported its first H1N1 death in early October, there have been only 53 deaths reported out of nearly 70,000 confirmed cases. According to the World Health Organization, the world-wide mortality rate for H1N1 has been four deaths per 1,000 cases of illness, a ratio that was repeated by China’s Ministry of Health when it warned of the threat posed by H1N1 a few weeks ago. ( source )

While they have not, to our knowledge, found any cases of H1N1 traveling from person to person via drinking water, that does not mean anyone should let their guard down when it comes to water quality testing or purification. Diligent use of available water testing and water disinfecting methods may not play an active role in stopping the spread of the H1N1 virus, that we know of right now, but it can help prevent a whole host of other illnesses.

One place where proper use of sanitizing and disinfecting REALLY matters… childcare facilities and daycare centers. Children know nothing about how germs and bacteria spread and often leave mucous, saliva or other bodily secretions on commonly touched surfaces such as toys, doorknobs, furniture, etc. They mean no harm and don’t do things like that intentionally, but it happens.

For that reason health officials suggest, and have mandated in some states, that operators of childcare and daycare centers have their staff check the chlorine levels in their sanitizing and disinfecting solutions daily. Think of it this way: What good would it do to wipe down a contaminated surface with a cleaning solution incapable of properly disinfecting or sanitizing?

Some of the vaccine will be stored in multi-dose vials containing thimerosal, an antibacterial additive that contains mercury. But there will also be single-dose syringes without thimerosal, a substance that some assert is harmful to children. ( source )

Not sure what this means or why people have gotten upset about the use of compounds such as thimerosal in vaccines? Read on…

As it has been abundantly proven, mercury and its derivatives are responsible for autism in children and many other neurological diseases, such as the Gulf War Syndrome.
H1N1 Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury Mercury in its most common form -thimerosal- is put in almost all vaccines made available to the public, usually as a preservative. As it was recently unveiled by the Washington Post, many doses of the new H1N1 vaccine will be stored in multi dose vials which will contain thimerosal. ( source )

The decision to believe whether or not the presence of mercury in the form of thimerosal, or any other form, has caused as much harm as some experts claim rests solely with the individual… but with so much overwhelming evidence pointing guilty fingers in the direction of mercury exposure, one would have a hard time believing that mercury exposure had no ill efffects on the human body.

Therefore, we suggest people educate themselves and weigh the facts about thimerosal and mercury before making up their minds about the H1N1 vaccine. We ALSO (naturally) suggest people test their water for the presence of mercury since pretty much all ACUTE cases of mercury poisoning happen as a result of exposure to mercury in the environment.

Test Kit for Mercury in Water

Test Kit for Metals in Water