What is Hemophilia? What is Haemophilia?

What is Hemophilia? What is Haemophilia?




"Many members of royalty in Europe inherited

their hemophilia from Queen Victoria"

This is a file from Wikimedia Commons Hemophilia is a group of inherited blood disorders in which the blood does not clot properly.



Hemophilia is the standard international spelling, also known as haemophilia in the UK, other translations include: hémophilie, hemofilie, hemofili, hemofilia, hämophilie, emofilia. We will use the standard international spelling for the purpose of this section.



Bleeding disorders are due to defects in the blood vessels, the coagulation mechanism, or the blood platelets. An affected individual may bleed spontaneously or for longer than a healthy person after injury or surgery.



The blood coagulation mechanism is a process which transforms the blood from a liquid into a solid, and involves several different clotting factors. The mechanism generates fibrin when it is activated, which together with the platelet plug, stops the bleeding.



When coagulation factors are missing or deficient the blood does not clot properly and bleeding continues.



Patients with Hemophilia A or B have a genetic defect which results in a deficiency in one of the blood clotting factors.



Queen Victoria was a carrier and passed the mutation to her son Leopold, and through several of her daughters to members of the royal families of Spain, Russia, and Germany.



Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, son of Nicholas II (Russia) suffered from hemophilia and was a descendant of Queen Victoria - Rasputin was successful in treating his hemophilia, it was claimed.

Department Of Health Details Pandemic H1N1 Vaccine Distribution Plan For PA

Department Of Health Details Pandemic H1N1 Vaccine Distribution Plan For PA


Main Category: Swine Flu

Tracking the H1N1 Virus

How international organizations are working together to respond to H1N1



Health Professional:



The Pennsylvania Department of Health discussed the state's distribution plans for the new pandemic H1N1 vaccine.



Pennsylvania is placing its first vaccine order today. Due to the limited nature of the initial vaccine supplies, the doses will be highly focused in their distribution and use. More than 70 percent of all illness from the pandemic H1N1 flu virus is occurring in Pennsylvania's children and young adults aged five to 24 years.



Pennsylvania's Acting Physician General Dr. Stephen Ostroff and Health Deputy Secretary Michael Huff conducted a webinar to provide updates of the statewide vaccination program, which is driven by three primary considerations: the supply and type of available vaccine, federal recommendations for the top five priority groups, and disease surveillance to control the disease and reduce the risk of complications.



This vaccine effort is intended to vaccinate as many Pennsylvanians in the targeted groups as possible in the coming months and includes an Internet-based, pre-registration system for private providers, schools and others that want to administer the new H1N1 vaccine in their facility, and public mass vaccination clinics that will be held later this fall as more vaccine becomes available.



The federal government recently approved four vaccines for the 2009 H1N1 flu virus. The first available vaccine doses will only include live attenuated influenza vaccine, or LAIV, also known by the brand name FluMist.



This intra-nasal vaccine is recommended primarily for healthy persons between the ages of 2-49 years. It is not indicated for some people who are in the top vaccine priority groups - pregnant women, children under two years of age, persons with certain underlying health conditions, and healthcare workers who deal with severely immune-suppressed persons.



Additional doses and types of vaccine are expected to be made available by the federal government in the coming weeks and approximately 2.5 million doses are expected in Pennsylvania by the end of October. The department will work with registered providers to assure vaccine reaches individuals in the prioritized groups.



The department will target the initial doses of LAIV primarily to healthy school children between the ages of 5-9 years with a smaller proportion of the available supply being used for college students in settings where disease outbreaks have occurred and are ongoing. Efforts will be made to distribute vaccine to the three areas of the state that are experiencing the highest numbers of cases: namely the southeast, southwest and north central districts.



The department anticipates pandemic H1N1 flu activity in the coming weeks to increase in younger populations in schools and institutions of higher education. The department believes it is very important to begin vaccination for children under 10 years of age, as early as possible, because they will require two separate doses of pandemic influenza H1N1 vaccine.



Eventually, anyone who wants the vaccine will be able to get it after the needs of those in the high-risk/priority groups have been met.