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Show Sunday, February 10, 2008 HEkAlD DAILY Wiihabilitation Continued from A I "In the Wii system, because it's kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness. Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it's amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opjxv nent," said Osborn of Southern Illinois Healthcare, which includes the hospital in Herrin. The hospital, alxtut KM) miles southeast of St. Louis, bought a Wii system for rehab patients late last year. "When people can refocus their attention from the tediousness of the physical task, oftent imes they do much better," Osborn said. The most popular Wii games in rehab involve sports baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. Using the same arm swings required by those sports, players wave a wireless controller that directs the actions of animated athletes on the screen. The Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital west of Chicago recent ly bought a Wii system for its unit. Ifc. Matthew Turpen, 22, paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident last year while stationed in Germany, plays Wii golf and bowling from his wheelchair at lines. The Des Moines, Iowa, native says the games help beat the monotony of rehab and seem to be doing his body good, too. "A lot of guys don't have full finger function, so it definitely helps being able to work on using your fingers more and figuring out different ways to use your hands' and arms. Turpen said. At Walter Reed Army Medical to Center, the therapy is patients injured during combat in Iraq, who tend to be in the age range a group that's "very into" playing video games, said U. Col. Stephanie Daugherty, Walter Reed's chief of occupational therapy. "They think it's for entertainment, but we know it's for therapy," she. said. It's useful in occupational therapy, which helps patients relearn daily living skills including brushing teeth, combing hair and fastening clothes, .' Daugherty said. WakeMed Health has been using Wii games at its Raleigh, N.C., hospital for pat ients as young as 9 "all t he way up to people in their 80s," said i 5 har 11 ' r' vr - . ... .a y 1 imZ' Continued from A I "Most years, the prediction is very good." said Joseph Bre-sean influenza epidemiolo-- : gist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "In If! of the last 19 years, we have had a vaccine." But probably not this time. Each year, the vaccine cond tains representatives of the three huge families of flu virus that are currently circulating. They are two main types of influenza A, H1N1 aiid HHN2, and influenza B. The viruses in the vaccine are either dead or, in the case of the nasal-sprafluvarine developed four years ago, crippled so they cannot cause illness. What they can do is stimulate the body's immune system to mount a defense, y sometimes a lifesaving one, should the virus be encoun- tered. The viruses in each of these lineages are constantly changing through mutation. Inevitably, one appears that is different enough from its ancestors that a person protected against them, either through previous infection or vaccination, is not protected against the new variant. Such an emergent virus easily finds victims because almost nobody has immunity against it, A version of this scenario muddied, of course, by real life apparently happened twice this year. A new strain of H3N2 virus was identified in Brisbane. Australia, last February, a few weeks after the components of this winter's vaccine were chosen. (Later studies showed it had been around at least since January 2007.) But it was too late to substitute "Brisbane 10" the short version of its name for the H3N2 strain that had been in the vaccine since the 2006-0- 7 season, called "Wis- consin." Even if there had been time, it was not certain the Brisbane strain would take off and spread. It has. From the start of flu season until the beginning of February, 34 percent of flu viruses taken from patients around the country were Brisbane strains.' At the same time, a strain of influenza B called "Yamagata," which is significantly different from the "Victoria" B strain in the vaccine, was taking off. About 16 percent of all flu samples this winter are influenza B, and of them 93 percent are Yamagata. Together, the Brisbane and Yamagata trains are accounting for 48 percent of all flu and neisamples this winter ther is in the vaccine. That does not mean the vaccine is of no benefit. The N3 JONAIIIAN Recreation therapist Elizabeth Penny works with patient Billy Perry us Pel tv begins louse Nintendo Wii Snorts iloxing iio.spi.iui in Kuieig!, system ;or ne((nieiii folia ferry i$ using rra? wu viaco-gum- j.i. Penny said. "It really helps the body to loosen up so it can do what it's supposed to do," said Billy Perry, H4, a retired Raleigh police officer. He received Wii therapy at WakeMed after suffering a stroke on Christmas Eve. Perry said he'd seen his grandchildren play Wii games and was excited when a hospital therapist suggested he try it. He said Wii tennis and boxing helped him regain strength and feel it was 52 percent effective in preventing infection. That is much lower than the 70 to 90 percent protection provided by a vaccine given to healthy, young adults. But it is not useless, either. "It wouldn't be optimal, but there should be a measure of protection, based on our past d experience," said Nancy Cox, the chief flu virologist at CDC. The agency is doing three studies to determine with precision how much protection the vaccine is providing against the Brisbane strain this winter. Results of the first study may be available in a few weeks. Protection against the Yamagata strain by the vaccine is probably, also poor. The best evidence that Yamagata is not well covered by the vaccine is that it is just about the only strain of influenza B around. "That probably indicates that the effectiveness of the vaccine may be less than ideal." Bresee said. Early this season, most of the virus samples collected from patients were from the H 1N1 family and were adequately protected against by the vaccine. There were few ; H3N2 or influenza B viruses circulating. Now, however, the new strains of those latter two types have arrived, and they are encountering millions of people who are either vulnerable because they have not been vaccinated, or partly vulnerable because the vaccine offers partial protection. As a result, the new strains have taken off. The portion of each week's samples made up of H3N2 viruses has been rising steadily for more than a month. For the last two weeks, it has exceeded the fraction containing II 1N1 viruses, and it has not yet peaked. In four of the nine surveillance regions across the United States, H3N2 viruses are now more common than H IN 1 viruses. All of which suggests the flu season may be far from over. As a defense, CDC officials say vaccination, even now, may be of some benefit. They say antiviral drugs can both prevent infections and lessen their severity, and are especially useful for people at high risk for flu complications because of other illnesses. They also urge people to cover their coughs, wash their hands often and stay home if they are w- - inn u I liLDi'i I -- i ii irr '.'(' W t' therapist Elizabeth Penny, "They're getting improved endurance, strength, coordination. I think it's very entertaining for them," immunity conferred by the Wisconsin strain may protect somewhat against its Brisbane descendant, A Vaccinated person may have milder symptoms. But the vaccine is unlikely to prevent infection altogether in lots of people. A study done by the Department of IXfense last year after Brisbane emerged found that sick. ' 4k well-suite- d Influenza t .. ing in his left arm. "It's enjoyable. I know I ingoing to participate with my grandkids more when 1 go visit them," Perry said. ' While .there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that Wu games help in rehab, reseaidiei Lai s (.Xldsson wauls to put the gomes to a i ljI lest. Oddsson is director of the Sister Kenny Research Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital m Minneapolis. The center bought a Wu system last summer and is working with the University of Minnesota to design a study that will measure patients' function "before and alter this 'Wii- - hab.' as someone called it." ( tddsson said. "You can certainly make a case that some form ol endurance related to strength and flexibility and balance and cardio would be challenged when you play the W ii.' liul hard scieutilic proof is needed to prove it. ( )ddss in said. Meantime, Dr. Julio Uonis of Ma di id says he has piiMil thai playing Wu games can have physical cf lefts of another kind. Boms calls it acul e "W ml is" a condition he says he developed last year alter .spending several hours play mg the Wu tennis game. w ui eek ol ibupioti ged doclm .j (o .'v - ':!'d u. r (,! VA n- di en should be fo'uix'd oiTvvun these said. ' brace of evangelical worship throughout much of Europe. Evangelicals say their t anks are swelling as attendance at traditional churches declines mvlliv lit second-rate- he Ihpoiy Ot rvnlullc 13 one ol the nif.t p"-- s: ful piec es of m:u. nliur ihv, "to-ptodut F.d. t.hI the :dc iv hnin,., I tlii'i' toi it r o. 1 - v : utatici)r.!n W 1 an K" it i pJ u" - ii'i"" -r 'i' t i- ki'V.! of pln'.vMb'.e, fr-d' "cs's "cvrMntr it '. 1 and v.ibvTt r.hiI(Hr. hi!' li A"'-- u ell awni " Mat school program is contentscuj. I he gt oup ha:, removed infer.-ma- t ion about it from its Wtb site to avoid antagonizing ' is I I m people. 1 he group operates n i with ware.-hous- worth aril cinicT $l!)().0i)0 ol l)V lis. book.-piomolniL, ci Mli :ii " h- -1 hi ;.a .s nr. onh end? -- p:k-.3 and uiatei l.ils into schools thai: invite Answers in Gcucst. tc make a pii sf ittalion. Wliilc. said he i air.cd as an athent md sftsr earning a doctoral? in r.ten-l-sii . embraced ChiWinnily m 1951. - He ;;av5 that whsn asked SIMON DAWSONAsMCifltrd Hn Doctor Monty White, a leud figure it tlie aealionism and intelligent-desigmovement in Vritum. looks ul one of Ihe books he sells on the sublet in his warehouse in Leicester. n England. a theory worthy of examination," he said. "Personally I think it is true and I think the truth will win out eventually. It's a question of how long takes." it Terry Sanderson, president of Britain's National Secul.'ir Society, a prominent group founded in 1866 to limit the influence of religious leaders, fears the groups advocating a literal inteipretation of the Bible are making headway. "Creationisin is creeping into the schools," he said. "There is a constant pressure to get these ideas into the schools." The trend goes beyond evangelical Christianity. Sanderson said the British government is taking over funding of about 100 Islamic schools even though they teach the Quranic version of creationisin. He said the government fears imposing evolution theory on the curriculum lest it be branded as The Council of Europe spoke up last fall after Harun Yahya, a prominent Muslim creationist in Turkey, tried to place his lavishly produced anti-Islami- c. 600-pag- e "" ali book, "The Atlas of Creation," in public schools in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain. " These trends are very dangerous," said Anne Brasseur, author of the Council of Europe report, in an interview. Brasseur said recent skir mishes in Italy and Germany illustrate the creationists' tactics. She said Italian schools were ordered to stop teaching evolution when Silvio Berlusconi was prime minister, although the edict seems to have had little impact in practice. In Germany, she said, a stale education minister hi telly allowed ci eat lonism to he taught in biology class. he rupture between thiol ogy and evolution in Europe is relatively recent. For many years people who held evangelical views also endorsed mainstream scientific theoi y, said Simon Barrow, t tor of Lkklesia. a British-based- . 1 i." das.",cs. lie chalkig'sr. of i,.'di'rtivp dn!ing. v lik Ii ,hi , ih' 'i r" Id 1" b? thousand;, ol imiirar-- . oi yi-v- h old. and sa the Libit-1.r uioi c act ui ale description ol how mankind began He bclic-vcIhe Earth pei sonally - . d full-tim- n? v, hi ovei use SI ill. as a u tail: lir 3id m - r mail that he tuuld imaginr. rnr-'tr.c- d a' crate use.w ould Ih hel)lul in thoi iipy. liei.au-.- i of th1' nioliv alir" thai the game.-capre ide 1" thr ' tii nt AI because of revulsion with the hedonism and materialism of modern society. "People are looking for spirituality," White said in ah interview at his office in Leicester, 90 miles north of London. "I think they are fed up with not finding true happiness. They find having a bigger car doesn't make them happy. They get drunk and the next morning they have a hangover. They take drugs but the drugs wear off. But what they find with Christianity is lasting." Other British organizations have joined the crusade. A group called Truth in Science has sent thousands of unsolicited DVDs to every high school in Britain arguing that 'mankind is the result of "intelligent design." not Darwinian evolution. In addition, the AH Trust, a charity, has announced plans to raise money for construction of a Christian theme park in northwest England with a 5,000-setelevision studio that would be used for the production of Christian-orientefilms. And several TV stations e are devoted to Christian themes. All this activity has lifted spirits at the Westminster Chapel, a evangelical church that is not affiliated with nearby Westminster Abbey, where Darwin is buried. In the chapel, Rev. Greg Haslam tells the 150 believers that they are in a conflict with secularism that can only be won if they heed Churchill's exhortation and never, ever give up. "The first tiling you have to do is realize we are in a war, and identify the enemy, and learn how to defeat the enemy," he said. There is a sense inside the chapel that Christian evangelicals are successfully resisting a trend toward a completely secular Britain. "People have walked away from God; it's not fashionable," said congregant Chris Mullins, a civil servant. "But the evangelical church does seem to be growing and I'm very encouraged by that. In what is a very secular society, there are people returning to God." School curricula generally hold that Darwin's theory has been backed up by so many scientific discoveries lliat it can now be regarded as fact. But Mullins believes creation-isalso deserves a hearing in the classroom. "Looking at the evidence, creation ism at the least seems )f : 't Evolution Continued from in? '"ii:n"!Vi !:! " Bum-- , li'llei toilH' iv w ,I;:'.i: Mi'dit im uitin..c .:ui ir. u houldci t lj.it ,i coli' ,igi"-(ias acute triidi 'inn.'. ' mo( alfu lot, .uiiong pi,,, ' of isbetwiti)ii.tlUtl3i'.dl2.00n years old. "Usually I find the di'cv?-Mogoe . " t mi' ' . r;:: and science and Hit n when the lesson ii tinished r"iE T two st ndt ills sav. C an we talk about oilier I lunge..--- end 1 sii dou ti Willi them ?rd they a i it te lk alii".': Chie-liaiutn liC: ei'J. ll'sv-yan- t W hy e loknov,-, in God? hy d" yrnt believe in Ihe Bible? How tan you be dey' sure it's the word of ("jod?" Daw kins feels flip effect. He-sai- he is dir-- oi" igeil when' feu! ge'ce he visits '.ch'.-ofrom eluclen'3 who hav i Christian-eoin ieuely b?".i innusr.czil iuited group. le said the split by material fre-- Ari3'.V:3 was imported from the United iiiGencsie. I eejim'lly get States in the last decade. the same t dtiier .stupid points "There is a lot of American straight from then paminfluence, and there are a lot phlets." he said. of moral and political and White is getting ready for financial resources flowing a visit by Ken 11 v. who vili from the United Slates to pi each at VYeMrmnetev Chape! this 4i ing. Meanwhile, he is here," he said. "Now you have more extreme religious groups pleaded thai small grcupr- of creation science advocates trying to get a foothold." In some cases, the schools now meet regularly in Oxford, have licconip the bait legrounils. Edinburgh, Northampton and Richard Dawkins. the Oxford other British cities. " The creation movement is University biologist and author of last year's international certainly growing;" he- srdd. "The God Delusion, "fre'There aremon grcv.ps tiuu: there were fivs y zcxz ego. quently lectures si udents about the marvels of evolution only There ai e more pecple lilt3 rr.; to find that the students' view s going out speaking about it. have already been sliaped by and there's more interest. Yen tlie creationist lobby. have lhe.se little groups form"I think it's so sad that chil- ing all over the place." qv.ee-Cioa- n 1 - -- |