Socialist Black Muslim PresiDunce Buckwheat's Epidemic - Swine Flu Resembles Deadly 1918 Flu
- From: Patriot Games <Patriot@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:24:30 -0400
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/swine_flu_1918_flue/2009/07/13/234929.html
Swine Flu Resembles Deadly 1918 Flu
Monday, July 13, 2009
WASHINGTON ? The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing
resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic,
with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu
viruses, researchers reported on Monday.
Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown the
new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory tract to
go deep into the lungs ? making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the
international team said.
In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic
seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again
confirming the work of other researchers.
"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the
seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka
of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study.
The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."
The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st
century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates,
and killing at least 500. The World Health Organization says it is
causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it
is like seasonal flu.
"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a
statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than
seasonal influenza."
Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the
ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic
viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed
between 40 million and 100 million people.
Old Protection
They tested the virus in blood samples taken from nursing home
residents and workers in 1999 in California, Wisconsin, the
Netherlands and Japan.
People born before 1920 had a strong antibody response to the new H1N1
virus, meaning their body "remembered" it from infection early in
life. This finding supports a study published in Nature in August that
also found people who survived the 1918 pandemic still had immune
protection against that virus.
Flu viruses change constantly, which is why people can be re-infected
and why the vaccine must be changed regularly. Current seasonal
strains of H1N1 are distant cousins of both the 1918 pandemic strain
and the new H1N1 strain.
"Our findings are a reminder that swine-origin influenza viruses have
not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so, as the
pandemic caused by these viruses has the potential to produce a
significant impact on human health and the global economy," the
researchers wrote.
Other tests showed the virus could be controlled by the antiviral
drugs Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Tamiflu, made by Roche AG,
the researchers said.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that vaccine makers
should start making immunizations against H1N1 and that healthcare
workers should be first in line to get them.
Companies working on an H1N1 vaccine include Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis
AG, Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay and nasal spray
maker MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca.
.
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