H1N1 Pandemic Flu Mimics Dreaded 1918 Flu
Study Discovers H1N1 Pandemic Flu Mimics Dreaded 1918 Flu
The novel H1N1 influenza virus seems to mimic certain characteristics of the 1918 Spanish influenza virus starting with its ability to infect the lower respiratory system, specifically the lungs, moreso than the seasonal flu according to medical researchers. Also, testing on a few animals concluded the same as other studies that the new strain of novel H1N1 can travel clear of the upper respiratory zone and progress much deeper toward the lungs increasing greatly the risk of pneumonia.
They also discovered those individuals who lived through the 1918 pandemic as survivors of the illness appear to have added protection against the virus. Experiments conducted on monkeys and ferrets showed that seasonal influenza would not reproduce in the lungs but H1N1 did replicate appreciably better in the lower respiratory tract.
As an aside, The WHO has noted a quality vaccine capable of combating the H1N1 flu virus could possibly be delayed until the end of the year upsetting the preparedness plans for vaccination installed in many countries. There are emergency stores in place if countries need to respond more rapidly if in fact they feel the need is urgent.
There is a problem currently with vaccine production for H1N1 pandemic vaccine attaining the proper “harvest” of the main ingredient needed to produce the vaccine. Unlike the season flu vaccine production these yields are considerably lower, only producing about half as much as usual with regular influenza or seasonal flu vaccine.
So far the twenty first centuries first pandemic has claimed at least five hundred victims and made ill more than a million according to approximations. Thw WHO stands by its claim that novel H1N1 Influenza A virus is mainly infecting people at a mild to moderate severity level but this in no way means it is similar to seasonal influenza.
There is no mistaking that this new pandemic virus is different from seasonal influenza according to medical experts. Pregnant women and obese people are at serious risk and younger adults seem to contract the illness more. There are at risk groups who as a rule are not as harshly effected by seasonal flu as they are by this new virus. The capability to set in the lungs is not unique to this new pandemic virus. The 1918 Spanish flu had the same characteristics and mortality estimates range widely – between 30 million and 100 million people.
Elderly Are Protected
Medical personnel tested the New virus in blood taken from elderly patients and workers living in residence at nursing homes in the U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands. People who were born prior to 1920 had a strong response from their natural antibodies to the new H1N1 virus. This could only mean that their systems actually “remembered” from a previous infection in early childhood. This discovery is supported by another study published in a national science magazine that found those individuals who had survived the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic continued to have immunity defenses toward that virus.
The influenza viruses undergo constant change which is the reason infection reoccurs and why vaccines are always being reinvented. The current seasonal flu strains of H1N1 virus are related two or three times removed from the H1N1 Spanish influenza virus of 1918 and also the new novel H1N1 recent pandemic variety. The current swine flu has strong origins and continues to bedevil the world’s population. The current virus has the potential to harness a major blow to the health of the worlds people and cause pain to the world economy.
Fortunately the current strain of influenza can be controlled using antivirals Generic tamiflu and relenza and the technology is now in place to develop vaccines pretty rapidly to combat infection unlike in 1918. There are more controls and surveillance in place than there were in 1918 and the WHO is heavily invested in a leadership role offering hard data and pandemic preparedness information that is timely and effective. Hygiene and medical practices have also come a long way since the 1918 pandemic and complications encountered can be treated using modern clinical methods.
Major pharmaceutical manufacturers the world over are working on vaccine production and the WHO is recommending first response health care worker get priority immunization. These health workers would be followed by high risk groups in the population and depending on vaccine quantities immunizations would proceed as nations see fit for their own circumstances.
The WHO had approximated that up to 4.9 billion doses of new pandemic swine flu vaccine would be prepared for the coming influenza season but production amounts and the assumption that only one shot per person will be necessary will be determining factors of vaccine readiness. Since the latest results on vaccine production were disappointing the WHO is in the process of revising their previous numbers.
Though similarities exist between the H1N1 influenza virus of 1918 and the H1N1 novel swine flu pandemic virus currently circulating, Many differences are also noteworthy. There have been continuous declines in the mortality and morbidity numbers of the three pandemics of the last century that have been due in part to better virus surveillance, improved health practices, and networking among nations medical response personnel to coordinate efforts globally to combat the pandemics. Communications also play an important role with near instantaneous reporting around the world to new and significant events.
One thing remains constant. A potentially deadly virus is spreading around the world and millions of people will be getting very sick from it.