Swine Flu Virus

H1N1 Flu: Key Flu Indicators

2009-10-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

Each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView. During the week of October 11-17, 2009, a review of the key indictors found that influenza activity continued to increase in the United States from the previous week. Below is a summary of the most recent key indicators:

- Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) increased steeply since last week in the United States, and overall, are much higher than what is expected for this time of the year. ILI activity now is higher than what is seen during the peak of many regular flu seasons.

- Total influenza hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed flu are climbing and are higher than expected for this time of year.

- The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) based on the 122 Cities Report has increased and has been higher than what is expected at this time of year for two weeks. In addition, 11 flu-related pediatric deaths were reported this week; 9 of these deaths were confirmed 2009 H1N1, and two were influenza A viruses, but were not subtyped. Since April 2009, CDC has received reports of 95 laboratory-confirmed pediatric 2009 H1N1 deaths and another 7 pediatric deaths that were laboratory confirmed as influenza, but where the flu virus subtype was not determined.

- Forty-six states are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. This many reports of widespread activity are unprecedented during seasonal flu.

- Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the virus chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exception.

Can H1N1 flu virus in pregnancy change genes in the brains of the unborn?

2009-10-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Swine flu in pregnant women may change the genes of unborn children resulting in damage to the hippocampus. According to the article, neuroscientists found that the H1N1 changes the genes that control brain growth and development in the unborn child. The scientists published their report in the medical journal, European Neuropsychopharmacology, listing more than a dozen genes that the swine flu virus adversely affected.

Geneticists want to know how some of those genes are tied to the development of the hippocampus, a component of the brain involved in long term memory and spatial navigation.

If the flu itself damages the hippocampus, the result could be linked to autism, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. Let's take a logical look at the original study, published in the medical journal, European Neuropsychopharmacology.

The team of researchers and lead scientist, Hossein Fatemi as part of the experiement, injected pregnant female mice with the H1N1 and studied the brains of the newborn mice. Mice exposed to the H1N1 virus in the womb had a fifteen percent reduction in the size of their hippocampus. Scientists also found twelve other genes that the flu virus negatively affected.

The study has been done on mice, not people. But does the study confirm the public health recommendation that pregnant women need to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus? If so, the question consumers need to ask is whether getting flu shots of the killed virus do anything to the brains of the infants yet unborn when the pregnant women get the recommended shots? On one hand, you don't want to get the flu when pregnant. Your immune system is compromised when you're pregnant. You want protection.

On the other hand, the question is how is your unborn baby's brain going to be affected by the dead virus, the mercury in the shot, or any other factor? You don't want the flu, and vaccination is a priority for pregnant women. But what will the hippocampus of your baby's brain look like? You're not going to be given the live virus up the nose because you'll be shedding it for days after vaccination to other family members, people standing next to you in the stores you shop at, and co-workers.

Swine flu vaccine side effects

2009-04-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

During the past week, many questions have appeared about side effects caused by influenza vaccine. Widespread coverage in the news media resulted from the temporal association between several deaths around the United States and swine flu vaccination. Extensive epidemiologic investigation into the circumstances surrounding these deaths has shown that they were not caused by the swine flu vaccine nor by the swine flu immunization program. In order to put some perspective on the events of the past week and to give a basis upon which to handle the questions about side effects caused by the flu vaccine, the following points should be emphasized.
Influenza vaccine has been used widely in the United States since 1947. Since 1948, no one has ever died from a side effect of influenza vaccine.

The State of Alaska has immunized the high risk population against influenza each year; there has never been a serious side effect in Alaska from influenza vaccine.

There is no evidence that swine flu caused any deaths this year.

More than 25,000 doses of swine flu vaccine have been given in Alaska in the past two weeks. There have been no serious side effects.

What are the side effects associated with swine flu?

Allergic reactions to swine flu vaccine are extremely rare. People who are allergic to eggs should not receive the vaccine. An allergic response from the vaccine would be similar to any other allergic response, and could include hives, wheal formation, bronchospasm, circulatory collapse. These side effects would be expected to occur within several hours of receiving the vaccine. The likelihood of such reaction is so rare that we do not expect that even one person in the entire State of Alaska will suffer this type of reaction.

Other reactions include side effects which a small percentage of people receiving the vaccine will experience. These include redness and tenderness at the injection site, mild fever (101°-102°), chills, nausea, muscle aches, joint pains, loss of appetite, headache, and fatigue. These symptoms may last 2 - 3 days. Pain and tenderness at the injection site may persist up to 1 week. These side effects are to be expected. They should not be alarming. They should be treated supportively with bed rest, mild analgesics such as aspirin or tylenol, and reassurance. If a person has more severe or prolonged side effects, he should be seen by a physician.

Most people have no side effects at all.

Swine flu vaccine is safe and should not produce any "surprises". People calling in must be evaluated on the basis of their symptoms. If they have symptoms which are different than those mentioned above, they are probably not caused by the vaccine and should be evaluated under normal operating procedures.

Swine flu virus prevention

2009-04-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Prevention of swine influenza has three components: prevention in swine, prevention of transmission to humans, and prevention of its spread among humans.

Experts agree that hand-washing can help prevent viral infections, a surprisingly effective way to prevent all sorts of diseases, including ordinary influenza and the new and mysterious swine flu virus. Influenza can spread in coughs or sneezes, but an increasing body of evidence shows little particles of virus can linger on tabletops, telephones and other surfaces and be transferred via the fingers to the mouth, nose or eyes. Alcohol-based gel or foam hand sanitizers work well to destroy viruses and bacteria. Anyone with flu-like symptoms such as a sudden fever, cough or muscle aches should stay away from work or public transportation and should see a doctor to be tested.

Social distancing is another tactic. It means staying away from other people who might be infected and can include avoiding large gatherings, spreading out a little at work, or perhaps staying home and lying low if an infection is spreading in a community.

Prevention in swine

Swine influenza has become a greater problem in recent decades as the evolution of the virus has resulted in inconsistent responses to traditional vaccines. Standard commercial swine flu vaccines are effective in controlling the infection when the virus strains match enough to have significant cross-protection, and custom (autogenous) vaccines made from the specific viruses isolated are created and used in the more difficult cases.

Present vaccination strategies for SIV control and prevention in swine farms, typically include the use of one of several bivalent SIV vaccines commercially available in the United States. Of the 97 recent H3N2 isolates examined, only 41 isolates had strong serologic cross-reactions with antiserum to three commercial SIV vaccines. Since the protective ability of influenza vaccines depends primarily on the closeness of the match between the vaccine virus and the epidemic virus, the presence of nonreactive H3N2 SIV variants suggests that current commercial vaccines might not effectively protect pigs from infection with a majority of H3N2 viruses.

Prevention of spread in humans

Recommendations to prevent spread of the virus among humans include using standard infection control against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public. Vaccines against the H1N1 strain in the 2009 human outbreak are being developed and could be ready as early as June 2009.

Swine flu vaccine and US

2009-04-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

U.S. scientists hope to have a key ingredient for a swine flu vaccine ready in early May, but tell The Associated Press that the novel virus grows slowly in eggs — the chief way flu vaccines are made.

Even if all goes well, it still will take months before any shots are available for the necessary safety testing in volunteers.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, the Food and Drug Administration's swine flu chief, said Tuesday that scientists are working, in his words, "at 100 miles an hour" to create good raw material to deliver to vaccine manufacturers.

The researchers must engineer a strain that could trigger the immune system without causing illness. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu vaccine chief Dr. Ruben Donis says that work is about a third completed.

Swine flu symptoms

2009-04-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Health experts are bracing for a global epidemic of swine flu, but reassure that it is expected to be less lethal than the avian flu that swept through the world in the past four years (the last victim was reported earlier this week in Egypt). Swine flu victims exhibit similar symptoms to patients infected with the avian flu (or bird flu), and the transmission of the swine flu is wider compared to the avian flu. However, health professionals claim that it results in death in far fewer of cases.

Swine flu symptoms include high fever, body aches, headaches, coughing, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and chills. The disease is transmitted directly between people, and not through animals, making it highly contagious. A single cough of an infected person can transmit the sickness to an entire room full of people.

Swine flue was detected by Mexican laboratories in March 18

Hundreds of thousands of people exposed to the strain have travelled from Mexico to other parts of the world, and it is expected that new cases will be reported at any minute from countries all over the globe.

Nevertheless, authorities warn that the swine flu should not create the global panic which has been felt in the past week. This is due to the fact that it is far less dangerous to patients, and also to the fact that simple precautions can protect from the swine flu: simply staying away from people already infected and breathing through a simple filter such as cloth can defend against most chances of infection.

In addition, an effective medication already exists to treat victims - experts around the world have already concluded that Tamiflu drug should be used to treat the new strain, and will be an efficient countermeasure. It takes about 24 hours to detect the virus called H1N1.

As of today, health authorities in Mexico confirmed that over 150 people died of the swine flu. In Texas and California, where the virus has also been found, the patients were fully recovered. This difference highlights the key factor needed to effectively combat the swine flu – advanced medical services infrastructure. Many specialists claim that the Mexicans are now paying the price of low investment in their public health sector.

Swine influenza (swine flu) - general information

2009-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Swine influenza (also swine flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus that is endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV). Of the three genera of Orthomyxoviridae that are endemic in humans, two are endemic also in swine: Influenzavirus A (common) or Influenzavirus C (rare). Influenzavirus B has not been reported in swine. Within Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus C, the strains endemic to swine and humans are largely distinct.

People who work with poultry and swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of infection with influenza from these animals if the animals carry a strain that is also able to infect humans. SIV can mutate into a form that allows it to pass from human to human. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak is believed to have undergone such a mutation.

In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. In most cases, the strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak causes only mild symptoms.