Influenza A (H1N1) Blog

Posts Tagged ‘swine flu’

1. October 19, 2010

   The pandemic Influenza keeps reassorting

   After more than a year of the Influenza A H1N1 episode, the virus is still being monitored all over the world, both the flu cases and genetics diversity of the virus. Following up the genetic diversity helps to understand if the vaccine is still efficient and helps identifying the possible appearance of new strains.
   In Hong [...]

2. October 14, 2010

   Influenza A H1N1: current state

   A year has passed since the first cases of Influenza A H1N1 in Mexico, we had over 18000 deaths confirmed by lab diagnosis and reported to WHO. Surely an underestimate of the total number of cases.
   The average mortality was of 0.5% of the confirmed cases, close to the seasonal flu. The mortality values varied a [...]

3. June 22, 2010

   Pigs are reservoirs of Influenza

   Why were the older people less affected by the new flu?

   ©be_khe

   The elderly, especially those older than 65 years, that is, born before 1944, constitute the part of the population less affected by H1N1. It was suggested and later confirmed by CDC that it is about the prior immunity to the virus. These people probably have [...]

4. February 16, 2010

   Pandemic Influenza: the role of pigs

   Birds are important in the natural history of Influenza and flu, but there is another character besides us humans. The pigs.

   Our knowledge of Influenza in pig dates back to at least 1918 when it was observed that they could also catch the flu during a time when the human flu caused an uneven pandemic. In [...]

5. February 9, 2010

   Diversity of the Influenza and the reassortment

   One of the most important characteristics to be considered about the Influenza, in the preparation for pandemics, is the reassortment. A mixture of genes of two or more different viruses is able to generate a new variety. Such as the new Influenza A (H1N1).
   Although the mutations have an important role in the diversity of the [...]