Friday, May 31, 2013

New flu strains prompt review of current research, call to redouble flu fight

May 30, 2013

Despite numerous medical advances over the past century, the flu—a seasonal rite of passage for many around the world—still remains deadly and dangerous. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 are hospitalized from influenza annually just in the United States, and between 30,000 to 50,000 die from this infection. The flu takes a heavy financial toll as well, leading countries to lose billions in direct medical costs, loss of productivity, and loss of life. In April of this year, a new flu strain known as H7N9, thought to have the potential to cause a pandemic, emerged in China. This novel strain's high mortality rate, more than 20 percent, has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue predictions of hospitalizations, deaths, and economic impacts several times higher than those caused by the typical seasonal flu.

 In light of this new information, researchers have published a comprehensive overview of current flu research and efforts to combat this potentially lethal disease, including global surveillance to track the flu and vaccines and antiviral drugs currently in use. They also issue a call to improve efforts to fight the flu, including improving surveillance, developing new types of vaccines and drugs, and—most importantly—improving efforts to educate the public about the flu. This review article, entitled "Adapting global influenza management strategies to address emerging viruses", is published online by the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. The new article is written by Diana L. Noah and James W. Noah, both of the Southern Research Institute.

Continued: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-flu-strains-prompt-current-redouble.html

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