Seasonal Flu: 4 Articles

Early flu strains this season resistant to treatment
Mon,Jan.12,2009
Excerpt:

And drug-resistant H1N1 has been found in Asia and other parts of the world, "so resistant influenza could be circulating at the same time as bird flu," said Susan Coffin, medical director of infection prevention and control at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. That raises the possibility of a resistant variety of avian flu, which has proved deadly when it infects humans.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20090112_Early_flu_strains_this_season_resistant_to_treatment.html



One major flu strain resistant to Tamiflu treatment
Thursday, January 15, 2009

Excerpts:
"The decision to treat now is much more difficult," said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, an associate medical director at The Everett Clinic who oversees its flu-shot clinic.
Tu has organized a conference to be held in Everett on Friday with health experts to discuss how doctors should handle new flu cases in light of the Tamiflu resistance.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2008630221_flu15m.html?syndication=rss



Decade’s Worst Flu Marches on Europe After Virus Hits Ireland
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg)

Excerpts:
The epidemic is now hitting France, Germany and Scandinavia, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm. Laboratories reported a 10- fold jump in flu cases in Sweden since the end of 2008 and a government agency says it may be one of the worst seasons of this century. It is being driven by a variant of a strain known as H3N2 that surfaced in Brisbane, Australia in 2007.
-snip-
Hong Kong Flu
The H3N2 strain first appeared in 1968 with the Hong Kong flu that killed an estimated 1 million people. Four decades later, H3N2 reigns as “the major and most troublesome” influenza in humans, New York Medical College researcher Edwin D. Kilbourne wrote in a 2006 study of pandemics.

For many Europeans, it will be their first encounter with the new Brisbane variant, so they will have no natural immunity, said Angus Nicoll, ECDC influenza coordinator in Stockholm. While those who get a flu shot will be protected, Europe’s typically low inoculation rates will increase the amount of illness.

“This will be an important season to watch,” Nicoll said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a8cTy7tbUjhQ&refer=latin_america



Experts study adding extra strain to flu vaccine
Posted By Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press
Posted 2 days ago
Excerpts:
It appears there may be a partial flu shot mismatch again this year, with early data from Canada, the United States and Britain suggesting the vaccine component meant to protect against influenza B is not a match for the flu B viruses causing the most disease.
-snip-
This year’s flu vaccine was designed to protect against B/Yamagata viruses. But in Canada, the U.S. and Britain so far this season, B/Victoria viruses have been responsible for a majority of confirmed flu B cases. It is still early in the season, though, and patterns could still change.
‘‘I think it’s way too early to tell,’’ says Bresee when asked if the B component of the vaccine is mismatched.
-snip-
‘‘The activity is I think beginning and it’s looking like it’s mostly B at the moment — although you know it’s still a shade early to be sure, I think,’’ says Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases expert at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

‘‘And the majority of B isolates so far have been mismatched.... So it’s probably true that there’s going to be a B mismatch.’’
http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1384064&