By Eliana Raszewski and Jason Gale
July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Scientists wondering why swine flu has killed more people in Argentina than almost any other nation are studying whether a more dangerous mutant has emerged.
The Latin American country has reported more than 130 deaths from the pandemic H1N1 flu virus since June. Analyses of specimens taken from two severely ill patients showed subtle genetic differences in the virus, the International Society for Infectious Diseases said in a report via its ProMED-mail program yesterday.
Scientists from Columbia University and Argentina’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases now plan to decode the complete genomic sequences of at least 150 virus samples over the next 10 days to gauge the frequency of the changes and whether they are linked to more severe illness. Major changes in the pandemic virus could erode the effectiveness of vaccines being prepared to fight the scourge.
“We are cautious about the findings until we have more sequences,” said Gustavo Palacios, assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University, who is participating in the study. The changes already noted haven’t previously been associated with greater virulence, he said today in a telephone interview from New York.
Roche Holding AG’s 454 Life Sciences unit, which makes genetic-sequencing technology, is helping to decode viruses swabbed from patients’ noses and throats. The sequence data will be shared with other scientists for broader analysis, according to ProMED.
U.S. Fatalities
The pandemic virus has infected at least 125,000 people globally, killing about 800, the World Health Organization said. Only the U.S., with 263 deaths, has recorded more fatalities than Argentina. More than 3,000 people have caught the bug in the country, with the biggest surge in cases occurring in the first two weeks of July.
To cope, hospitals such as the Federico Abete, on the outskirts of the capital, Buenos Aires, converted halls and waiting areas into treatment rooms to double the number of beds to 200. At the peak, 120 swine flu patients were hospitalized at Federico Abete with a death rate of four a day. It now has 90 patients confirmed or suspected to have the virus.
“We could say that we are on a downward trend, but we may have a new outbreak in August, when kids go back to school because this flu isn’t going to disappear,” said Carlos Rubinstein, head of research at the hospital, one of the major pandemic-treatment centers in the province of Buenos Aires. “We see fewer patients sent from other hospitals and fewer people coming in who are concerned they have swine flu.”
Seasonal Strain
Rubinstein said he can’t explain why so many cases in Argentina were fatal. Nine of every 10 cases of flu in the country are caused by the pandemic strain, Health Minister Juan Luis Manzur said on July 6. Rubinstein said it’s possible the virus circulating in Argentina swapped some of its genes with a seasonal strain, spawning a new variant.
Others blame the health system and the distraction of a mid-term election on June 28, which saw the ruling coalition lose majority control of congress and was followed by the resignation of former health minister Graciela Ocana.
“We have a more dramatic situation than in other countries because Argentina delayed taking measures before the mid-term elections,” said health economist Ariel Umpierrez, who heads a nongovernmental organization called Medicos sin Banderas, or Doctors Without Flags, which teaches poor people about hygiene and how to prevent and respond to sickness. “We wasted a lot of time.”
A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry in Buenos Aires didn’t immediately respond to a message left by Bloomberg seeking comment.
The Argentine government ordered companies to give 15 days paid leave to pregnant women and people suffering diabetes and auto-immune diseases. It also closed all public offices -- which led to banks and financial markets not operating -- on Friday, July 10, creating a four-day weekend that started with the July 9 national holiday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires at eraszewski@bloomberg.net; Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net
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