posted on May 21, 2009 06:23:24 AM new
cant find the old thread,but here is an article in WSJ on older folks who have been exposed to the 1918 swine flu-
Older adults may have some immunity to the new H1N1 flu virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, a finding that could explain why the disease has spread mostly among children and young adults.
People who had been infected with a related H1N1 virus that circulated between 1918 and 1957 could have some protection against the new swine flu, said Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division.
The latest finding, which the CDC is expected to publish Thursday, would confirm what many flu experts already suspect. U.S. cases are mostly people between 5 and 24 years old; the majority of patients hospitalized are under 50 years old.
That's quite different from the impact of a normal flu season, which takes its heaviest toll on the very young and the very old.
"It makes a lot of sense," Richard Wenzel, chairman of the department of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, said of the finding. While visiting hospitals in Mexico City this month, "I saw young adults on respirators and young adults dying," he said. "Older adults weren't really part of the pattern."
Only 13% of U.S. patients hospitalized with the new flu are age 50 or over, according to an analysis of a portion of those patients, Dr. Jernigan said. By contrast, 37% of patients are between the ages of 19 and 49 years old, 18% are between 10 and 18 years old, and 11% are between 5 and 9 years old.
The current outbreak bears a resemblance to the 1918 pandemic, in which death rates were highest among young adults, said James Steinberg, professor of infectious diseases at Emory University in Georgia. One possible reason was that older adults had been exposed to a similar flu virus in the late 1800s, he said. Another possible explanation was that the robust immune systems of younger people kicked into overdrive, leading to fatalities.
The H1N1 virus was introduced into the human population by the 1918 pandemic and circulated widely until 1957. Then it was replaced in another pandemic by a new strain known as H3N2.
The H1N1 virus later reemerged as a seasonal flu and has circulated for years, but it differs from both the previous and new strains.
While further studies are needed to determine how well older adults are protected from the new flu strain, "there's evidence of reactivity and we can infer there is some level of protection" in the blood serum studies done so far, said Dr. Jernigan.
At least 10,243 people in 41 countries have been confirmed to be infected by the new virus and 80 have died, according to the World Health Organization.
The WHO urged vaccine makers Wednesday to set aside a portion of any H1N1 vaccine produced for poorer countries.
The U.S. had 5,710 confirmed and probable H1N1 flu cases in 48 states as of Wednesday, the CDC said.
Utah health officials on Wednesday reported the death of a man who also had underlying health problems.
In Arizona, health officials said a 13-year-old boy from Tucson with swine flu has died, the Associated Press reported. The teenager died Friday of complications from the flu.
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Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
