Study: 1918 Flu Survivors Immune to H1N1

(AP)  A new study finds that the way swine flu multiplies in the respiratory system is more severe than ordinary winter flu.

Tests in monkeys, mice and ferrets show that the swine flu thrives in greater numbers all over the respiratory system, including the lungs, and causes lesions, instead of staying in the head like seasonal flu.

In addition, blood tests show that many survivors of the 1918 flu pandemic seem to have immunity to the current swine flu, but not to the seasonal flu that hits every year.

Those were findings from a study by a top University of Wisconsin flu researcher that was released Monday and will be published in the journal Nature.

The researcher, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, said he is more concerned about swine flu because of these results.


For more info:

In vitro and in vivo characterization of new swine-origin H1N1 influenza viruses (Nature)

[quidam56]

As a former health care giver, I am shocked and saddened to see what has become of health care in America. $ 1. 4 million is being spent per day in DC by the health care lobbyists so your elected representative is getting taken care of and has quality health care we pay for and can't afford ourselves for our families, I know what is deemed, defended and supported in Tennessee and Virginia as quality health care and clearly profit care comes ahead of patient care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 MRSA ( methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureas ) is infesting our communities because filthy, uncaring hospitals and emergency rooms are breeding them and spreading them into our schools, homes, restaurants. How many more Americans' will be diseased or die while 74 % of Americans' are begging for health care reform ? More people died in America last year from MRSA complications than AIDS. When MRSA and a flu bug start mixing, it won't be pretty and we are being infected by the very health care system we depend on and trust to keep us safe and healthy.