H1N1 Information

Some interesting information regarding the H1N1 influenza A outbreak. This is a very interesting case study on a group of travelers to China: http://infectious-diseases.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1014/2 It seems that this virus has a somewhat limited airborne transition area.

Additionally it seems that secondary infections, such as pneumonia are responsible for a lot of the deaths in healthy people. This makes a strong case for pneumonia vaccine and/or antibiotics to be administered in suspected H1N1 cases. The CDC has said that over 50% of H1N1 cases will be asymptomatic and that places that had been hard hit in the spring are not showing many cases in the fall. This could mean that large segments of the population have already had the virus and are now immune. Adding to this is the fact that the fast test for the virus is highly unreliable, providing a large portion of false negative results.

When you digest the actual information about this bug, you begin to realize that it is not the global killer that the press hoped it was. However it is an interesting virus as its emergence was unusual due to rapidity and genetic makeup. The former might be more of a reflection of the modern world than of the virus's properties.

--TWM