Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why is it that young/middle-aged and otherwise-healthy people keep on getting very sick from H1N1 more than many other flu strains to the point of hospitalization (with some dying from it even), if it's already been 4-5 years since the current strain of H1N1 broke out? Is it because a strain takes some time to transition itself from pandemic mode (where relatively young and healthy people die disproportionately) to seasonal mode (where the very young, the very old, and immuno-compromised are the most vulnerable), even if something like H1N1 is now considered a seasonal strain? Or can you say that H1N1 is somewhat more aggressive altogether than other seasonal flu strains, no matter what?
Because H1N1 is related to the pandemic Spanish Influenza of 1918, which proportionally killed younger people. The theory is that younger people at that time were too young to have been exposed to an even earlier flu in 1889. Today, same logic. Older adults have had exposure to similarly related flu in 1957 and 1968. And new research suggest that yearly flu shots over time raise immunity to many versions of influenza, and older adults are more vigilant about getting annual flu vaccinations.
Good academic flu article on "The Mother of All Pandemics":
Because H1N1 is related to the pandemic Spanish Influenza of 1918, which proportionally killed younger people.
So is the particular strain of H1N1 that has been around since 2009 even more directly related to the "Spanish" flu of 1918-1919 than most of the flu strains that have been going around in developed countries for the past 10-20 years?
So is the particular strain of H1N1 that has been around since 2009 even more directly related to the "Spanish" flu of 1918-1919 than most of the flu strains that have been going around in developed countries for the past 10-20 years?
Pandemic (not annual) Flu:
1918 Spanish Flu: H1N1
1957 Asian Flu: H2N2
1968 Hong Kong Flu: H3N2
1997 Avian Flu: H5N1
2009 Swine Flu: H1N1
In other words, H1N1 never went away, really. The other flu pandemics in the 20th Century were "reassortments" of the H1N1 pattern.
I don't pretend to understand the genetics, but this article makes it fairly simple:
I think this year 2014 the H1N1 is coming back, or some sort of swine flu this year.
Earlier in Feb this year, I got hit by the flu. High fever, chills, body aches for first few days, then it goes away but the cough never did. I end up coughing like 2 weeks, cough so much my ribcage hurts!
After the cough is gone, I lost my voice for like a week.
Total of about 1 month before I get full recovery, no joke.
Those who have young in your family, should considered the flu shot .
I'm in California and we have 318 deaths so far from this year Flu, prett bad this year, higher than last year rate.
So the seasonal flu strains that make the very young, the very old, and the immuno-compromised the sickest (with other groups being only mildly ill) and that have been around with us in, say, North America for the past 30, 40, or 50 years - are they different strains from H2N2 or H3N2, let alone H1N1?
So the seasonal flu strains that make the very young, the very old, and the immuno-compromised the sickest (with other groups being only mildly ill) and that have been around with us in, say, North America for the past 30, 40, or 50 years - are they different strains from H2N2 or H3N2, let alone H1N1?
There are 3 genera of flu viruses: A, B, and C. The H and N refer to proteins produced by the influenza virus. Different proteins are given different numbers, so the H1 protein is different from the H2 protein or the H3 protein. New viruses are also described by where, the order, and when they were first found:
A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)
The 2009 pandemic virus is the same as the 1918 virus and oddly was never given a standard name like that. it is A(H1N1)pdm09.
So the seasonal flu strains that make the very young, the very old, and the immuno-compromised the sickest (with other groups being only mildly ill) and that have been around with us in, say, North America for the past 30, 40, or 50 years - are they different strains from H2N2 or H3N2, let alone H1N1?
Yes. To further simplify, only Type A has caused pandemics, likely because it permanently lives in humans somewhere on the planet, and in common animals---pigs, horses---but most worryingly, in wild birds and domesticated poultry---which may help make it the most "foreign" strain to humans. But only rarely does A become pandemic (only 5 times in the past 100 years). However, worldwide transmission via air travel is another matter today. It can quickly mutate as it circles the globe.
Type B is almost exclusively found in humans, except for ferrets and seals (!). Type B is a slow mutator. Type B (and Type A) can cause localized epidemics. Type C hangs out in humans, dogs and pigs, but is symptomatically mild and is nearly irrelevant to the topic of serious illness from influenza. All 3 types appear as annual flus. Flu vaccines only protect for Types A & B.
So flu vaccines only protect for Types A and B, which there is a chance you can still get H1N1 flu?
Ah, no wonder why I got sick with the flu last month, it knock me down hard, must be the H1N1
So flu vaccines only protect for Types A and B, which there is a chance you can still get H1N1 flu?
Ah, no wonder why I got sick with the flu last month, it knock me down hard, must be the H1N1
H1N1 is a type A virus. Each year a new vaccine is produced against the strains most likely to be circulating. The vaccine for this year includes the 2009 H1N1, which is the predominant strain actually circulating. There are two vaccines, one containing three strains and one containing four:
"The 2013-2014 trivalent influenza vaccine is made from the following three viruses:
an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A(H3N2) virus antigenically like the cell-propagated prototype virus A/Victoria/361/2011;
a B/Massachusetts/2/2012-like virus.
It is recommended that the quadrivalent vaccine containing two influenza B viruses include the above three viruses and a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus."
The vaccine does not provide 100% effectiveness and it takes about two weeks to work. If you became ill soon after you took the vaccine, you may have already been exposed before you got it. Or, you could have gotten a strain not covered by the vaccine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
