Articles: pandemics.
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Killed and live attenuated influenza virus vaccines are effective in preventing and curbing the spread of influenza epidemics when the strains present in the vaccines are closely matched with the predicted epidemic strains. These vaccines are primarily targeted to induce immunity to the variable major target antigen, hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza virus. ⋯ Conserved vaccine targets including the influenza M2 ion channel protein and HA stalk domains are being developed using recombinant technologies to improve the level of cross protection. In addition, recent studies provide evidence that vaccine supplements can provide avenues to further improve current vaccies.
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Comparative Study
Serum KL-6 and surfactant protein D in children with 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza infection.
A global pandemic influenza A (H1N1) outbreak occurred in 2009. Rapid progress of respiratory distress is one of the characteristic features of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infection. The physiologic mechanism causing hypoxia in pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infection, however, has not been elucidated. ⋯ KL-6 and SP-D elevation were not significant in pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infection associated with chest radiographic abnormality. In pandemic influenza A (H1N1) infection, alveolar involvement was estimated to be little, and severe respiratory distress was probably caused by obstruction of peripheral bronchi.
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Theor Biol Med Model · Nov 2011
The feasibility of age-specific travel restrictions during influenza pandemics.
Epidemiological studies have shown that imposing travel restrictions to prevent or delay an influenza pandemic may not be feasible. To delay an epidemic substantially, an extremely high proportion of trips (~99%) would have to be restricted in a homogeneously mixing population. Influenza is, however, strongly influenced by age-dependent transmission dynamics, and the effectiveness of age-specific travel restrictions, such as the selective restriction of travel by children, has yet to be examined. ⋯ Selectively restricting children from traveling overseas during a pandemic may potentially delay its arrival for a few weeks, depending on the characteristics of the pandemic strain, but could have less of an impact on the economy compared to restricting adult travelers. However, as long as adults have at least a moderate potential to trigger an epidemic, selectively restricting the higher risk group (children) may not be a practical option to delay the arrival of an epidemic substantially.
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Comparative Study
Low adherence to influenza vaccination campaigns: is the H1N1 virus pandemic to be blamed?
Over the last few months, debates about the handling of the influenza virus A (H1N1) pandemic took place, in particular regarding the change of the WHO pandemic definition, economic interests, the dramatic communication style of mass media. The activation of plans to reduce the virus diffusion resulted in an important investment of resources. Were those investments proportionate to the risk? Was the pandemic overrated? The workload of the Pediatric Emergency Room (P.E.R.) at a teaching hospital in Varese (Northern Italy) was investigated in order to evaluate the local diffusion and severity of the new H1N1 influenza epidemic. ⋯ The communication strategy adopted by the mass media was an important element during the pandemic: the absence of clarity contributed to the spread of a pandemic phobia that appeared to result more from the sensationalism of the campaign than from infection with the novel influenza A variant of human, avian, swine origin virus. One relevant effect of the media coverage was the extremely low adherence rate to the vaccination campaign for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, especially among the high-risk population and health care workers. One positive consequence was, however, the spread of preventive hygiene measures, such as hand washing.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Nov 2011
Clinical characteristics of adult patients with influenza-like illness hospitalized in general ward during Influenza A H1N1 pandemic 2009/2010.
To investigate clinical and laboratory features of patients with Influenza A H1N1 virus infection hospitalized during 2009/2010 pandemic. ⋯ In this study patients infected with Influenza A H1N1 differed from H1N1 negative ILI patients in several clinical and laboratory characteristics. The same was observed also by other investigators. The results of the study suggest some other specific features, such as a higher incidence of headache and higher values of troponin in Influenza A H1N1 infected patients.