H1N1 virus is much more dangerous than human thought

A recent detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that this is a more dangerous disease than people think.

In the quick report published in Nature, the international team led by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka provided a detailed picture of the H1N1 flu virus as well as its toxicity.

Unlike regular seasonal flu viruses, H1N1 shows the ability to penetrate deep into lung cells, where it causes pneumonia and even leads to death in severe cases. In contrast, seasonal influenza viruses usually only attack cells in the upper part of the respiratory system.

'People are misunderstanding about this virus,' said Kawaoka, a professor of medicine at the Madison School of Pharmacy. 'The current H1N1 flu is thought to be a regular seasonal flu. But new research has the opposite result. There is clear evidence to confirm that this is not a seasonal flu virus. '

The ability to attack the lungs is a very frightening ability, it is similar to other viruses that once caused major epidemics, such as the 1918 flu pandemic that killed tens of millions of people at the end of World War I. In addition, the current H1N1 virus has many similarities with the 1918 virus, Kawaoka revealed - research shows that people born before 1918 have antibodies that protect them from the attack of the H1N1 virus.

And most likely, he added, the virus will become even more dangerous because the disease is still spreading and the virus has developed new features. It is currently the flu season in the southern hemisphere, and the H1N1 virus will grow even more when the northern hemisphere enters autumn and winter - the flu season is common in this region.

The H1N1 flu virus (red) has been shown to have higher toxicity than previously thought scientists. The small thread-like shape of this virus is also thought to be very unusual. (Photo: copyrighted by Yoshihiro Kawaoka)

To assess the toxicity of the H1N1 virus, Kawaoka and colleagues tried to infect the virus with a regular seasonal flu virus for mice, ferrets, and primates.They found that the H1N1 virus replicates much faster in the respiratory system than the seasonal influenza virus and causes serious damage to the lungs , similar to the virus-induced lesions in previous pandemics.

'When we conducted experiments in ferrets and monkeys, seasonal flu viruses were not replicated in the lungs,' Kawaoka explained. 'Meanwhile, the H1N1 virus is especially effective in this organization.'

New research was conducted with virus samples taken from patients in California, Wisconsin, the Netherlands and Japan.

The new Nature report also assesses the immune response of these animal herds to the new virus. The most notable finding, according to Kawaoka, is that people who were infected with the 1918 flu virus are now very old but have antibodies that neutralize the H1N1 virus. 'People with high antibody standards are those born before 1918 ,' he said.

Kawaoka said that the concern from this study is that the H1N1 virus turned out to be far more dangerous than previous reports, but the results also showed that antiviral drugs were being used or are in the process of testing. All experiments are effective protective barriers and slow the spread of disease in the community.

According to Kawaoka, there are currently three types of antiviral compounds, and the team tested mice 'effectiveness of two of these three compounds and two other antiviral drugs tested. 'The drugs being used and tested all work well on sample animals, ensuring that they will also work well in humans.'

Antiviral drugs are considered top protection barriers while the development and mass production of flu vaccines takes at least several months.

Refer:

Itoh, Y. et al.In vitro and in vivo characterization of new H1N1 influenza viruses.Nature, July 13, 2009 DOI: 10.1038 / news.2009.680