Community | November 27, 2009 | 23 comments

H1N1 virus mutation means no protection - swine flu vaccine ineffective against Ukraine flu outbreak

source: http://www.examiner.com/x-29228-LA-Health-Technology-Examiner

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ras_menelik
One sample of the Ukraine flu virus has been classed as a low reactor to the H1N1 vaccine. If this mutation spreads, it could result in infection for people who have been vaccinated against the swine flu. Other mutations that have been identified include Tamiflu resistance and complete destruction of the lungs.

Virus mutation and reaction to flu vaccines

Vaccines are created to respond to each different type of virus, and must be adapted if the virus changes too much from the original. Influenza viruses are highly susceptible to mutation, which explains the requirement for a new seasonal flu vaccine each year. When a vaccine provides a strong immune response to a virus, that virus is considered to be a high reactor to the vaccine. In the event that the virus mutates to the point where the vaccine provides a limited or nonexistent level of protection, it is considered a low reactor.

H1N1 mutation and the swine flu vaccine

The samples of the Ukraine flu virus that were analyzed by the World Health Organization provide a great deal of information about the mutations found in this strain of the swine flu. For example, each of the samples from fatalities contained a change in the receptor binding domain for the virus to D225G, which affects the lungs. In addition, one sample has been classed as a low reactor, which means that if that strain of virus were to spread, individuals who have been vaccinated would not be protected.
http://www.examiner.com/x-29228-LA-Health-Technology-Examiner~y2009m11d27-H1N1-v...
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23 comments // H1N1 virus mutation means no protection - swine flu vaccine ineffective against Ukraine flu outbreak

  • Ogaal
    • 0
      Ogaal  

    • They've said that we'd one day day cause a super virus with all that vaccines we make that cause the virus to mutate around them, but I don't think they meant it would be this soon!

    • 2 years ago
  • LowShred
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • Image

    • http://science.jrank.org/pages/2955/Gene-Splicing-Applications-gene-splicing.htm...

      http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=gene+splicing+in+virus&hl=en&um=1&am...

      Have any of you heard of Gene Splicing. This technology is over 50 years old. Early experiments in splicing genes together by combining virus from different animals was carried on by Nazi scientists as well as American, European, and Russian scientists. They have perfected these technologies in order to monkey around with combining virus from various species. They were fascinated to see a virus jump species.

      Gene splicing has been suspected by some microbiologists as one of the causes for HIV to have crossed species to human beings.

      From most reports you hear about the H1N1 virus is that it has jumped species to include birds, pigs, dogs, cats, sheep and humans. Most farmed animals are susceptible to the virus. It is very unusual for a virus to begin as an animal virus and then jump species to include so many species without the help of human gene splicing.

      Whether or not they intended on unleashing a monster super bug to kill off a large population of the planet, as many conspiracy theorists assert, the fact does remain that gene splicing is quite common and is the basis of many Genetically Modified organisms in common use throughout the world.

      Gene splicing has unintended consequences as retroviruses can be transmitted that have extremely long incubation periods or do not become virulent (deadly) until they are passed on from person to person or from mother to child.

      GRANTED THAT MUTATION OCCURS NATURALLY TOO, but natural gene mutation is generally observed over long periods of time like years or decades, not weeks and months.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  

    • "The most obvious risk is of H5N1 combining with the pandemic ... (H1N1) virus, producing a flu virus that is as deadly as the former and as contagious as the latter."

      Zhong told the Chinese media last week that China may have had more H1N1 flu deaths than it has reported, with some local governments possibly concealing suspect cases.

      The doctor is known for his candor and work in fighting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, when nationwide panic and international alarm erupted after it emerged that officials hid or underplayed the spreading epidemic.

      Cover-ups by local governments in 2003 during the SARS epidemic led to the sackings of several officials. More than 300 people died in that outbreak.

      China, the world's most populous country, has reported around 70,000 cases of H1N1 and 53 death from the virus.

      While some regions simply lack the technology to test for H1N1, other areas have been treating deaths as cases of ordinary pneumonia without a question, Zhong said.

      "Some local healthcare authorities are reluctant, unwilling to test patients with severe pneumonia because there's some latent rule which says the more H1N1 deaths, the less effective the control and prevention work in your area," Zhong said.

      Zhong said China's health minister Chen Zhu rang him up last week and agreed with his views. A notice then appeared on the ministry's website threatening severe punishment for officials caught concealing deaths from H1N1 swine flu.

      WHO reported more than 526,060 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 worldwide on November 15, with at least 6,770 deaths. However, it has stressed for months now that the figures were only the tip of the iceberg. Continued...

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  
    • Image

    • China expert warns of pandemic flu mutation
      HONG KONG (Reuters) - China must be alert to any mutation or changes in the behavior of the H1N1 swine flu virus because the far deadlier H5N1 bird flu virus is endemic in the country, a leading Chinese disease expert said.

      Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China's southern Guangdong province, said the presence of both viruses in China meant they could mix and become a monstrous hybrid -- a bug packed with strong killing power that can transmit efficiently among people.

      "China, as you know, is different from other countries. Inside China, H5N1 has been existing for some time, so if there is really a reassortment between H1N1 and H5N1, it will be a disaster," Zhong said in an interview with Reuters Television.

      "This is something we need to monitor, the change, the mutation of the virus. This is why reporting of the death rate must be really transparent."

      The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that H5N1 had erupted in poultry in Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, posing once again a threat to humans.

      "First, it places those in direct contact with birds -- usually rural folk and farm workers -- at risk of catching the often-fatal disease. Second, the virus could undergo a process of "reassortment" with another influenza virus and produce a completely new strain," it said.
      http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5AO16220091125

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  

    • Geneva Saturday, November 28, 2009

      H1N1 flu deaths put at 7,826 worldwide

      At least 7,826 people worldwide have died from laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic H1N1 influenza, an increase of more than 1,000 in the last week, but the actual number is probably much larger than that, the World Health Organization said Friday. Most countries have stopped counting every case, and the totals do not reflect all the deaths linked to the virus, so the actual number is probably substantially larger. In the United States, for example, a little more than 1,000 deaths have been linked firmly to the so-called swine flu virus, but officials estimate that about 4,000 people have actually died from the virus and its complications.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_11_16/en/

      Preliminary tests reveal no significant changes in the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus based on investigations of samples taken from patients in Ukraine. Analyses are being performed by two WHO influenza collaborating centres as part of the global influenza surveillance network.

      Preliminary genetic sequencing shows that the virus is similar to the virus used for production of the pandemic influenza vaccine, reconfirming the vaccine's efficacy at this time.

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • Vierotchka:

      ras menelik, I have friends who are top doctors and scientists working at the WHO from whom I get my information. I consulted with them just before posting that comment, they told me that this ten-day old article is still valid today.

    • 2 years ago
  • neonbunny
  • Vierotchka
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • Regular flu mutates every 6 months . Give or take a month or so . Don't tell me we are "surprised" . Technology is a wonderful and clever thing , but we have quite a long way to catch up with mother natures' intricate and subtle designs . The only way to get through this is to take care of each other . That is how humans have survived adversity in the past . Technology is great and all , just , keep your friends .

    • 2 years ago
  • NuclearLullaby
  • idealist
  • interditx
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Here is what I have been talking about. This, I don't believe is Mother Nature, but Father Death (corporatist world elite).

    • 2 years ago
  • kennymotown
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • jubal:

      Although, Kenny I do echo your sentiment that humanity has become a blight on the planet, but the real reason is that we have institutionalized ignorance in this country. Every institution has become the unwitting, if not fully knowing, accomplices of the distortion.

      Life has become one giant carefully scripted reality TV show full of horrors, penalties, and promises that you could be the next big winner, if the "Price is right".

      We have at least three generations of people now that have been raised on and by the TUBE.

    • 2 years ago
  • kennymotown
  • Kyle_Crenshaw
    • 0
      Kyle_Crenshaw  
    • jubal:

      I have a hard time believing that the "corporatist world elite" have anything to do with a viral mutation. Any biologist will tell you that viruses mutate naturally. But I'll do it for them to save you the mental effort. During DNA or RNA replication, which is necessary for a virus to reproduce, random mutations such as deletion can occur which change the order of codons, and therefore the order of proteins. It occurs not only in viruses, but in bacteria and in human cells. The evidence is antiobiotic resistant infections and birth defects. Next time, think before you comment.

    • 2 years ago
  • neonbunny
    • 0
      neonbunny  
    • jubal:

      ^ He probably knows that. I believe he is referring to the chance that a mutation would happen so soon in just the right place(s) to render the vaccine useless. But nonetheless it is possible that this was just mother nature.

    • 2 years ago
  • neonbunny
  • kennymotown
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