Swine Flu Pedia

Swine flu killed a man in Washington state, the third U.S. death from a virus American scientists say so far lacks the lethal traits of the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic or the bird flu fatal to half those infected.

A Snohomish County man in his 30s with “underlying heart conditions” died last week from what appear to be swine flu- related complications, the state’s health department said in a statement on its Web site.

Still, the genetic blueprint of the new H1N1 virus sweeping the globe is “good news,” Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday. Swine flu, now in 29 countries, may yet exchange genetic material with other viruses and mutate into something worse, Schuchat told reporters in a conference call from Atlanta.

“The good news so far is that the virulence markers for the 1918 and H5N1 influenza viruses do not appear in the H1N1 strain,” Schuchat said. “What we don’t know is whether there may be other virulence markers. Remember the first wave of the 1918 virus was mild and the next wave was devastating.”

As swine flu spreads, its symptoms have been less severe than Mexico’s first fatalities suggested. That could change, Schuchat said. How the virus behaves as the Southern Hemisphere flu season begins, and whether it comes roaring back in the U.S. in a nastier form later, depends in part on whether its traits hold steady, mutate, or mingle with the deadly H5N1 bird flu circulating in Asia, Schuchat said.

The flu has sickened at least 3,440 in 29 countries, the World Health Organization said yesterday on its Web site, and killed at least 49, not including the Washington death. Costa Rica said a 53-year-old man who had diabetes and lung disease died, the first fatality outside North America, the Associated Press said.

U.S. Cases

The U.S. had nearly 3,000 cases as of yesterday, about 20 percent more than the day before, and “the numbers are likely a very great understatement,” Schuchat said.

“It’s too soon to say things are getting better. We’re still accelerating,” Schuchat said.

The U.S. confirmed 2,254 cases and two deaths in 45 states, and had 720 probable cases, Schuchat said. The increase came as test kits reached all states and laboratories processed backlogged samples from suspected patients, the CDC said.

Mexico, where the flu has hit hardest, confirmed 1,626 cases and 48 deaths, Health Minister Carlos Olmos told reporters yesterday in Mexico City. Stringent measures beginning with the national closing of schools saved more than 8,000 lives, Mexico officials said.

Norway became the 30th nation to confirm human infections, in two people aged in their 20s who returned home recently from Mexico, the Nordic nation’s Institute of Public Health said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

Japan confirmed a fourth case and Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Jim Bishop, told Nine Network television today more infections are inevitable in that country. Both nations confirmed their first cases yesterday. Hong Kong said it was holding two travelers for observation, after it released 351 people yesterday from a week-long quarantine.

Source from Bloomberg