Thoughts on influenza

Swine flu update (5/15/09
Reading AP notes originating from WHO (World Health Organization)I learned that the flu, although being dowplayed to avoid hysteria and anxiety, is still very much with us. The cases aren't enormous and the disease does seem to be somewhat milder and the death rate is not alarming, but it still thrives.

The ongoing meeting of the scientific minds is about the flu vaccine for this fall's flu season. In a few weeks the vaccine manufacturers will begin to work on producing their quota. At present the makeup of the vaccine and what strains of the flu virus will be targeted is in the planning stage. To learn more...

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If I were not writing about the present flu scare worldwide, I would not be so concerned about its possible impact later on. As it is, my research into how the flu virus keeps changing and re-assorting itself keeps me wondering what is it up to now.

One concern is how it will play out in Australia and New Zealand now that their annual flu season is only now beginning. Their winter is our summer. We, in the Northern hemisphere, is at the the end of our usual flu and theirs are only beginning.

Usually, flu is flu no matter where you but what makes the swine flu so different, is that each new case is almost always tracked back to Mexico where it originated. To read more of what I have written for Helium concerning Swine Flu, check out the following articles:

A look at the ways the CDC can fight an epidemic outbreak

How to prevent swine flu in children

Genetics of the swine flu outbreak

Differences between swine flu and avian flu

The pandemic and epidemic in the 20th century

How to prevent swine flu infection

How to contain the spread of swine flu

How to treat swine flu

An overview of the influenza sequencing
project

The difference between 1976 and 2009
swine flu outbreak

The origins of the 2009 swine flu outbreak