Just got off the phone with my childhood friend who got a PHD in bioegineering

[AllentownJake]

The good news:

The Swine Flu from what he can read will probably be pretty easy to create a vaccine for. This was based on proteins and other things he said I did not fully understand.

The bad news:

If it really is taking out people in their 20s-50s as being reports have suggested its similar to the Spanish Flu in one regard. People aren't killed by the virus. People are killed by their bodies reaction and therefore people with healthy immune systems will die because their immune system is strong and over reacts to the virus.

The real bad news:

The over reaction of the body to the flu might complicate a vaccine if that is indeed the case.

Other than that, he said it could be awful or we could be saying "Swine Flu what?" in two weeks.

[Pithy]

1. Good info

Thanks for sharing - I appreciate it.

[Tashca]

2. So much for the survival of the fittest.

Wasn't that Darwin???.....can't remember for sure.

So your telling me that because I have eaten properly and worked out like a fiend for all these years......I have worsened my chances of survival in a worse case scenario??.....oh the irony...

[dflprincess]

8. There is also thought that the older you are and the more Type A

influenza viruses you've had or been exposed to may give you some immunity so you'd at least have a milder case and/or your immune system wouldn't go into overdrive.

There is some intersting observations in this article from the London Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6175909.ece

Predictions suggest that from the time a new virus strain evolves it takes less than a month to spread to about 1,000 cases in its country of origin, and could reach Britain within another two weeks. Once in Britain, it is likely to spread to all main cities within a fortnight.

The risk for the UK (and the northern hemisphere in general) from this Mexican strain will be lower than in other countries because we are coming out of the flu season. It is possible, however, that this strain could come back to affect the UK next winter.

It is worrying that the new virus is affecting young, healthy adults — the group affected by the 1918 flu pandemic.

However, it appears so far that only severe cases are being picked up — what we don’t know is the background of mild illnesses that are not being reported or identified. It is also a good sign that the virus appears to be vulnerable to antiviral drugs that are already stockpiled in Britain.

Avian flu and now this swine flu are currently rated level three out of the WHO’s six levels of pandemic alert — with six the highest. The WHO’s experts meet tomorrow to review the situation.

Interesting that it apparently could fizzle out now and come back next winter - but that would leave more time for a vaccine to be developed.

[northernlights]

11. you have my permission

and even my recommendation to stay out all night, eat, drink, be merry and party hard. Just remember to wash your hands and keep your fingers and toes out of your mouth afterwards ;)

[rocktivity]

3. According to this article, that may not be hard to remedy

Mexico’s Health Secretary, Jose Cordova...described a chilling new strain that had killed only people among the normally less-vulnerable young and mid-adult age range. One possibility is that the most vulnerable segments of the population — infants and the aged — had been vaccinated against other strains, and that those vaccines may be providing some protection…
link

:headbang:
rocktivity

[AllentownJake]

5. My friend believes that the Spanish Flu

was so deadly because the virus caused strong immune systems to over react. I.E. your body actually kills you to kill the virus.

The previous vaccinations would not have an effect in that case. Having a weak immune system could be a beneficial trait against this type of virus because in itself, the virus isn't that bad it your bodies reaction.

[Joe the Revelator]

4. If you want more information on this effect, here is some infomation on Cytikine Storms

http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Science.PrimerCytokineStorm

[FedUpWithIt All]

6. Cytokine storm.

When the immune system is fighting pathogens, cytokines signal immune cells such as T-cells and macrophages to travel to the site of infection. In addition, cytokines activate those cells, stimulating them to produce more cytokines. Normally, this feedback loop is kept in check by the body. However, in some instances, the reaction becomes uncontrolled, and too many immune cells are activated in a single place.

Role in pandemic deaths

It is believed that cytokine storms were responsible for many of the deaths during the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed a disproportionate number of young adults.<1> In this case, a healthy immune system may have been a liability rather than an asset. Preliminary research results from Hong Kong also indicated this as the probable reason for many deaths during the SARS epidemic in 2003. Human deaths from the bird flu H5N1 usually involve cytokine storms as well. Recent reports of high mortality among healthy young adults in the 2009 swine flu outbreak point to cytokine storms as being responsible for these deaths.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm

I am very sorry to keep posting this but it is what the OP is referring to and it IS relevant to the discussion of this flu.

Many of the typical flu home remedies/preventatives can actually increase the cytokine production. This is why i have been parroting this info like a mad woman.

[havocmom]

7. You just keep posting that, no need to apologize for being helpful

Thanks for the info. It actually helps understand a lot. Those of us with auto-immune disorders understand that our own systems can be the problem. Most others do not grasp how that can happen.

Keep up the good work. I have sent the info and links you provide to many others.

[FedUpWithIt All]

9. Thank you havocmom.

:hug:

I keep feeling like i am annoying people. I also know that a few think i am peddling panic.

Normally, i am pretty thick skinned but i happen to have :rofl: a slight fever, headache and sore throat just now. Oh, irony.

[virgogal]

10. Guess I'm safe----I'm really old. Scary stuff,though.

[rustydog]

12. The 70's swine flu had a .001% fatality rate

this one has a 6% fatality rate so far. People don't need to be panicky, but I think I would be geting my info from CDC who has people who actually work in the field of Pandemic responsee instead of reading about it and forming an opinion on what the response is.