Who Knew? New Flu

 

 

# 3138

 

 

In my last blog `Shift Happens’, I illustrated how even a seasonal flu can evolve into a more virulent strain.  

 

Proving that timing is everything, a couple of hours later we are getting reports of a newly discovered mutation in the seasonal H3N2 virus that may be clouding the A/H1N1 picture.

 

 

Maggie Fox, Science Reporter for Reuters, brings us the story.

 

 

Second strain of flu may complicate picture-study

06 May 2009 15:02:09 GMT

Source: Reuters

* Mutations seen in seasonal flu strain

* May have caused Canadian late-season outbreak

* May complicate picture in Mexico

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - A second strain of influenza, one of the seasonal strains, may have mutated and may be complicating the picture in Mexico, Canadian researchers reported on Wednesday.

 

They have found a strain of the H3N2 virus that appears to have made a shift and could have complicated the flu picture in Mexico, epicenter of an outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

 

One was seen in a traveler returning from Mexico, the team at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control reported to Pro-MED, an online forum for infectious disease experts. And it may have been involved in an unusually late outbreak of flu in long-term care facilities this year.

 

(Continue . . . )

 

This is, quite obviously, a story that bears watching. 

 

Who says science is boring?

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