Joey_V
Well-known member
Swine flu is dangerous because it is a variation of the Spanish Flu which killed so many nearly 100 years ago. Both are H1N1 variants.
The Swine Flu has a propensity for antigenic shift - which is a rapid restructuring of their antigenic presentations at the outer membrane of the virus, this would render vaccines useless and may render current treatments like Tamiful and Relenza to be quickly ineffective.
The regular flu which is usually labeled as one that causes epidemics (not pandemics) mutates much more slowly in a manner known as antigenic drift - where a slight variation of the antigenic coat of the virus occurs over time. There are many strains with minor variations, but one or two become most dominant and these are the basis for our Trivalent Influenza Vaccine each year.
The biggest problem with a pandemic strain like the Swine Flu is that it has the ability to cause a near 100 fold increase in mortality due to the quick ability of the virus to completely shed its antigenic coat and don a new one - rendering the body helpless in antibody production, and our meds and vaccinations to nil.
To put it into perspective, the regular flu epidemic kills nearly 500,000 worldwide (last I read). This is a 0.1% mortality rate.
The Swine Flu, being a pandemic flu, can kill up to 50,000,000... a mortality rate of between 10-20% of its victims.
Wash your hands, if you're sick stay home, don a mask if you go to a hospital's emergency room.
The Swine Flu has a propensity for antigenic shift - which is a rapid restructuring of their antigenic presentations at the outer membrane of the virus, this would render vaccines useless and may render current treatments like Tamiful and Relenza to be quickly ineffective.
The regular flu which is usually labeled as one that causes epidemics (not pandemics) mutates much more slowly in a manner known as antigenic drift - where a slight variation of the antigenic coat of the virus occurs over time. There are many strains with minor variations, but one or two become most dominant and these are the basis for our Trivalent Influenza Vaccine each year.
The biggest problem with a pandemic strain like the Swine Flu is that it has the ability to cause a near 100 fold increase in mortality due to the quick ability of the virus to completely shed its antigenic coat and don a new one - rendering the body helpless in antibody production, and our meds and vaccinations to nil.
To put it into perspective, the regular flu epidemic kills nearly 500,000 worldwide (last I read). This is a 0.1% mortality rate.
The Swine Flu, being a pandemic flu, can kill up to 50,000,000... a mortality rate of between 10-20% of its victims.
Wash your hands, if you're sick stay home, don a mask if you go to a hospital's emergency room.
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