Related topics: swine flu , influenza , pandemic
Influenza pandemic
hideAn influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads on a worldwide scale and infects a large proportion of the human population. In contrast to the regular seasonal epidemics of influenza, these pandemics occur irregularly, with the 1918 Spanish flu the most serious pandemic in recent history. Pandemics can cause high levels of mortality, with the Spanish influenza estimated as being responsible for the deaths of over 50 million people. There have been about three influenza pandemics in each century for the last 300 years. The most recent ones were the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu in 1968.
Influenza pandemics occur when a new strain of the influenza virus is transmitted to humans from another animal species. Species that are thought to be important in the emergence of new human strains are pigs, chickens and ducks. These novel strains are unaffected by any immunity people may have to older strains of human influenza and can therefore spread extremely rapidly and infect very large numbers of people. Influenza A viruses can occasionally be transmitted from wild birds to other species causing outbreaks in domestic poultry and may give rise to human influenza pandemics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns[when?] that there is a substantial risk of an influenza pandemic within the next few years[when?]. One of the strongest candidates is a highly pathogenic variation of the H5N1 subtype of Influenza A virus. As of 2006, prepandemic influenza vaccines are being developed against the most likely suspects which include H5N1, H7N1, and H9N2. Certain scholars and senior policy advisors argue that pandemic influenza represents a substantive threat to the international economy, to each nation's national security, and a challenge to international governance.
On 11 June 2009, a new strain of H1N1 influenza was declared to be a global pandemic (Stage 6) by the World Health Organization after evidence of spreading in the southern hemisphere.
For more information about Influenza pandemic, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with influenza pandemic
Predicting effectiveness of flu vaccination campaigns
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A new study, published by Elsevier this month in Vaccine, describes a new method that assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of a range of vaccination options. The model was applied to the 2009 Influenza H1N1 outbreak and pr ...
Researcher to track spread of disease, malware and power outages
Feb 04, 2010 |
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An assistant professor with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering has won a $750,000 federal grant to formulate a mathematical framework that can track the spread of pandemics among populations and malware ...
Study finds face masks and hand hygiene can help limit influenza's spread
Jan 21, 2010 |
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Ordinary face masks and hand hygiene can effectively reduce the transmission of influenza-like illness during flu season. The finding comes from a new study, now available online, published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of ...
Insect cells provide the key to alternative swine flu vaccination
Jan 04, 2010 |
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Scientists in Vienna have developed a new technique for producing vaccines for H1N1, 'swine flu', based on insect cells. The research, published today in the Biotechnology Journal, reveals how influenza vaccines can be pro ...
Short-term school closures may worsen flu pandemics, study finds
Dec 30, 2009 |
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Closing schools for less than two weeks during a flu pandemic may increase infection rates and prolong an epidemic, say University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published ahead-of-print and online in the Journal of ...
Influenza in Africa should not be ignored
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Influenza is circulating in Africa, but virtually no information or attention is evident, says a new essay in this week's PLoS Medicine. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that the lack of adequate surveillance means ...
Pandemic toolkit offers flu with a view
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As communities brace for rising wintertime influenza cases, scientists are developing a mathematical and visual analytic toolkit to help health officials quickly analyze pandemics and craft ...
Study highlights implications of influenza pandemics on blood supplies
Dec 09, 2009 |
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A German research team has examined data on supply and demand for blood transfusions against a computer simulation of an influenza pandemic, and discovered that a severe pandemic scenario could quickly lead to a deficit of ...
Severity of H1N1 flu in US during current flu season may be less than feared
Dec 08, 2009 |
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A new study from researchers at the UK Medical Research Council and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) projects that the severity of the H1N1 flu during the autumn-winter flu season in the U.S. will likely be less ...
Vaccination, antivirals and social distancing may blunt impact of H1N1 influenza
Dec 03, 2009 |
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The relatively low number of new cases created by a single case of H1N1 influenza indicates that mitigation strategies such as vaccination, social distancing and the use of antiviral drugs may help to lessen the final impact ...
Communicating in a pandemic: New research identifies what we want to know and when
Oct 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- How much information do people want in the event of an influenza pandemic? When do they want to be told, and who should the information come from?
H1N1 simulation modeling shows rapid vaccine rollout effective in reducing infection rates
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Early action, especially rapid rollout of vaccines, is extremely effective in reducing the attack rate of the H1N1 influenza virus, according to a simulation model of a pandemic outbreak reported in a new study in CMAJ (Canad ...
H1N1 critical illness can occur rapidly; predominantly affects young patients
Oct 12, 2009 |
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Critical illness among Canadian patients with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severely low levels of oxygen in the blood, multi-system organ ...
Aspirin misuse may have made 1918 flu pandemic worse
Oct 02, 2009 |
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The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Di ...
Prenatal exposure to flu pandemic increased chances of heart disease
Oct 01, 2009 |
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People exposed to a H1NI strain of influenza A while in utero were significantly more likely to have cardiovascular disease later in life, reveals a new study to be published in Journal of Developmental Origins of Health an ...
