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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0510180250.htm
Potential Flu Pandemic Lurks
May 10, 2013 ? An MIT study has identified influenza viruses circulating in pigs and birds that could pose a risk to humans.
In the summer of 1968, a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong Kong. This strain, known as H3N2, spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.
A new study from MIT reveals that there are many strains of H3N2 circulating in birds and pigs that are genetically similar to the 1968 strain and have the potential to generate a pandemic if they leap to humans. The researchers, led by Ram Sasisekharan, the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, also found that current flu vaccines might not offer protection against these strains.
"There are indeed examples of H3N2 that we need to be concerned about," says Sasisekharan, who is also a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. "From a pandemic-preparedness point of view, we should potentially start including some of these H3 strains as part of influenza vaccines."
The study, which appears in the May 10 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, also offers the World Health Organization and public-health agencies' insight into viral strains that should raise red flags if detected...
...Journal Reference:
Kannan Tharakaraman, Rahul Raman, Nathan W. Stebbins, Karthik Viswanathan, Viswanathan Sasisekharan, Ram Sasisekharan. Antigenically intact hemagglutinin in circulating avian and swine influenza viruses and potential for H3N2 pandemic. Scientific Reports, 2013; 3 DOI: 10.1038/srep01822
Potential Flu Pandemic Lurks
May 10, 2013 ? An MIT study has identified influenza viruses circulating in pigs and birds that could pose a risk to humans.
In the summer of 1968, a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong Kong. This strain, known as H3N2, spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.
A new study from MIT reveals that there are many strains of H3N2 circulating in birds and pigs that are genetically similar to the 1968 strain and have the potential to generate a pandemic if they leap to humans. The researchers, led by Ram Sasisekharan, the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, also found that current flu vaccines might not offer protection against these strains.
"There are indeed examples of H3N2 that we need to be concerned about," says Sasisekharan, who is also a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. "From a pandemic-preparedness point of view, we should potentially start including some of these H3 strains as part of influenza vaccines."
The study, which appears in the May 10 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, also offers the World Health Organization and public-health agencies' insight into viral strains that should raise red flags if detected...
...Journal Reference:
Kannan Tharakaraman, Rahul Raman, Nathan W. Stebbins, Karthik Viswanathan, Viswanathan Sasisekharan, Ram Sasisekharan. Antigenically intact hemagglutinin in circulating avian and swine influenza viruses and potential for H3N2 pandemic. Scientific Reports, 2013; 3 DOI: 10.1038/srep01822
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