Word: influenza
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...were the hundreds of U.S. school closures and the presidential press conferences about hand-washing much ado about not that much? Unfortunately not. As health officials pointed out repeatedly, we're still in the early days of the H1N1 outbreak, and influenza viruses are notoriously unpredictable. Right now the new disease seems to be no more dangerous than the seasonal flu (researchers who have examined the genetic code of the H1N1 virus say it appears to lack key mutations that made past pandemic-causing viruses so deadly), but H1N1 could return next winter in a more lethal form--just...
International health officials who had been on high alert since reports of a new influenza virus first surfaced in late April had also begun to relax--just a bit. Scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found few serious or deadly cases outside Mexico and little evidence of sustained spread of the disease in most countries. Though by May 6 the virus had infected 1,516 people in 22 countries--including 642 in the U.S., where two people have died from it--and the world was still officially on the brink...
...should we spend scarce medical resources swabbing the inside of pigs' nostrils, looking for viruses? Because new pathogens--including H5N1 bird flu, SARS, even HIV--incubated in animal populations before eventually crossing over to human beings. In the ecology of influenza, pigs are particularly key. They can be infected with avian, swine and human flu viruses, making them virological blenders. While it's still not clear exactly where the H1N1 virus originated or when it first infected humans, if we had half as clear a picture of the flu viruses circulating in pigs and other animals...
...discourse focuses on the growing body of research that points to numerous health benefits of the chemical (actually a hormone): it can help prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults and potentially lowers the risk of multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, cancer, heart disease, colds and influenza. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs...
...main reasons it is difficult to track. Those with underlying health problems, such as diabetes or heart disease, seem especially vulnerable -a particular concern for a nation like Japan with a high elderly population. None of the infected are in critical condition, but, as deadly influenza pandemics have proved in the past, the current strain of H1N1 may mutate and become far more virulent - and lethal - by the next flu season. (Read "How to Deal with Swine Flu: Heeding the Mistakes...