Word: viruses
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Even without any significant mutations, H1N1 has so far behaved in confounding ways. The virus spread widely in Britain during the summer, but not in other European countries. No one knows why. Mexico reported a sharp increase in cases in late July after health officials there suspected that the virus had begun petering out with the onset of the hot summer months. And then there is emerging evidence that some patients present without fever, making diagnosing H1N1 harder...
...Mobilization If H1N1 is too widespread to contain, we're less sure how it will move through the coming northern winter. In the southern hemisphere, where it is winter now, the virus has been spreading fast, but with a low mortality rate. On Aug. 5, Argentina reported that deaths from H1N1 had more than doubled to 337 from 165 two weeks earlier, with around 700,000 suspected cases of the disease so far. The impact has been widespread. Attendance has dropped at Patagonian ski resorts, and flu fears have crippled the Buenos Aires theater business. Across the region, countries...
...shots spaced four weeks apart. What's more, because the serum won't be ready until at least mid-October, full immunity may not kick in until early December - after the second doses are administered and an additional couple of weeks pass, a time lag that could allow the virus to take off. The target groups for the first round of vaccines will likely include pregnant women, people with children, adults with chronic illnesses like diabetes and asthma and, if more stocks are available, children. "In all likelihood, this flu will hit before vaccine is available for people," explains...
...virus doesn't mutate into something more deadly, health officials in the northern hemisphere face another decision: whether to keep schools open. Young students are known by influenza epidemiologists as "super spreaders" because they shed more flu virus when ill, are unlikely to practice good hand hygiene, and are in close contact with parents and peers. Writing in the August edition of British medical journal the Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers from Imperial College in London predicted that early and prolonged school closures could ease the burden on hospitals by reducing the number of cases at the peak of the pandemic...
...decision on whether to close schools will rest with local officials. In China, no plans to close schools have been announced, but the authorities have urged educators to limit all unnecessary travel and gatherings. But plans may change suddenly in countries that see infection rates soar, or if the virus mutates...