Word: viruses
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Three months later, and the human race is entrenched in a battle with the H1N1 2009 pandemic virus, with infections reported in 168 countries. In this mortal contest, it's the job of Daniels and his fellow virologists to decode the opponent's playbook. Working in a grim, 1930s building in London's northern suburbs (its exterior was used to portray an insane asylum in the blockbuster Batman Begins), scientists at the World Influenza Centre receive virus samples from around the world and use sophisticated machinery to map their genetic structures. During normal years, the scientists concoct the recipe that...
...Right now this pandemic would appear to be a mild one," says the center's director, Alan Hay, 65. "But influenza viruses can change quite suddenly. And there's no reason another, more dangerous virus couldn't emerge with pandemic potential. It's crucial that we keep our eye on the ball...
...hardiness as a human scourge is the result, paradoxically, of the instability of its genetic structure. One flu virus can easily swap genetic information with another or mutate as it reproduces. The World Influenza Centre is one of five WHO centers (there are others in Atlanta, Tokyo and Melbourne, and there's a lab in Memphis specializing in animal influenza) that form the hub of a global influenza-surveillance network. The center receives samples taken from ill patients in more than 100 countries. By examining the genetic makeup of the viruses in these samples, scientists can make educated guesses about...
...reports of a more severe infection with higher mortality rates, we can map the changes that made the virus more severe and monitor its spread. That could help health officials formulate policies," says Hay. "But we are always playing catch-up with flu. It's impossible to stay ahead of this virus...
According to WHO figures, the H1N1 virus has so far proved to be mild, causing only 1,200 deaths among 160,000 confirmed cases. Hay says his team is watching for several changes in the virus' genome that could make the pandemic more severe. The first involves the H1N1 vaccine that is currently in production. The batch is based on a recipe that Hay's team helped put together in April. As it takes six months to produce a vaccine, virologists must be on the lookout for "antigenic drift" - changes in the virus that would let it escape the immune...