Older people immune to the new flu virus
POSTED May 21, 2009 - 14:57 | POSTED BY Harleen Kaur
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on May 21, 2009 - 15:42
According to the deputy director of the CDC’s Influenza Division, Daniel Jernigan, elders who had got infected with a related flu virus H1N1 earlier may have some sort of protection against the latest swine flu.
The old immune to H1N1
The federal health officials added that those born before 1957 were immune to the swine flu virus. This was confirmed by the tests on blood serum of these people. Tests revealed that elder people had antibodies that attacked the swine flu virus.
“The further back you go in time, the more likely you are to have been exposed to H1N1 virus back before 1957, and there is a possibility that having exposure to that virus many years ago may allow you to have some [antibody] reaction to the new H1N1 that's now circulating,” said Dr. Jernigan.
Director of St. Louis University’s vaccine center, Robert Belshe, said, “It’s one of the few good reasons to be over the age of 50.”
Young bear the brunt of swine flu
The findings reveal that the maximum number of swine flu victims belong to the age group of 5-24 years and the most of the people hospitalized are below 50 years of age. The normal seasonal flu generally affects the old and the very young people, quite contrary to the swine flu.
Referring to the latest finding, the chairman of the department of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richard Wenzel, after his visit to various hospitals in Mexico City, said, “It makes a lot of sense. I saw young adults on respirators and young adults dying.”
“Older adults weren't really part of the pattern,” he added.
“When we look at the number of cases that have been hospitalized, the median age of those being hospitalized is 19 years. Those 19 to 49 are the largest chunk being hospitalized,” reiterated Jernigan.
According to Dr. Jernigan, out of the 247 hospitalized people, just 13 percent are above 50 years of age, while the normal flu season has nearly 90 percent of older adults getting hospitalized.
So far, there have been swine flu cases in nearly 41 nations, according to the WHO (World Health Organization).
