In article <4nguj3$e6m at dfw-ixnews3.ix.netcom.com>,
jessina at ix.netcom.com(Jessina Yu) wrote:
> Hi:
>> Does anyone know of any recent statistics on flu victims? For example:
There's lots of info on influenza around, the problem is getting it all in
the same place at the same time. Best thing to do is to check out the
library for recent reviews, there is also some good data at the WHO
influenza web pages (http://www.who.ch/programmes/emc/flu/flu.htm)
> 1. When and where was the last epidemic?
There are epidemics every few years, but I guess what you may mean is
"when was the last pandemic?". A pandemic is a really major global
outbreak where a new virus spreads all over the world into a non-immune
population. The last was in 1968 (the Hong Kong (H3N2) influenza), with
previous pandemics in 1957 (asian 'flu), and the really catastrophic
pandemic of 1918-19 (spanish 'flu) which killed an estimated 21 million
(more than the 1st world war). In 1977 there was what some people regard
as a "near miss" when H1N1 strains of influenza re-emerged but did not
cause a pandemic.
> 2. What % of these flu victims get secondary infection? ie, bacterial
> pneumonia, viral pneumonia, etc?
Depends on the population you are looking at. In the elderly secondary
infections may be a big problem, but I'm not sure there are any definitive
statistics on this.
> 3. What % of the victims are hospitalized?
Again dependent on the population you are looking at. Generally I guess
that the biggest problems would be in those who are already hospitalised
for some other underlying condition, or in the case of those who develop
secondary pneumonia.
> 4. Any unusual cases that you know of?
In the 1918 pandemic (and even into the 1930's) there were a lot of cases
of "encephalitis lethargica" which is a neurological condition resulting
in lethargy and coma (if I remember right). This was associated with
influenza infections, but the precise cause remains unknown. This isn't
associated with current strains, but in 1977 there was a mass vaccination
campaign in the US which resulted in a slightly higher incidence of
Guillain-Barre syndrome (this is a demyelinating disease of the nervous
system which can result in partial paralysis). This was associated with
vaccination, not with infection though.
>> I would appreciate any reponse. Thanks.
Hope this has been of some help.
Graeme
--
Graeme Price
Microbial Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology Group,
School of Biological Sciences, Biology West Building,
University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston, Birmingham,
West Midlands, B15 2TT.
United Kingdom.
Tel. (+44) (0)121 414 6555
Fax. (+44) (0)121 414 6557
E-mail g.e.price at bham.ac.uk
