CONNECT WITH US
Tech

Tech

America May Be in for 2 Flu Seasons This Winter—and a Mutated Swine Flu Is Why

Gizmodo - Tech logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
America May Be in for 2 Flu Seasons This Winter—and a Mutated Swine Flu Is Why

Mysteriously, flu season seems to be hitting states along America’s Pacific coast over two months early this year—based on an unusually high spike in the percentage of positive tests for influenza collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Both the timing and the location are unusual, according to medical researchers, although an explanation appears to be emerging.

The head of the University of Washington’s Division of Infectious Disease Diagnostics, Alex Greninger, told CNN that as much as 98% of the flu samples now arriving at this lab derive from the once infamous “swine flu” strain, H1N1, albeit with a tricky new mutation. Labelled G155E, the mutation spurring this emerging flu wave seems to prevent the virus from being recognized by some preexisting human antibodies, according to Greninger, including those built up by strains used to create this year’s round of flu shots.

Greninger, a virologist, advised the public to nevertheless get their flu shots early. All signs indicate that it’s going to be a long and weird one.

“We’re basically seeing January levels of flu in the last week,” Greninger told the cable news site. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a second flu season, like a normal flu season. You’ll have H1N1 cases that will peak in 2026, and then who knows what comes in January or February or March.”

S. tends to emerge first in the South before spreading westward, according to epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.


Source link
Related Topics:Tech

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.