Business Social November 25th - On November 25th, Shu Yuelong, the director of the National Influenza Center, pointed out that a mutation at position 222 of the HA gene of the H1N1 influenza virus had been detected in eight cases of H1N1. This variation is currently sporadic and isolated, and does not affect drug efficacy or vaccine effectiveness.
Related Reports: 8 Questions on the Mutation of the Influenza A Virus
As the Northern Hemisphere gradually enters the depths of winter, the spread of the H1N1 influenza is accelerating. More worrying is that the H1N1 virus has already mutated.
On November 20th, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an announcement pointing out that WHO had received a report from the Norwegian National Health Department stating that three cases of mutation of the H1N1 virus had appeared in the country. The mutated virus strain was found in one critically ill patient and two deceased patients. The announcement also pointed out that Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine, and the United States had also discovered sporadic cases of viral mutations. Following this, on the 22nd, some flu patients in the UK and the US exhibited resistance to "Tamiflu". A "resistant" H1N1 patient in the UK had infected another patient in the same hospital, marking the first case of human-to-human transmission of Tamiflu-resistant flu virus in the UK.
This sudden phenomenon of H1N1 virus mutation has drawn widespread attention. What impact will the mutated H1N1 have on our lives? For this reason, our correspondent in Switzerland exclusively interviewed relevant officials from WHO, pursuing answers to eight questions.
1. What are the differences and connections between the H1N1 virus mutation in Norway and the drug-resistant mutation in the US and UK?
The H1N1 virus mutation event in Norway belongs to accidental spontaneous cases. So far, no connection has been found among the few patients infected with the mutated H1N1 virus. Both Norway and the US have seen mutated strains of the H1N1 virus; whether the mutated virus patients in Norway have also developed drug resistance has not yet been confirmed by WHO.
2. If the new virus spreads between people, will the situation become more severe?
Since actual cases of H1N1 virus mutation have just been detected, there is currently insufficient clinical evidence to show the full characteristics of the mutated virus. Information obtained by WHO from the Norwegian National Health Authority shows that the new virus may penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract of patients, thereby causing more severe symptoms. As for the individual cases of person-to-person transmission in some local areas in the UK, it is not enough to prove that the new virus will necessarily cause large-scale human-to-human transmission.
3. Has the mutated virus become more powerful and difficult to control?
Even though cases of H1N1 virus mutation have occurred in the aforementioned countries, there is still insufficient evidence to show that the mutated virus can infect more people or that the number of severely ill H1N1 patients will dramatically increase as a result. After the virus mutation, relevant institutions have begun comprehensive and in-depth research on its characteristics, hoping to quickly grasp effective methods.
4. Can patients who have had H1N1 be re-infected with the mutated virus?
In theory, H1N1 patients refer to those infected with the initial H1N1 virus. Even groups that have been vaccinated against H1N1 only have better immunity to the early and unmutated H1N1 pathogen. The most commonly used H1N1 vaccines worldwide were developed based on the earliest H1N1 virus strain. Therefore, whether the antibodies in the bodies of those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from H1N1 are effective against the mutated virus remains inconclusive at present.