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UK lab ready to analyse swine flu | UK lab ready to analyse swine flu |
(3 days later) | |
By Fergus Walsh Medical correspondent, BBC News Advertisement | By Fergus Walsh Medical correspondent, BBC News Advertisement |
Medical Correspondent, Fergus Walsh, finds out what UK scientists are doing to combat swine flu | Medical Correspondent, Fergus Walsh, finds out what UK scientists are doing to combat swine flu |
For years now global health experts have been warning that a flu pandemic was overdue - a new strain would emerge to which there was little immunity, causing widespread epidemics. | |
The fear has been that a pandemic could cause tens of millions of deaths and official predictions here suggest the death toll in the UK could range between 50,000 and 750,000. | The fear has been that a pandemic could cause tens of millions of deaths and official predictions here suggest the death toll in the UK could range between 50,000 and 750,000. |
This is why there is so much concern about the spread of swine flu, but the plain fact is that no-one knows yet whether this is the virus which will trigger the first pandemic since 1968. | This is why there is so much concern about the spread of swine flu, but the plain fact is that no-one knows yet whether this is the virus which will trigger the first pandemic since 1968. |
One puzzling element is that there have been no deaths outside Mexico. So although the virus is spreading internationally, it is not yet a global killer. | One puzzling element is that there have been no deaths outside Mexico. So although the virus is spreading internationally, it is not yet a global killer. |
It is possible that a new flu virus might spread worldwide causing mostly mild illness, or that it might mutate at some point and become more or less virulent. | It is possible that a new flu virus might spread worldwide causing mostly mild illness, or that it might mutate at some point and become more or less virulent. |
The task ahead | The task ahead |
In the immediate future, two important tasks faced by scientists are to develope rapid diagnostic tests for swine flu and to identify the optimum strain of flu to be used in a vaccine. | |
Live samples of swine flu are to arrive in UK labs imminently | Live samples of swine flu are to arrive in UK labs imminently |
The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), in north London, is one of only five World Health Organization collaborating centres for influenza research. | |
In a high level containment lab, UK scientists are getting ready to receive live samples of swine flu, which they intend to analyse in the hope of combating this disease. | In a high level containment lab, UK scientists are getting ready to receive live samples of swine flu, which they intend to analyse in the hope of combating this disease. |
The samples will come from affected patients in California, and possibly Mexico and Spain. | The samples will come from affected patients in California, and possibly Mexico and Spain. |
The scientists at the NIMR will take different virus samples, grow them and infect laboratory ferrets with them. | |
Ferrets get flu in a similar way to humans and produce an immune response. | Ferrets get flu in a similar way to humans and produce an immune response. |
Scientists will analyse the antibodies found in the ferrets' blood and see whether the virus is showing signs of antigenic drift - in simple terms whether it is adapting and changing as it passes from person to person. | |
Seasonal vaccine protection? | Seasonal vaccine protection? |
Swine flu is an H1N1 virus, but it seems quite distinct from the human H1N1 strain included in the current seasonal, winter vaccine. | Swine flu is an H1N1 virus, but it seems quite distinct from the human H1N1 strain included in the current seasonal, winter vaccine. |
It is unclear whether the seasonal vaccine would give any protection. | It is unclear whether the seasonal vaccine would give any protection. |
One theory is that while it might not prevent someone getting swine flu, it could lessen its effects. | One theory is that while it might not prevent someone getting swine flu, it could lessen its effects. |
For the moment, swine flu is not a cause for alarm in Britain, and it cannot be caught from food, although raw pork should be properly cooked. |
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