Talk:Swine influenza

Expecting

Expecting medical editors to remove these links:

Sure John, I will. JFW | T@lk 22:10, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Folks, get ready for the Bird Flu Scare of 2008! It is, afterall a big election year. We can't screw up like we did in 1976. That no good Jimmy Carter. --Donald Rumsfeld

Carter was not prez in 1976. He started 1-20-1977! It was Ford ! Chivista 14:42, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Why

Why did people die from the vaccine? I came here looking for that, but it doesn't say. I think it would be helpful. Squad51 14:18, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm fixing that. WAS 4.250 21:42, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

I read the source from which the following statement is derived: "More people died from the vaccine than died from the swine flu itself." I do not see how the source supports this assertion. As I understand the source, getting GBS is in no way synonymous with dying; also, the link between the vaccine and GBS was never definitively drawn. Relgif (talk) 13:56, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

I'll delete the claim. WAS 4.250 (talk) 12:35, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Proposed move

Proposing a move to Swine influenza in line with other influenza article moves.

Appropriate terminology, and will allow article to focus on the disease caused by swine-endemic influenza viruses (not viruses, not just disease as it affects swine).

This seems uncontroversial to me. Anyone object?--ZayZayEM (talk) 07:15, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Go for it. WAS 4.250 (talk) 09:48, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Cleanup

"In swine, 3 influenza A virus subtypes (H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2) are circulating throughout the world. In the United States, the classic H1N1 subtype was exclusively prevalent among swine populations before 1998; however, since late August 1998, H3N2 subtypes have been isolated from pigs. Most H3N2 virus isolates are triple reassortants, containing genes from human (HA, NA, and PB1), swine (NS, NP, and M), and avian (PB2 and PA) lineages. [...] Present vaccination strategies for SIV control and prevention in swine farms typically include the use of 1 of several bivalent SIV vaccines commercially available in the United States. Of the 97 recent H3N2 isolates examined, only 41 isolates had strong serologic cross-reactions with antiserum to 3 commercial SIV vaccines. Since the protective ability of influenza vaccines depends primarily on the closeness of the match between the vaccine virus and the epidemic virus, the presence of nonreactive H3N2 SIV variants suggests that current commercial vaccines might not effectively protect pigs from infection with a majority of H3N2 viruses."[4]

I really just rest my case on this sole paragraph.

• random open quote
• overlinking
• weird [...]
• repeated info from last paragraph
• no direct links to topic in certain sentances
• poor prose and sentance structure
• etc.

Please can I get some cooperation in attempting to assist in actually editing these articles. I am not just drive-by tagging on these ones. Tagging however will assist in gaining further editorial assistance, and also I feel is an ethical disclaimer to poor students who may not know better and think wikipedia is grand all-the-time.--ZayZayEM (talk) 11:41, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

H5N1

Why is H5N1 discussed here. It is a strain of avian influenza.

Perhaps a short discussion on "other influenzaviruses in swine" might be pertinent to this page, but as this page is about those influenza particular adapted to swine (ratehr than other influenza that may be harboured in swine) a discussion on H5N1 is not appropriate right front and center.--ZayZayEM (talk) 06:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

H5N1 is discussed here because most readers are interested the potential of the swine flu to infect humans, and H5N1 is particularly relevant to this. Direct transmission of bird flu to humans is extremely rare; most bird flus that do infect humans go through pigs first. That said, I agree that H5N1 shouldn't be the first thing in the article.

One point of cleanup (which I can't do myself because the article is currently locked):

Health experts[who?] say pigs can carry human influenza viruses, which can combine (i.e. exchange homologous genome sub-units by genetic reassortment) with H5N1 ...

Should say "which can recombine". Recombination is a specific term in biology which refers to the exchange of genetic material; "combine" doesn't mean the same thing in this context. I would also omit "Health experts say", because pigs carrying human (as well as bird) influenza is a basic fact, whether health officials say it or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Levipes (talk • contribs) 17:19, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

2009 Strain

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/swine.flu/?iref=mpstoryview —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.253.177.153 (talk) 02:11, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

The intro should discuss how this is spread compared to bird flu.   Thx, Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 18:14, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

This strain is far less deadly and not endemic in wild animals, but looks at the moment to be able to spread person to person. H5N1 has only spread person to person in a couple of isolated cases between family members or to a care giver. WAS 4.250 (talk) 22:48, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

2009 Swine Flu outbreak

Just a hunch, perhaps, but I feel that this may merit a page of its own. Dockimble (talk) 07:50, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

• Split it off as soon as a strain name is provided. Resurr Section (talk) 08:12, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

2009 Swine Flu Outbreak in US and Mexico

It's not clear to me based on my reading of this entry that the US and Mexico H1N1 strains are in fact one and the same. I don't want to dive in hear and start making major changes to a page that I haven't worked on before, but I would recommend that this point be clarified. For confirmation of this, see the CDC's investigation page, which confirms that isolates from the US and at least some of the Mexican patients contain the exact same subtype. Thank you. Esbullin (talk) 12:28, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

The high mortality rate among young adults is strong evidence that it is the same strain of H1N1 even among those whose strain has not been laboratory confirmed. WAS 4.250 (talk) 20:04, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

\

20th case

[1]

The 20th case appearing in Ohio leads to a declartion of public health emergency. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.107.182.65 (talk) 19:10, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

This page is an embarassing mish-mash of half truths

Much of the information is about Bird Flu; much of the history is lifted from other pages, where it is provided with a context that it does not have here - indeed, this page reads as if it was intended to be a 'potted history of flu' or a duplicate of 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak

It also lacks ANY detailed info about swine flu in swine; the logical starting point for the page.

Sorry to be so utterly negative - if I was qualified to do so, I'd rewrite it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heenan73 (talk • contribs) 10:38, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Artificially Made?

“This strain of swine influenza that’s been cultured in a laboratory" is a quote from the video below. I think that this might be something fairly importanted to note. Would this serve any use in the article?

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090424.wvswine_flu0424/VideoStory/International/?pid=RTGAM.20090424.wswine0424 (At roughly 35 seconds in) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Empusa22 (talk • contribs) 11:31, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

I believe he's referencing the influenza they have collected for study in the lab, not that it is artificially made. Malinaccier (talk) 11:55, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Spanish Flu

The 1918 flu is discussed in this article, but it says it wasn't related to Swine Flu. Why then put it in this article? I don't have an account or else I would delete it myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.185.60.226 (talk) 20:08, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Good call. I removed the section. Perhaps you would like to create an account? Malinaccier (talk) 20:12, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

== Nice Sentence Fragment == lol.olo♥♥

"The vaccine for the human seasonal flu does not protect against the Swine Flu, even if the virus strains are the same specific variety, as antigenically very different."

Who did that? Does anyone bother to read their edits before committing them? What were you thinking? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.11.8.168 (talk) 20:31, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Swine flu in the United States present before outbreak in Mexico.

"From December 2005 through February 2009, a total of 12 human infections with swine influenza were reported from 10 states in the United States. Since March 2009, a number of confirmed human cases of a new strain of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in the U.S. and internationally have been identified. An investigation into these cases is ongoing."

source: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Veronica.fremont (talk • contribs) 21:36, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

To the best of my recollection, SIV referred to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, the primate version of HIV, not Swine Influenza Virus. Please check your sources. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.81.203.121 (talk) 22:12, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

More Recent Info: April 26, 2009

CDC has confirmed 20 cases. The New York cases have been confirmed, and another in Ohio (someone above mentioned it). I don't have an account or I would change it. Here is the link: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm Kind of hard to beat a government website as far as verifiability. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.209.183.173 (talk) 22:30, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

In Asia, South America, Central America, and other parts of the world, it is not uncommon to see poultry and swine together. This could explain why the swine show exposure to H5N1, but no active signs of infection. There is a potential for cross species infection, but it is still counter productive for a virus to become virulent and rapidly lethal to the host species. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.81.203.121 (talk) 22:32, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Lies, damned lies, statistics, etc...

I'm no epidemiologist, but...

"In 2005 it was discovered that H5N1 could be infecting up to half of the pig population in some areas of Indonesia, but without causing symptoms. Chairul Nidom, a virologist at Airlangga University's tropical disease center in Surabaya, East Java, conducted an independent research; he tested the blood of 10 apparently healthy pigs housed near poultry farms in West Java where avian flu had broken out, Nature reported. Five of the pig samples contained the H5N1 virus. The Indonesian government has since found similar results in the same region. Additional tests of 150 pigs outside the area were negative."

...doesn't make a helluva lot of sense, now does it? I hope no one objects to my editing the paragraph to remove the inconsistent, sensationalist and inflammatory first sentence. It could just as well read "...could be infecting up to 99 44/100th percent...," and be just as accurate, but still just as vague and misleading. Terry Yager (talk) 03:36, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

Wrong numbers?

In the article is said, that the Spanish flu pandemic killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide from 1918 to 1919. Than it is said, that The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, had a fatality rate of about 2.5%

This mean, that between 2 nad 4 bilions of people was infected worldwide. I am not sure if by that time there were 4 bilion people altogether.

So, maybe the fatality rate is about 25% or the death cases are 5-10 milions?

Liophy (talk) 11:57, 27 April 2009 (UTC)Liiophy (talk) 12:55, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

[Spanish flu#Mortality] says: The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is [...] estimated at 2.5 to 5% of the human population, with 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent. As the world population in 1918 was about 1.8 billion, those numbers still don't match with the 50-100 million. But they're all estimations anyway.

The 7% swine flu deaths per infected persons are not a mortality rate but a case fatality rate, so the two percentages are totally incomparable. Strangely, the Case fatality article also says that Spanish flu has a case fatality of ">2.5%". Some expert please sort out this mess.--87.162.37.135 (talk) 13:28, 27 April 2009 (UTC)