Friday, March 4, 2011
The first external event that have impacted Singapore health and well-being is a mix of several strains of the flu virus. Other H1N1 strains already infect humans every year, and their genes have origainated from swine, human and avian sources. All H1N1 virus have a hybrid virus with different origins is not a new finding.
When the hybrid virus change significantly from current strains, the impact on transmissibility and virulence cannot always be predicted, and we need to link the genetic changes to what we observe in the community and in the affected individuals. For H1N1, more epidemiological studies will be needed to better define how easily is spreads or whether it causes more severe disease. Scientists are interested in the hybrid nature of H1N1 because it helps them to track its spread and origin more easily.
http://www.pqms.moh.gov.sg
H1N1 is a fatal disease.