BACKGROUND Hajj is a mass gathering undertaken annually in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The 2009 Hajj coincided with both the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 (A(H1N1)pdm09) and seasonal types of influenza A viruses. The interaction between pandemic influenza and Hajj could cause both a high level of mortality among the pilgrims and the spread of infection in their respective countries upon their return ...

INTRODUCTION Although WHO declared the world moving into the post-pandemic period on August 10, 2010, influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus continued to circulate globally. Its impact was expected to continue during the 2010-11 influenza season. This study describes the nationwide surveillance findings of the pandemic and post-pandemic influenza periods in Taiwan and assesses the impact of influenza A(H...

Cell-mediated immunity to influenza A/USSR (H1N1) virus was assessed by measuring transformation response and interferon production by Ficoll-Hypaque-purified peripheral blood lymphocytes from children and adults. Lymphocyte transformation was found to be related to the individual's previous experience with H1N1 influenza virus. Lymphocyte cultures, obtained from adults who had their last conta...

The neuraminidase (NA) of influenza virus is the target of anti-flu drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. Clinical practices showed that oseltamivir was effective to treat the 2009-H1N1 influenza but failed to the 2006-H5N1 avian influenza. To perform an in-depth analysis on such a drug-resistance problem, the 2009-H1N1-NA structure was developed. To compare it with the crystal 2006-H5N1-NA structur...

BACKGROUND The vaccine efficacy (VE) of 1 or 2 doses of AS03-adjuvanted influenza A(H1N1) vaccine relative to that of 2 doses of nonadjuvanted influenza A(H1N1) vaccine in children 6 months to <10 years of age in a multinational study conducted during 2010-2011. METHODS A total of 6145 children were randomly assigned at a ratio of 1:1:1 to receive 2 injections 21 days apart of A/California/7/...

INTRODUCTION This study investigated the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of patients who were hospitalized with 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus infection and seasonal influenza in the Saurashtra region of India. METHODOLOGY From September 2009 to February 2010, a total of 773 patients with influenza virus attending different hospitals in Rajkot city were studied. Real-time reverse-...

During the 2009–2010 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, pregnant women infected with the virus experienced excess morbidity and mortality when compared with other groups. Once a vaccine was available, pregnant women were a priority group for vaccination. Only a few studies have reported on the uptake of 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccine among pregnant women during the pandemic and none were from Asia. The ...

BACKGROUND Shedding of the pandemic virus during an influenza pandemic is thought to persist longer than shedding of influenza viruses during annual influenza seasons, because people have much less immunity against a pandemic influenza. A correlation is thought to exist between the length of virus shedding and the clinical severity of influenza illness. METHODS We compared the virus isolation...

BACKGROUND Infection with influenza A (H1N1)v (swine flu) has caused widespread anxiety, among patients who are potentially immunocompromised, such as those being treated for inflammatory bowel disease. AIM To provide guidance for physicians and their patients on the risk, prevention and management of influenza A (H1N1)v infection. METHODS Medline was searched using the following key words:...

The emergence of the pandemic H1N1 strain of influenza in 2009 was associated with a unique w-shaped age-related susceptibility curve, with higher incidence of morbidity and mortality among young persons and lower incidence among older persons, also observed during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Pre-existing H1N1 antibodies were not cross-reactive with the prior seasonal vaccine, forcing influenz...