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--- In PulseDiagnosis@yahoogroups.com, WMorris116@A... wrote:
>
> P: rapid - urgent
>
> Will
>
> Reuters story:
> Bird flu causes fatal immune storm - study
> Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:46 AM GMT
>
> By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists in Hong Kong say they may have
helped
> explain why the H5N1 bird flu virus kills so many healthy young
adults -- it
> apparently causes a "storm" of immune system chemicals that
overwhelms the
> patient.
>
> The H5N1 virus caused proteins known as cytokines to rush to
infected lung
> tissue -- evidence of a so-called cytokine storm, an immune system
> overreaction that can be fatal.
>
> The study, published in the online medical journal Respiratory
Research,
> might suggest that if H5N1 does cause a pandemic, it could
> disproportionately affect the young and healthy as compared with
seasonal
> flu, which kills many elderly people but few young adults.
>
> It also raises questions about how effective drugs will be in
controlling
> such a pandemic, experts said.
>
> "We have to see if it is true and if we can do anything about
it," cautioned
> Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy
and
> Infectious Diseases, who was not involved in the research.
>
> But if the experiment does accurately show what happens in
people, it may
> mean patients with H5N1 infections will need drugs that depress
the immune
> response in addition to antivirals, Fauci said.
>
> The H5N1 flu has swept through flocks of poultry but has so far
infected
> only 124 people in four countries and killed 64 since it re-
emerged in 2003.
>
> It does not easily infect people, but when it does, it kills
about half of
> them.
>
> "The reasons for this unusual severity of human disease have
remained
> unclear," Michael Chan and Malik Peiris of the University of Hong
Kong and
> colleagues wrote in their report.
>
> They took samples of H5N1 from a patient who died of the
infection in a 1997
> outbreak, from two patients infected in Vietnam in 2004, and a
sample of a
> Hong Kong patient with ordinary H1N1 seasonal flu.
>
> They used the virus to infect lung tissue samples taken from
other, non-flu
> patients.
>
> CHEMICAL STORM
>
> The H5N1 viruses brought in a storm of cytokines -- the immune
system's
> inflammatory chemicals -- including IP-10, interferon beta,
RANTES and
> interleukin-6. The H1N1 virus caused a much smaller effect.
>
> And the later, Vietnamese strains caused a bigger cascade than
the 1997 H5N1
> strain.
>
> This could be because of continued mutations, the researchers
said. "The
> H5N1 viruses have continued to reassort, acquiring different
internal genes
> from other influenza viruses of avian origin," the researchers
wrote.
>
> The study, published on the Internet at http://respiratory-
research.com/,
> may explain the severe respiratory distress suffered by H5N1
patients, who
> often say they struggle to breathe.
>
> Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University
of
> Minnesota who has been advising the U.S. government on the risks
of a flu
> pandemic, said the study supports predictions that any possible
H5N1
> pandemic would be especially severe.
>
> It means being young and healthy could actually work against
people who
> become infected.
>
> "Anyone could experience this very severe, life-threatening
illness,"
> Osterholm said in a telephone interview.
>
> "This is looking more and more like an H1N1 1918."
>
> The worst recorded influenza epidemic was in 1918, when an H1N1
strain swept
> the globe in a few months, killing anywhere between 20 million
and 100
> million people, depending on the estimate. In comparison, a
pandemic in 1957
> killed 2 million and one caused by an H3N2 virus in 1968 killed 1
million.
>
> "In 1918, even among the very young and the very old, there was a
ten-fold
> increase in deaths," Osterholm said. "There was a 1,000-fold
increase in
> young adults."
>
> Fauci said researchers are now testing various drugs that may
affect the
> immune system to see if they would help patients better survive
H5N1.
>
> C Reuters 2005.
>
> http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?
type=scienceNews&storyID=20
> 05-11-11T054552Z_01_FLE100082_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-BIRDFLU-STORM-
DC.XML
>