New flu found in Iowa raises concern

November 26, 2011 – IOWA – A new type of flu virus has afflicted three children in Iowa. This virus has been linked to pigs in the past, but these new cases appear to have been spread from person to person. Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said that the children did not become seriously ill. The children live in rural Webster and Hamilton counties. There is concern about a potentially greater outbreak of the flu because the swine origin A/H3N2 virus was detected in patients who hadn’t had contact with animals. Quinlisk said, “We have pretty good evidence of person-to-person spread…None of the children or anyone around them had exposure to swine, turkeys or other sources.” The new H3N2 virus appears to have acquired a gene that might make it more transmissible from H1N1, the flu that sparked 2009′s so-called swine flu pandemic. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously detected seven cases of this strain of the flu in humans. Genetic parts are often swapped by flu viruses. Officials suspect that the new virus was created when a pig became infected with the H1N1 virus and the H3N2 virus at the same time. The new virus combines elements of avian, human, H1N1 and swine flu viruses together into what scientists call a recombinant virus. Since the first new H3N2 case was found in a child in Indiana in July, there have been cases found in Pennsylvania, Maine and Iowa. Health officials stressed that there is no cause for panic over the Iowa cases of H3N2. Symptom of the H3N2 flu are similar to those of the regular seasonal flu, including cough, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and body aches. –Imperfect Parent

contribution Ronni