cHeroKee
01-03-2009, 12:24 PM
Research reveals cause of flu epidemic
<!--TMC_CONTENT_BODY_U2_BEGIN--> Jan 02, 2009 (Cleburne Times-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The 1918-19 Spanish influenza epidemic was arguably Johnson County's greatest health crisis. And no one ever knew exactly why it inflicted so much damage.
Until now.
According to the National Academy of Scientists, which exhaustively researched the global pandemic, the deadly influenza was caused by a group of three genes that allowed the influenza virus to invade the lungs and trigger pneumonia.
The scientists mixed the 1918-19 influenza strain with modern influenza strains to pinpoint the three genes.
According to the scientists' report, single genes from the 1918-19 virus were substituted into the modern viruses.
"One after another," the report said, "they acted like garden-variety flu, infecting only the upper-respiratory tract. But a complex of three genes helped to make the virus live and reproduce deep in the lungs."
Success of the experiment, they said, may aid the development of new flu vaccines to combat the old strains, which recur.
Too late, of course, for the estimated 50 million people who died in the 1918-19 tragedy.
Pneumonia felled scores of Johnson County residents who are buried in old Cleburne Cemetery.
The scientists' discovery could improve humans' ability to survive the next pandemic, said retired Johnson County medical examiner Arthur L. Raines.
"You can't figure out how to defend it if you don't know what it is," Raines said. "They might even be able to culture the virus. That was the beauty of having the specimens preserved in the permafrost."
In recent years, scientists dug in the permafrost of an Eskimo village to locate bodies of humans who had died of influenza symptoms. The bodies, and the resulting specimens, were well preserved because of the cold ground.
"This must be the result of that," Raines said.
The odds of another influenza pandemic are good, Raines said.
"The problem is that viruses mutate continuously. They're monitored by health organizations that try to select the strains they think are going to be the most dominant. Most come out of Asia. They have to predict the strains a year ahead of time in order to make a vaccine for them. That's why last year's vaccine can't be used this year."
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When health organizations guess incorrectly, more people become susceptible to the flu. The more people who catch the flu, the more chance of a pandemic.
"But we have many advantages now that they didn't have" in 1918-19, Raines said. "We have antibiotics, anti-viral drugs."
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More than 10 times as many Americans were killed in the influenza pandemic than in battle during World War I.
Those struck by the virus experienced pain in the eyes, head, back and abdomen. The person either recovered or died after several days of fever.
Former Cleburne superintendent of schools Ernest Guinn wrote that many citizens "contracted the disease and died within a 24-hour period."
Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Co. announced in the Cleburne Daily Enterprise:
"The present epidemic of influenza has not only incapacitated many of the employees of this company in Cleburne, but the same condition exists elsewhere. It causes many additional calls for nurses, doctors, medicines, etc.
"It would be an easy matter for us to remedy the situation by bringing in additional help if these conditions existed only in Cleburne, but we are confronted by a similar state of affairs in practically all the other exchanges in the state."
In the Oct. 27, 1918, Daily Enterprise, the Yale Theater bragged that it was influenza-proof. Whether that was true was another matter.
"A germ never did and never can live in The Yale," the advertisement said. "Why? Easy. This show is ventilated -- not by any fancy method but by the 'open window' process. That's nature's own way of sanitation and prevention. You can't beat it. Doctors will tell you the same thing.
"You never breathe your neighbor's air. He has his own individual supply provided. You never breathe 'used air.' Don't forget that! Fresh air is an important element in human life, health and Yale Theater.
"During the time we've been closed, we've renovated in spite of the regular daily precautions. Every stick of furniture, the walls, the ceiling and the screen have been washed with water and soap."
It was said that Mr. Tom Flake, manager of Cleburne Ice and Cold Storage, was seriously ill with the flu and that his wife nursed him at home while also caring for a 2-year-old daughter. He survived.
"Friends and neighbors wanted to help," said a story in the 2000 Times-Review Millennium edition, "but were so frightened of the disease that they would leave food on the front porch and run away."
The situation was no better in Cleburne schools.
In an Oct. 16, 1918, announcement, superintendent Emmett Brown said, "Owing to the excitement present in the public mind, it is believed best to close the schools temporarily in order that we may get all our bearings and that the majority of children may have an opportunity to re-enter school upon a basis of equality when conditions are more nearly normal.
"The exact time for which the schools are to be closed is indefinite, but a majority of the physicians of the city expressed the belief today that within two or three days, in all probability, with proper precautions, there would be practically no illness among the younger life in the community. The papers will announce the re-opening of the schools."
<!--TMC_CONTENT_BODY_U2_BEGIN--> Jan 02, 2009 (Cleburne Times-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The 1918-19 Spanish influenza epidemic was arguably Johnson County's greatest health crisis. And no one ever knew exactly why it inflicted so much damage.
Until now.
According to the National Academy of Scientists, which exhaustively researched the global pandemic, the deadly influenza was caused by a group of three genes that allowed the influenza virus to invade the lungs and trigger pneumonia.
The scientists mixed the 1918-19 influenza strain with modern influenza strains to pinpoint the three genes.
According to the scientists' report, single genes from the 1918-19 virus were substituted into the modern viruses.
"One after another," the report said, "they acted like garden-variety flu, infecting only the upper-respiratory tract. But a complex of three genes helped to make the virus live and reproduce deep in the lungs."
Success of the experiment, they said, may aid the development of new flu vaccines to combat the old strains, which recur.
Too late, of course, for the estimated 50 million people who died in the 1918-19 tragedy.
Pneumonia felled scores of Johnson County residents who are buried in old Cleburne Cemetery.
The scientists' discovery could improve humans' ability to survive the next pandemic, said retired Johnson County medical examiner Arthur L. Raines.
"You can't figure out how to defend it if you don't know what it is," Raines said. "They might even be able to culture the virus. That was the beauty of having the specimens preserved in the permafrost."
In recent years, scientists dug in the permafrost of an Eskimo village to locate bodies of humans who had died of influenza symptoms. The bodies, and the resulting specimens, were well preserved because of the cold ground.
"This must be the result of that," Raines said.
The odds of another influenza pandemic are good, Raines said.
"The problem is that viruses mutate continuously. They're monitored by health organizations that try to select the strains they think are going to be the most dominant. Most come out of Asia. They have to predict the strains a year ahead of time in order to make a vaccine for them. That's why last year's vaccine can't be used this year."
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The Modern Contact Center and Workforce Management�s Vital Role Learn more, download free white paper. (http://www.tmcnet.com/tmc/whitepapers/white-paper.aspx?id=246&title=The+Modern+Contact+Center+and+Workforce+Mana gement%e2%80%99s+Vital+Role)
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Convergence in Telecommunication Learn more, download free white paper. (http://www.tmcnet.com/tmc/whitepapers/white-paper.aspx?id=243&title=Convergence+in+Telecommunication)
Convergence in Telecommunication Learn more, download free white paper. (http://www.tmcnet.com/tmc/whitepapers/white-paper.aspx?id=244&title=End-to-end+billing+and+network+management+solution+for+in dependent+Internet+Service+Providers+-+Comarch+Twilight)
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When health organizations guess incorrectly, more people become susceptible to the flu. The more people who catch the flu, the more chance of a pandemic.
"But we have many advantages now that they didn't have" in 1918-19, Raines said. "We have antibiotics, anti-viral drugs."
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
http://images.tmcnet.com/siteart/advert.jpgFind Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, February 2-4, 2009. Miami, Florida. (http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/)
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More than 10 times as many Americans were killed in the influenza pandemic than in battle during World War I.
Those struck by the virus experienced pain in the eyes, head, back and abdomen. The person either recovered or died after several days of fever.
Former Cleburne superintendent of schools Ernest Guinn wrote that many citizens "contracted the disease and died within a 24-hour period."
Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Co. announced in the Cleburne Daily Enterprise:
"The present epidemic of influenza has not only incapacitated many of the employees of this company in Cleburne, but the same condition exists elsewhere. It causes many additional calls for nurses, doctors, medicines, etc.
"It would be an easy matter for us to remedy the situation by bringing in additional help if these conditions existed only in Cleburne, but we are confronted by a similar state of affairs in practically all the other exchanges in the state."
In the Oct. 27, 1918, Daily Enterprise, the Yale Theater bragged that it was influenza-proof. Whether that was true was another matter.
"A germ never did and never can live in The Yale," the advertisement said. "Why? Easy. This show is ventilated -- not by any fancy method but by the 'open window' process. That's nature's own way of sanitation and prevention. You can't beat it. Doctors will tell you the same thing.
"You never breathe your neighbor's air. He has his own individual supply provided. You never breathe 'used air.' Don't forget that! Fresh air is an important element in human life, health and Yale Theater.
"During the time we've been closed, we've renovated in spite of the regular daily precautions. Every stick of furniture, the walls, the ceiling and the screen have been washed with water and soap."
It was said that Mr. Tom Flake, manager of Cleburne Ice and Cold Storage, was seriously ill with the flu and that his wife nursed him at home while also caring for a 2-year-old daughter. He survived.
"Friends and neighbors wanted to help," said a story in the 2000 Times-Review Millennium edition, "but were so frightened of the disease that they would leave food on the front porch and run away."
The situation was no better in Cleburne schools.
In an Oct. 16, 1918, announcement, superintendent Emmett Brown said, "Owing to the excitement present in the public mind, it is believed best to close the schools temporarily in order that we may get all our bearings and that the majority of children may have an opportunity to re-enter school upon a basis of equality when conditions are more nearly normal.
"The exact time for which the schools are to be closed is indefinite, but a majority of the physicians of the city expressed the belief today that within two or three days, in all probability, with proper precautions, there would be practically no illness among the younger life in the community. The papers will announce the re-opening of the schools."