Shoreland's Travax Alert Service
Friday, May 22, 2009, 8:49 AM

H1N1 FLU UPDATE

Cross-Reactive Antibody Response:
     In a U.S. serosurvey, cross-reactive antibody to H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus was detected in 6-9% of adults aged 18-64 years and in 33% of those aged > 60 years. No cross-reactive antibody to H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus existed among children.
     Among adults, vaccination with seasonal influenza vaccine resulted in a minor but non-protective increase in cross-reactive antibody response to H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus among those aged 18-64 years. Whether this antibody response would attenuate disease in infected individuals cannot be determined with currently available data. Previous vaccination of children during the last 4 years with seasonal influenza vaccine did not elicit any cross-reactive antibody response to H1N1 flu (swine flu) virus.

In the past 24 hours, the following countries have reported their first confirmed case(s) of H1N1 flu: Philippines, Taiwan