H1N......The pandemic of 2009

Introduction

by Kathiravan Wayne

In February 2009 a young boy in the small Gulf-coast town of La Gloria, Veracruz, Mex., fell ill with an influenza-like disease of unknown cause. Within weeks nearly 30% of the town's residents had been affected by a similar sickness, and people in nearby villages had fallen ill as well. The young boy, however, was the only individual from the region to test positive for a new strain of influenza virus—named swine influenza, or swine flu, because it contained genetic material from existing swine flu viruses. He represented the first documented case of the disease and thus became known as “patient zero.” By mid-March a sickness resembling the one from La Gloria had emerged in Mexico City, and not long after, cases of the respiratory illness were reported throughout the country. After several infected persons died, the country's health officials decided to send more than 50 patient samples to a lab in Canada for analysis. When 16 of them turned up positive for swine flu, authorities at the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency meeting to assess the situation.

The newly identified virus, deemed to have significant pandemic potential (the ability to spread easily over a wide geographic area) owing to the lack of preexisting immunity in humans, appeared in the United States in mid-April. It subsequently spread to Canada and the United Kingdom, to Europe, and to New Zealand. By June 1, WHO was reporting more than 17,400 cases and 115 deaths worldwide, and 10 days later Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic. It was the first pandemic to occur since 1968, when the Hong Kong flu claimed the lives of more than 750,000 people globally. Although the majority of individuals who became infected with swine flu experienced only mild symptoms of fever, cough, and runny nose, the rapid spread of the virus and confusion about the risk of death and which populations were most susceptible generated significant fear among the public.

 The Pandemic Virus.

The swine influenza virus at the root of the 2009 pandemic was a newly identified strain of influenza A subtype H1N1. Influenza A viruses are the primary cause of seasonal influenza in humans, and they are constantly evolving. One mechanism of evolution is viral reassortment—when multiple strains of influenza viruses infect a single host and recombine to give rise to a new strain. In the case of the 2009 swine flu virus, genetic material from three organisms—humans, birds, and pigs—mixed and recombined in a pig host, giving rise to a triple reassortant virus.

Similar to all other influenza viruses, swine flu also was subject to constant evolution through antigenic drift as it circulated between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. As it crossed the globe, strains carrying mutations for drug resistance emerged, with the first strain appearing in Denmark in June and demonstrating resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir), one of the most effective antiviral drugs used to treat swine flu. Scientists immediately began to search for ways to overcome resistant strains. In laboratory studies, combinations of existing antiviral agents proved promising, and one such combination drug entered trials in humans in September.

The genetic constitution of the reassortant virus rendered it more contagious than typical seasonal influenza, though it was still transmitted in typical flu fashion—via infectious droplets expelled into the air from infected persons when sneezing or coughing. The virus could survive on hard surfaces for 24 hours, providing ample opportunity to spread to another person. Individuals most susceptible to complications from infection included pregnant women, persons over age 65, children under age 5, and persons suffering from chronic illness or with suppressed immunity. Actual case-fatality rates for swine flu were relatively low.

• Slaughtered pigs are heaped onto a pile in Egypt in May 2009 following Egyptian Minister of Health …

The name initially given to the virus, “swine influenza,” was fitting in several respects; the virus not only contained genetic segments from two different swine influenza viruses but also appeared to have originated on a pig farm near La Gloria. The farm belonged to Granjas Carroll de Mexico, a joint venture operation working in partnership with U.S.-owned Smithfield Foods, Inc., a major international producer of pork products. Countries such as China, Thailand, and Russia temporarily arrested the import of pigs from affected areas. The name “swine flu,” however, also created widespread confusion. For example, Egyptian Minister of Health Hatem al-Gabali ordered the slaughter of up to 400,000 of the country's pigs, though there was no evidence that they were infected with the virus. The mandate instantly sparked riots and protests from Egyptian farmers who depended on raising and selling pigs as a source of income. In an effort to dispel confusion, WHO changed the name of the virus to influenza A (H1N1) in late April.

 Global Dissemination.

When the influenza A (H1N1) virus was discovered in Mexico, it was not considered of international concern. As the disease spread across Mexico City, into the United States and Canada, and overseas to Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East in late April, however, WHO acknowledged that global dispersion was imminent and issued a level 5 pandemic alert. The alert served as a signal to national health agencies to finalize plans for the implementation of control measures, such as limiting travel to and from affected regions and distributing face masks to limit disease spread, and for the acquisition and mobilization of stocks of antiviral drugs.

When the pandemic was declared in June, cases had climbed to nearly 30,000 worldwide, and the virus had spread to many regions of the world, including Southeast Asia, Scandinavia, the West Indies, and Central and South America. By early September, with the exception of several places, including Greenland, Mongolia, and some areas of Africa, swine flu was established in all parts of the world. In late December, some 622,480 cases and 12,200 deaths were confirmed globally. Because not all cases and fatalities could be tracked, however, the actual figures were believed to be far greater.

 Preparing for a Second Wave.

Studies of past influenza pandemics revealed that outbreaks occur in waves, or alternating periods of high and low disease activity in the same region, with each “wave” representing a period of increased activity. In some cases three or more waves of illness may hit a single region. In the postpeak period of swine flu activity during the summer of 2009 in North America, cases of illness dropped off significantly. WHO issued a warning in late August, however, to countries in the Northern Hemisphere to prepare for a second pandemic wave, evidence of which began to emerge in the first week of September in the U.S., where some isolated areas experienced sudden spikes in influenza A (H1N1) activity.

When the pandemic potential of the virus was first realized in April, scientists set to work on vaccine development. In July, just four months after the isolation of the new virus, the first swine flu vaccine for humans entered clinical testing. The vaccine, however, required two shots, administered three weeks apart, which raised concerns that there was not enough time for full immunity to be established and that vaccine supplies would run out before a second wave hit. Just days later, however, single-dose vaccines emerged, and meeting global vaccine demand appeared feasible once again. A single-dose vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a Chinese company, was approved in China in early September, and similar vaccines developed by other pharmaceutical companies became available shortly thereafter.

As summer turned to fall in North America, a second pandemic wave, equal to or greater in severity, seemed certain. Despite this, U.S. health officials remained confident that the virus could be contained. The generation of single-dose vaccines, WHO's effective surveillance program, and existing global mitigation and control measures, which were repeatedly strengthened and reevaluated throughout the pandemic, served vital roles in alleviating public fears as the Northern Hemisphere headed into the winter flu season.