According to an investigation presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam, individuals with asthma who are hospitalized with pandemic influenza H1N1 (swine flu) are half as likely to die or require intensive care compared to individuals without asthma. They discovered that although asthma is one of the most common illnesses observed in individuals admitted to hospital with H1N1, those with asthma didn't have as severe outcomes in comparison to those without the condition.

Generally, individuals with asthma who have a virus, such as H1N1, are at risk of developing breathing difficulties. When the lungs of an individual with the condition is infected with a virus, mucus and cells move into narrow airways, blocking the free movement of air.

The study, which is being presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam, found that, despite asthma being among the commonest illnesses seen in patients admitted to hospital with H1N1, people with the condition had less severe outcomes.

The possible combination of influenza strains H1N1 (high infectivity) and H5N1 (high lethality) is a matter of global concern (1, 2). Bioradar UK Ltd announced (3) first, that the Replikin Counts of the two virus strains have risen simultaneously, not seen previously. Additionally, the rise is to their highest levels in 50 years (H1N1, 16.7; H5N1, 23.3), and that clinical outbreaks of each strain are now occurring. These simultaneous conditions may increase the risk that the two virus strains might come into contact with each other more frequently, facilitating transfer of genomic material to form a hybrid.

A new study of children's hospitals nationwide has found them underequipped to handle a major surge of patients in the event of a pandemic, and urges health care institutions and government agencies to immediately review emergency preparedness plans as flu season approaches.

"Every year we get lucky," said the study's lead author, Marion Sills, MD, MPH, and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "But it wouldn't take much of an epidemic to put us over capacity. If that happens where do the children go?"

"Every year we get lucky," said the study's lead author, Marion Sills, MD, MPH, and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "But it wouldn't take much of an epidemic to put us over capacity. If that happens where do the children go?"

1. Chinese Herb Works as Well as Oseltamivir for Shortening Flu Duration

The antiviral, oseltamivir has been used to reduce severity of and mortality from H1N1 influenza. In rural China, where there is limited access to medications such as oseltamivir, traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat seasonal flu. To compare the efficacy and safety of oseltamivir and maxingshigan-yinqiaosan (a Chinese herbal remedy) for treating uncomplicated H1N1 influenza, researchers assigned 410 young adult patients in 11 Chinese hospitals to receive either oseltamivir alone, oseltamivir plus maxinghigan-yingiaosan, maxinghigan-yingiaosan alone, or no treatment for five days.

The investigators had planned the study in the spring of 2009, after a new strain of H1N1 was identified in San Diego, and spread rapidly around the world, says coauthor Robert T. Schooley of UCSD. "We reasoned that the epidemic would resume in the fall and that the college-age population would be particularly at risk since people under age 50 had lower levels of immunity to the new strain."

Back in spring 2009, the H1N1 influenza virus crossed the U.S. border and raised concerns that it might cause a full-scale epidemic in the fall. The Food and Drug Administration worked with other Health and Human Services agencies and vaccine manufacturers to quickly develop, license and distribute a vaccine to protect the public from this particularly virulent strain of the flu.
However, alongside the public's concern about H1N1 were also fears that the rapid vaccine development would lead to unanticipated problems similar to the increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome that occurred with the 1976 swine flu vaccine.