Influenza Evolution and Emergence

[Guest niman]

A looming avian influenza pandemic is looming large threatening 1/4 of the world's population

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/pandemic_potential.html

 

However, most of the scientific effort has focused on gene re-assortment, while the true driver is recombination

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/viral_evolution.html

 

The virus continues to mix and match and stays a step ahead of vaccine development

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_H9N2.html

 

This year may be the last shot to catch up, but Chiron can't even get a known vaccine out the door.

 

Looks like there will be some serious challenges ahead.

 

Comments?

[Guest niman]

A looming avian influenza pandemic is looming large threatening 1/4 of the world's population

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/pandemic_potential.html

 

However, most of the scientific effort has focused on gene re-assortment, while the true driver is recombination

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/viral_evolution.html

 

The virus continues to mix and match and stays a step ahead of vaccine development

 

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_H9N2.html

 

This year may be the last shot to catch up, but Chiron can't even get a known vaccine out the door.

 

Looks like there will be some serious challenges ahead.

 

Comments?

[rakuenso]

The human rate of natural selection and thus evolution is like a turtle compared to the influenza cheetah, and thanks to our medications and vaccines, it just makes them evolve faster. So paradoxically, we are actually helping them by killing them. Which might mean that the less we intervened, the less harmful they will be. Take for example syphillis in the middle ages, back then it was a 99% fatal disease, but now it is almost benign and treatible except for a few side effects

 

Now Influenza is one deadly and nasty virus, its 3 RNA strands allow it to recombine in countless ways. This allows it to easily bypass the species barrier and thus able to reside in a large amount of hosts.

 

Also, does anyone know how the r. transcriptase enzyme works on the 3 strands? and how it assembles proteins after injection into the cell?

[Aardvark]

[quote name=rakuenso Which might mean that the less we intervened' date=' the less harmful they will be. Take for example syphillis in the middle ages, back then it was a 99% fatal disease, but now it is almost benign and treatible except for a few side effects

[/quote]

 

I don't understand.

 

In the middle ages there was no known cure for syphilis so in effect there was no intervention. Now, intervention takes place on a routine basis with antibiotics. So by your reasoning it should be less benign surely?

[Sayonara]

I was under the impression that syphilis still causes severe damage to the heart, brain, eyes, nervous system, bones, and joints in a third of sufferers. When did it change its pathology?

[Aardvark]

You are right that Syphilis still does cause those symptoms and remains a very serious infection.

 

However records from the medieval period ( 1300-1400's ) do indicate that there were at least some strains which produced faster, more severe symptoms than the prevalent modern strains.

 

I don't have the corroborating sources at hand but can dig them out if you are interested.

[Sayonara]

I was replying to rakuenso, who labelled it as benign.

 

Identified and treated, maybe. But that's because the intervention prevents it from acting, not because it's any less dangerous.

[Aardvark]

Yes, it is definitely not benign and if left untreated will have dangerous consquences.

 

However there are some indications that in the middle ages syphilis could be faster acting with more immediate and very severe symptoms. That at least some strains were more aggressive.

 

Still looking for the source (an old medical textbook somewhere about the place), will let you know when i dig it out.