 |
|
|
|
|
At Least 20 Dead, Hundreds Ill in Swine Flu Outbreak in Mexico
|
| | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Dr. Pascal James Imperato is dean and distinguished service professor of the Graduate Program in Public Health at SUNY Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn, and was director of the Swine Influenza Immunization Program for New York City during the outbreak in 1976. "The virus identified in the recently reported human cases in the U.S. contained genetic elements from several influenza viruses," he said. "While the array of genetic elements seems unusual, it is not unusual for swine flu viruses to contain multiple genetic elements. Also, it is difficult to know how long this virus has been circulating because it was not a special focus of the international influenza surveillance system."
Dr. Marc Siegel, associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, said the current outbreak was unlikely to become a pandemic. "Swine flu could cause the next pandemic, but it is not likely that this thing is going to erupt and take over the world," he said. Even though the virus is being transmitted human-to-human, "that's a far cry from becoming a pandemic," he added.
Dr. Martin J. Blaser, chairman of the Department of Medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, also believes it's unlikely the outbreak will trigger a pandemic.
Text Continues Below
"The CDC has been doing more surveillance for flu," Blaser said. "So it could be that these cases have been happening all the time, but we just never saw them. Or it is possible that it is a new strain of influenza that is emerging or it's a dangerous new combination. That's why we have to watch it closely."
More information
For more on swine flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
|
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 4/25/2009
|
|
SOURCES: Pascal James Imperato, M.D., M.P.H., Dean and Distinguished Service Professor, Graduate Program in Public Health, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Marc Siegel, M.D., associate professor of medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York City; Martin J. Blaser, M.D., chairman of the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City; April 23, 2009, teleconference with Anne Schuchat, M.D., director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Atlanta; The New York Times; Associated Press
|
.gif)
