they are available here; Swine Flu : Irina Blok
Yeah, but the viral ability to mutate is also its saving grace, because they mutate as often as not to a form that is less deadly. What use is a virus that it quickly kills everything it infects? Eventually there would be no more hosts, and then no more viruses.
That is why a “new” virus is the most deadly when it first arrives on the scene, meaning first exposure to human hosts, and attenuates with subsequent infectious rounds. This doesn’t include retroviruses, btw. These are usually so slow in destroying the host that many changes in host is possible before death. But even retroviruses eventually attenuate to non-deadly strains.
BTW, most of our protective, non-coding DNA is retroviral in origin. Without it we’d be much more likely to suffer deadly mutations. In fact there is no way we could prevent it without all this “waste” non-coding DNA. Our DNA is about 95% non-coding.
Diane
Viruses aren’t intelligent like us. WE know that killing your host, your shelter, food and means of replication is counter productive. In the sense of evolution and survival, one could say the deadliest viruses are also the least fit. All strains bacteria/viruses that turn non-deadly would be great if it can continue to avoid evasion from our immune system. The mutation rate is a virus’ saving grace and down fall. Each strain is virtually it’s own organism or species in a sense and it needs to evolve just enough to avoid detection while not killing its host prematurely. Unfortunately, mutation is random so the virus really has no way of controlling it’s future, or whether or not it wants to destroy it’s life. 
As to non-coding DNA being retroviral in origin, there are people who agree and disagree. I asked my friend who’s graduating from med school and his reply was “eh… I GUESS you could call it a retrovirus.” Essentially, the way he said it led me to believe the the origin of our non-coding DNA is like arguing how the universe came out.
I suggest you check your numbers. They’re WAY too high.
Are you implying WE are intelligent? Hahahahaheheheheheh… yeah.
You are thinking of the individual viron and its individual survival, which is silly, since a viron self-destructs as it injects it’s payload into the cell. I’m looking at the long term survival of the viron’s genetic material. If that viron replicates so fast, cells bursting and releasing new viral particles to infect other cells nearby, so fast that it incapacitates and then kills its host before it can move to a new host, the virus’ DNA perishes, end of line, no more of that particular DNA to infect and kill others.
This is why truly “hot” diseases, like pneumonic plague, will never seriously threaten the survival of mankind as a whole (though the individual infected will probaby die within 24 hours of infection.) By the time you are infectious, you are too sick to move about much. It is also why long term infectors, like HIV, or tuberculosis, or HBV and HCV are so much more dangerous. You can be infectious and passing that disease along for a very long time before you succumb. If it weren’t for intermediate host vectors for these short term, “hot” diseases, they would self destruct along with their victims. And, btw, not to beat a dead horse, but the host vectors are immune to that particular disease, or have developed enough of an immunity that the disease is not “hot” to them.
Your med student friend would do well to take a few more genetics classes. Non-coding DNA is viral in origin according to the actual genetics researchers.
Diane
According to Barack Obama and his administration officials the swine flu is a cause for special concern because it is a new strain and people have not developed an immunity to it.
I think I’ll take my medical advice from Barack Obama - not!
According to some of the top flu experts in the US, H1N1 has been part of the flu vaccine since the 1970’s. They say that one of the possible reasons why the swine flu cases here in the US have been so mild may be because we have developed partial immunity from it with repeated exposure to the components of H1N1 in the flu vaccine for all these years. Another possibility given is the weakening (attenuation) of the virus as it is passed from person to person.
- note: Dr. Gross works for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The virus is also very susceptible to the two anti-influenza drugs available here in the US.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/fluvaccine.htm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702055 (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/fluvaccine.htmhttp://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702055)
Update: Drug Susceptibility of Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) Viruses, April 2009
Diane
i am talking worldwide…
in US it is about 36,000 annually which is much lower because US has much higher standard of care
Regular flu has killed thousands since January - CNN.com
I really think media is going overboard I live in NY where we have the highest numbers of cases I think and it should have spread like wildfire by now since we live in such a highly populated area
just do what you normally do, wash your hands and make sure not to touch your eyes and nose and stuff like that especially after touching public places, same things yo would normally do to prevent getting the normal flu