NIID released a small series of sequences at GISAID, including two from Japan. Both had G158E, the polymorphism found in two isolates from Germany, which were designated low reactors by the CDC and Mill Hill. A/YAMAGATA/721/2009 was collected Dec 8 and had a mixed signal at position G158E. The other was A/IWATE/1093/2009 and collected Oct 27.

The presence of G158E in both sequences from Japan raises concerns that low reactors are becoming more prevalent. In the two isolates from Germany, the only non-synonymous change is G158E. This change has also been found in two isolates with D225G, one in Italy and one in Russia. Mill Hill has also designated D225G as a low reactor. Moreover, the Yamagata isolate also has D225N, which like D225G has been linked to severe and fatal H1N1 cases.

via H1N1 G158E Low Reactors In Japan Raise Vaccine Concerns.

Researchers studying flu receptors in the pig say that pigs are no more likely to be the host for the reassortment of the influenza A virus than humans.

Rahul Nelli, working at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, and co-workers have compared human- and avian-type sialic acid influenza receptors in the pig. Their paper, published in BMC Veterinary Research, suggests that pigs are no more likely to be the host of virus reassortment than humans. The researchers also noted abundant receptors in the pig's intestine.

via UK – Swine flu and pig herds.

The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), at a meeting last week, heard a report about the high-dose influenza vaccine that was recently approved for people 65 and older but voiced no preference for its use in that age-group.

The vaccine, made by Sanofi Pasteur, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in December. It contains four times as much antigen as standard-dose flu vaccines. The aim is to increase the chance of a protective immune response in elderly people, who respond less well to standard-dose vaccines than younger people do.

Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the ACIP's “provisional recommendations” for flu prevention and control, a brief preview of the full recommendations, due out in June. The short statement noted that the vaccine, called Fluzone High-Dose, will be available this fall, and added:

“Studies are underway to assess the relative effectiveness of Fluzone High-Dose compared to standard dose inactivated influenza vaccine, but results from those studies will not be available before the 2010-11 influenza season. The ACIP has not expressed a preference for Fluzone High-Dose or any other licensed inactivated influenza vaccine for use in people age 65 and older.”

Much more via CIDRAP >> ACIP silent on high-dose flu vaccine for elderly.

The WHO says more than 300 million people have been vaccinated against pandemic flu, and the immunisations, which have an excellent safety record, are 70-75 percent effective.

via Reuters AlertNet – H1N1 seen lying low, then rising again in Europe.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. are each considering producing vaccines for new and seasonal influenza, a move that would likely increase sharply supplies of domestically produced vaccines, sources close to the matter said Monday.

via Kyodo News – Story.

Europe is unlikely to see another wave of pandemic H1N1 flu soon but local epidemics are likely as winter returns to the Northern hemisphere, health officials said on Monday.The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ECDC said the H1N1 swine flu virus would probably spread at low levels during 2010’s spring and summer, and be the dominant and threatening strain in the winter flu season.”It seems unlikely that there will be another spring/summer pandemic wave in Europe unless there are significant unrecognised uninfected populations or the virus changes and becomes more transmissible,” the ECDC, which monitors disease in the European Union, said in its latest flu risk assessment.

via Reuters AlertNet – H1N1 seen lying low, then rising again in Europe.

We confirmed that the host-specific genomic signatures of 2009 H1N1pdm, which are mainly swine-like, were highly identical to those of the 1918 H1N1pdm. During the short period of time when the pandemic alert level was raised from phase 4 to phase 6, one signature residue at the position of NP-100 mutated from valine to isoleucine. Four non-signature residues, at positions NA-91, NA-233, HA-206, and NS1-123, also changed during the epidemic in 2009. All these mutant residues, except that at NA-91, are located in the viral functional domains, suggesting that they may play roles in the human adaption and virulence of 2009 H1N1pdm.

more via PLoS ONE: Genomic Signature and Mutation Trend Analysis of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza A Virus.

One month after the situation had stabilized; new cases of the influenza A, H1N1 commonly known as Swine flu have been confirmed in Burera district, Northern Province.

This was revealed yesterday, by Dr. Justin Wane, the Head of the Swine flu response team in the Ministry of Health.

According to Wane, at the beginning of February, the infection rate went down completely with only one or two cases reported in a week. However, with the seasonal flu at hand, infections were projected to increase.

“We received reports that cases of swine flu in Burera were on the increase. Samples were taken for testing and at the beginning of last week, there were six laboratory confirmed cases in this district,” he said.

“We are still conducting more tests so we are yet to have an updated report. There number of seasonal flu cases at the moment is also high and one problem we are facing is that most people are confusing these common flu infections to the influenza A H1N1.”

via The New Times – Rwandas First Daily :: Issue 14194 :: Swine flu reported in Burera.

The new strain, which came from a pig imported from mainland China, has been found in only one animal, and there’s no indication that it is particularly virulent. Still, pig farms in several countries have reported infection from humans to pigs of the novel H1N1, indicating that it can easily move back into its original host.  Most regions of the world—including North America and Europe—are far too lax about routinely checking pigs for novel flu viruses. “We need much more intensive surveillance in pigs globally,” contends Peiris, adding that such reassortments are likely occurring outside China.

A report from the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory describes a novel swine influenza found in three workers at a Saskatchewan hog farm. The never-before-described virus did not involve the novel H1N1 but instead picked up the surface genes from the seasonal human H1N1 virus that has long infected humans and combined them with what is known as the triple-reassortant swine influenza. The virus did not appear to spread from human to human but once again proved that the triple-reassortant swine influenzas—a family the novel H1N1 belongs to—are unusually promiscuous and need to be watched carefully.

more via Hog in the Limelight: Swine Flu’s Got New Genes On – ScienceInsider.

Even so, Canada resisted pulling out all the stops for H1N1. This was not the full pandemic flu plan in action. That plan, adopted in 2004 but not yet used, is far more sweeping. It involves setting up 165 mobile hospitals that hold up to 200 patients each, and using refrigeration trucks or even hockey arenas as makeshift morgues.So the impression that the Canadian response to H1N1 was a gross overreaction is mistaken. Besides, there is a spinoff benefit of all the H1N1 vaccinations: A huge number of Canadians now have some protection for when the next H1N1 virus hits, just as exposure to the 1957 virus gave protection this year.

via Prevention post-mortem.