“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new treatments.”

However, it has been shown—mainly in animals—that infection with influenza A viruses can induce protective immunity to influenza A viruses of other unrelated subtypes.

Source: zik.com.ua Western Ukraine was hit by a severe epidemic of unidentified influenza, tentatively diagnosed by doctors as viral pneumonia. The number of dead has climbed dramatically. Doctors advise Western Ukrainians to stay at home and use preventive medication. The first pedestrians wearing face masks have been seen on Lviv streets Lviv kindergartens and schools have been closed, and the city council is to have its emergency session soon to address the flue outbreak. So far, the information released by the authorities on the epidemic [...]

“We are working to determine how this misstep occurred, and we will develop additional safeguards to prevent similar instances in the future.”

Earlier this year, Dutch scientists showed that vaccinating mice against seasonal strains of flu rendered the animals unnecessarily vulnerable to dying if they later encountered a pandemic flu strain.