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Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old

By | December 6, 2010, 5:00 PM PST

If you’ll recall, the 2009 H1N1 ‘swine flu’ pandemic was peculiar because it hit healthy, middle-aged adults the hardest – unlike seasonal influenza, which strike young children who lack previous flu exposure and the elderly who generally have weaker immune systems.

And scientists have finally puzzled out why: their immune systems’ programming backfired, says study author Fernando Polack of Vanderbilt University.

People in their late teens through their 50s have been exposed repeatedly to seasonal flu viruses, which produced antibodies that circulate in the blood, fighting off new invaders that resemble previous infections.

(This explains why many elderly people were spared from swine flu last year – they were already fortified with antibodies against an H1N1 virus that circulated over 50 years ago.)

So an international team of scientists sought to figure out why children with naïve immune systems had milder swine flu symptoms.

After examining 75 severe H1N1 cases in Argentinians between ages 17 and 57, the researchers found that these patients had pre-existing antibodies against seasonal flu virus strains that ‘cross-reacted’ with the H1N1 strain.

They helped combat seasonal flu but were maladapted to mobilize against this new threat. They recognized the H1N1 virus as an invader, but rather than attack it, they assaulted organ tissue instead.

These antibodies attached to the pathogens but couldn’t stop the virus from replicating. Instead, they formed ‘pathogenic immune complexes’ rather than virus-fighting ones. The dysfunctional complexes infiltrated the lungs and triggered a biological chain reaction – rupturing cells and destroying tissue.

The immune system’s overreaction is “kind of a last-ditch way of handling something,” says epidemiologist Thomas Reichert. “If we can’t identify you specifically enough, but we know there’s a lot of you, we’re just going to blow the whole damn place up.”

The thousands of people who died were, unfortunately, victims of their own defense systems, and any universal flu vaccine will need to account for mismatched antibodies.

Last month alone, Walgreens administered about a million flu shots, and their total sales grew 8.6 percent in November to $5.83 billion.

The study appeared Sunday in Nature Medicine.

Image: CDC

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Janet Fang

About Janet Fang

Janet Fang is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

Janet Fang

Janet Fang
Contributing Editor

Janet Fang has written for Nature, Discover and the Point Reyes Light. She is currently a lab technician at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. She holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University. She is based in New York.

Follow her on Twitter.

Janet Fang

Janet Fang

Janet does not have financial holdings that would influence how or what she covers.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
Yeah, and now after this "study" is publicized, we all have believed this B.S !!!

Just because the criminal pharmaceutical companies want to sell more vaccines! Oh, wait, all people including those who did the flu shot in 2009, must do now the new updated vaccine service pack v.2.0723 beta!!!

People WAKE UP! Those companies don't care if you live or die, they just want to YOUR MONEY, each year from now on!

And guess who is responsible for those worldwide flu epidemics the last few years...




p.s No offense to the cute author...
Posted by Administrator.
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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Conspiracy Theorists
Did you forget to to take your meds today? And, by the way, Dr. Fernando Polack (the "cute author"?) certainly does not look all that cute.
Posted by Legal_Beagle
7th Dec 2010
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
Dengue fever has a similar effect. If you get re-infected, but with a different strain (there are 3 or 4), you get much sicker than you did with the first infection. In dengue fever's case, what happens is the immune system thinks it has met this virus before, so it only sends out antibodies based on the previous infection. Those antibodies have no effect, and you keep getting sicker, but the immune system takes a while to figure that out. (Of course, the immune system doesn't really "think" or "figure out" stuff. Excuse my loose analogies.)
Posted by dmm99
7th Dec 2010
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Logic Keeps Losing To Conspiracy Fears
If you look at the history of vaccinations you will see numerous diseases that are nearly eradicated that were widespread not that long ago (polio, small pox, etc). It has been too long since we have had to experience the fear of a major infectious disease so many have redirected that energy against the tools that can protect us. If vaccines are made to create illness why do countries without widespread vaccine access experience substantially higher illness rates while we in the western world virtually never see the same diseases? Why did whooping cough start making a resurgence in areas of the US where DTAP vaccination rates are lowest?

With the secrets that regularly get leaked such as the current Wikileaks scandal it is remarkable that anyone believes a vaccination conspiracy could be created, let alone managed for decades. It would involve hundreds of people from executives, scientists, government officials, production line workers and more to all keep their mouths shut as well never put anything in writing. This doesn?t even consider that an independent party with a scientific background can easily get a hold of vaccines to analyze for whatever nefarious substance(s) are believed to be in them.

Other than ?believing? in a pharma conspiracy, there is no evidence of such collusion. In all the years allegations about vaccines being used to purposely harm folks have been made no one has ever come out with e-mails, memos, hidden sources, infected vaccine samples, etc. to show there is anything going on. All it has done get big pharma to move almost all vaccine development to other countries. This means we in the US could potentially not be able to protect our own population if a major event does occur and vaccines are in limited supply.
Posted by The Cars Forever
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Logic Keeps Losing To Conspiracy Fears
There's a number of other reasons why "countries without widespread vaccine access experience substantially higher illness rates while we in the western world virtually never see the same diseases" could be true.

Off the top of my head, one would be access to clean drinking water, another could be living in confined spaces with other people/animals. When I see images of a family of ten with a house smaller than a cubicle where they both sleep and cook in, I could see how that might impact the spread of virii/bacteria.

Correlation doesn't imply causation. Generalization does, in general, miss the whole truth.

While I can see that there have been at least a few successes in terms of globally eliminating/reducing disease/infection, I personally feel it's foolhardy to think that all vaccines have that kind of impact or that most vaccines are even beneficial or economically worthwhile. Too much of the public think they understand the implications of vaccines when really researchers are just beginning to understand the complex interactions that occur in and between the human population's varied biology.
Posted by aeriform
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
Janet, did you forgetto include part of the story. The part about why children were OK. We had this paragraph and then nothing more on the subject of children.
So an international team of scientists sought to figure out why children with na?ve immune systems had milder swine flu symptoms.
Posted by bd1235
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
On one fact you can be certain. Whatever the threat from any particular strain of the flu, big pharma is going to exaggerate it to the hilt, so that they can sell more vaccines.
Posted by omb00900@...
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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prevenion vs cure
Countries that stil suffer from disease we no longer do, also have terrible health, and DIET as well. Diet is the BEST thing anyone can do to prevent illness. The human body can overcome a hell of a lot if it is not allready full of posions and correctly armed with a good diet!
8 months after switching to a 'near' vegan diet - I went to Melbourne in the winter for a family get together. nearly everyone was sick with the flu, some for 3 weeks. Yes I contracted the flu... it lasted for less than two days, before my immune system had won the battle.
During the 1 1/2 days, I was no where near as lathargic etc as everyone else, but due to the swollen glands, itchy throght etc it was obvious I had caught the bug!
The Swine flu was a load of BS, the vacinnes sold weren't even developed for that strain!
All a vacinne can do is allow 'weak' immune systems the chance to learn a flu's 'id', on a easy to destroy version of the disease. Many ppl have actually caught the ilnesses they were trying to be vacinnatedf against from the vacinne itself.
Posted by antennamandan@...
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
Seriously, WHY are people STILL inflating this whole made up 'pandemic'? Unlike most, I've done a bit of reading up on the 'swine flu' H1N1, as well as talked to several doctors about it, after my daughter was sent home from school until I had a doctor's note to allow her back into school. H1N1 was a flu. nothing more, nothing less. No more dangerous than the normal flu except to a few people (such as those in Argentina). The only reason it was on a CDC watch list was because genetically it wasn't far from some super-flu that could be really bad.

Journalists need to stop spreading the pharmaceutical lies to get the 'sheeple' to go spend their money. And more people need to get their heads out of their rear-ends and research things on their own, and stop believing everything they are told by the media.
Posted by Liath.WW
7th Dec 2010
-1 Votes
+ -
Already seen in Discovery Channel (H5N1)
In Discovery Channel there was a documental about the H5N1 and how it killed the middle-aged and spared the olds. The firsts days the inmune system damaged the lungs' tissue untill the system produced the right anti-bodies or until the patient... well, died.
Posted by gates_clone@...
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
The young and the old are spared? Shades of the Andromeda Strain, where the only humans who survived exposure to an alien germ were a baby and an old man.

By the way, Legal_Beagle, by "the cute author," Administrator was referring to the author of this column, Janet Fang.
Posted by paul613
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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targeted healthy adults...
Which is exactly what the 1918 epidemic did, of course.

It's good to have an idea of WHY, since that is one of the reasons that the 1918 epidemic adversely affected world cultures for several generation--including the current one.
Posted by wizoddg
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
+ -
Conspiracy Theorists
Please, please folks!

Take it easy on the conspiracy theorists!

A conspiracy is an organized attempt to break the law.

They happen all the time, some are quite famous; the American Revolution, the French revolution, the Russian Revolution.

Some had impact across the world while remaining mostly unknown; GE & friends support of Hitler and keeping the cost of tungsten carbide ab9ove the price the US military could afford to pay, the plots to assassinate Hitler, the 9/11 attacks (even the US government's less than convincing story is a of a conspiracy.)

Corporations conspire to fix prices (sometimes its even blatant: In 2006 MIT announced a way to make titanium metal at 1/10th the cost. In July, DOW announced that "In order to control rising prices, we have increased the price of titanium oxide in the Far East."

BP decided to go ahead despite the failure of their concrete to meet specs, despite the knowledge that their 'kill' valve had issues.
Posted by wizoddg
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
+ -
@bd1235
Ah yes, I should have reemphasized the study's conclusions about children. But in short, the formation of those 'pathogenic immune complexes' was less likely to happen in young children and infants because they have few or no antibodies against seasonal flu strains.
Posted by janetfang
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
I am glad to see that the majority of posters on this thread are smart enough to understand that vaccines are a good thing and not an intentional evil by the dreaded demonic divas of the drug companies.

As an aside: What would be the point of killing off the customers? Better to keep them well and coming back for more vaccines, don't you think?

On the other hand, Darwin was right about a couple of things and one of those things was that the fittest tend to survive, the rest skip the vaccines and go down frothing at the mouth.
Posted by IMWeira
7th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
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RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
@The Cars Forever
As you see from the posts next to yours, your "logic" proved to be inadequate. Imagine taking decisions that affect millions with inadequate logic ...believing it's flawless -that's the worst part!


"With the secrets that regularly get leaked such as the current Wikileaks scandal it is remarkable that anyone believes a vaccination conspiracy could be created, let alone managed for decades. It would involve hundreds of people from executives, scientists, government officials, production line workers and more to all keep their mouths shut as well never put anything in writing."

First I'm not talking about a conspiracy to such an extend, (I didn't even use the world conspiracy). What I meant is that everything in the pharmaceutical industry is absolutely, 100% profit-driven. Although this seems obvious and logical, it has larger consequences than you might think:

- profit-driven policy of pharmaceutical companies,
- profit-driven research funded by the same companies, exclusively for profitable results. (non-profitable cures or drugs, are rejected even if they are more effective).
- profit-driven promotion of drugs,
- profit-driven statistics collected and presented in such a way, that act as a powerful promotion for their drugs. This is true because statistics are considered by the general naive public, as THE truth.

In sort, ethics which in this case affect the general public health, comes (ideally) second. Period.



But it seems you reject the whole possibility that a large conspiracy theory could exist. So I'll do you a favor and present you one, that exists not for decades as you said, but for more than 3 centuries, it is more wide spread than you can imagine and it affects in a negative way YOUR life too, every single day. I'll also make it simple for you, you only have to watch this 45 minute clip. You'll be enlightened and grateful! http://vimeo.com/3843038




@IMWeira
I suggest you re-read the posts, you've missed the whole point.


You have also totally misunderstood the definition of fittest. Between two that have survived the "lethal" flu, the one that just had an itchy throat for a couple of days was the fittest. Not the one that would die without the vaccine.

"Better to keep them well and coming back for more vaccines, don't you think?"
If they're well, then why buy drugs, why come back for more?

"...the rest skip the vaccines and go down frothing at the mouth."
You have to deal with your phobias and insecurity some time. Try to find a drug-free solution for permanent results. Eat healthy, exercise, live your life and have fun.
Posted by Administrator.
8th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
+ -
RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
Correction: "But it seems you reject the whole possibility that a large conspiracy could exist." (not theory).
Posted by Administrator.
8th Dec 2010
+1 Vote
+ -
RE: Why swine flu spared the very young and the very old
To Administrator,

Yes, there is a conspiracy by big PhRMA out there. I don't know
if it extends to flu vaccine, but if anybody out there cares for
someone who has died of cancer in the past 35 years, or
suffered the devastating effects of radiation/chemotherapy, they
should definitely see this movie. This is clear, validated evidence
of conspiracy. I will never again contribute a dime or a moment's
time to the American Cancer Society, and bipartisan legislators
have allowed the FDA to run amok. Follow the money.
www.burzynskimovie.com
Posted by wwwqueen@...
8th Dec 2010
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