Influenza (Flu)
Types
Avian (A/H5N1 subtype) Canine Equine Swine (A/H1N1 subtype)
Vaccines
2009 pandemic (Pandemrix) ACAM-FLU-A Fluzone Influvac Live attenuated (FluMist) Optaflu
Treatment
Amantadine Arbidol Laninamivir Oseltamivir Peramivir Rimantadine Vitamin D Zanamivir
Pandemics
2009 Swine 1968–1969 Hong Kong 1918
Outbreaks
2008 West Bengal 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 2007 Australian equine 2006 H5N1 India 1976 swine flu
See also
Flu season Influenza evolution Influenza research Influenza-like illness
v t e

'Influenza' A (H1N1) virus is a subtype of influenza A virus and was the most common cause of human influenza (flu) in 2009. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a small fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 (pronounced "HEE-NEE" by healthcare professionals) strains caused a small percentage of all human flu infections in 2004–2005.^[1] Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).

In June 2009, the World Health Organization declared the new strain of swine-origin H1N1 as a pandemic. This strain is often called swine flu by the public media. This novel virus spread worldwide and had caused about 17,000 deaths by the start of 2010. On August 10, 2010, the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 influenza pandemic over, saying worldwide flu activity had returned to typical seasonal patterns.^[2]

As of 26 April 2011, an H1N1 pandemic preparedness alert has been issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Americas.^[3] The affected areas have included the Chihuahua region of Mexico where its severity and work load have been high. It is reported by the aforementioned Recombinomics source that the current vaccine (California/7/2009) for H1N1 influenza might be losing its effectiveness in 2011. This point is all the more significant since it is the current virus target for the northern hemisphere's flu vaccine, and is the intended choice for the southern hemisphere.

Swine influenza[link]

Swine influenza (also called swine flu, or pig flu) is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, the known SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3.

Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is not common and does not always lead to human influenza, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infection. The meat of an infected animal poses no risk of infection when properly cooked.

Pigs experimentally infected with the strain of swine flu that is causing the current human pandemic showed clinical signs of flu within four days, and the virus spread to other uninfected pigs housed with the infected ones.^[4]

During the mid-20th century, identification of influenza subtypes became possible, allowing accurate diagnosis of transmission to humans. Since then, only 50 such transmissions have been confirmed. These strains of swine flu rarely pass from human to human. Symptoms of zoonotic swine flu in humans are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness, and general discomfort. The recommended time of isolation is about five days.

Notable incidents[link]

Spanish flu[link]

The Spanish flu, also known as la grippe, La Gripe Española, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to be one of the most deadly pandemics in human history.

The 1918 flu caused an unusual number of deaths, possibly due to it causing a cytokine storm in the body.^[5][6] (The current H5N1 bird flu, also an Influenza A virus, has a similar effect.)^[7] The Spanish flu virus infected lung cells, leading to overstimulation of the immune system via release of cytokines into the lung tissue. This leads to extensive leukocyte migration towards the lungs, causing destruction of lung tissue and secretion of liquid into the organ. This makes it difficult for the patient to breathe. In contrast to other pandemics, which mostly kill the old and the very young, the 1918 pandemic killed unusual numbers of young adults, which may have been due to their healthy immune systems mounting a too-strong and damaging response to the infection.^[8]

The term "Spanish" flu was coined because Spain was at the time the only European country where the press were printing reports of the outbreak, which had killed thousands in the armies fighting World War I. Other countries suppressed the news in order to protect morale.^[9]

Fort Dix outbreak[link]

In 1976, a novel swine influenza A (H1N1) caused severe respiratory illness in 13 soldiers with 1 death at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The virus was detected only from January 19 to February 9 and did not spread beyond Fort Dix.^[10] Retrospective serologic testing subsequently demonstrated that up to 230 soldiers had been infected with the novel virus, which was a H1N1 strain. The cause of the outbreak is still unknown and no exposure to pigs was identified. ^[11]

Russian flu[link]

The 1977–1978 Russian flu epidemic was caused by strain Influenza A/USSR/90/77 (H1N1). It infected mostly children and young adults under 23 because a similar strain was prevalent in 1947–57, causing most adults to have substantial immunity. Because of a striking similarity in the viral RNA of both strains – one which is unlikely to appear in nature due to antigenic drift – it is being speculated that the later outbreak was due to a laboratory incident in Russia or Northern China, though this is being denied by scientists in those countries.^[12][13][14] The virus was included in the 1978–1979 influenza vaccine.^{[15][16][17][18]}

See also Influenza A virus subtype H2N2#Russian flu for the 1889–1890 Russian flu

2009 A(H1N1) pandemic[link]

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (May 2012)

Illustration of influenza antigenic shift.

In the 2009 flu pandemic, the virus isolated from patients in the United States was found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses – North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe – "an unusually mongrelised mix of genetic sequences."^[19] This new strain appears to be a result of reassortment of human influenza and swine influenza viruses, in all four different strains of subtype H1N1.

Preliminary genetic characterization found that the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was similar to that of swine flu viruses present in U.S. pigs since 1999, but the neuraminidase (NA) and matrix protein (M) genes resembled versions present in European swine flu isolates. The six genes from American swine flu are themselves mixtures of swine flu, bird flu, and human flu viruses.^[20] While viruses with this genetic makeup had not previously been found to be circulating in humans or pigs, there is no formal national surveillance system to determine what viruses are circulating in pigs in the U.S.^[21]

In April 2009, an outbreak of Influenza-like illness occurred in Mexico and the USA; the CDC reported seven cases of novel A/H1N1 influenza. By April 24 it became clear that the outbreak of ILI in Mexico and the confirmed cases of novel influenza A in the southwest US were related and WHO issued a health advisory on the outbreak of "influenza like illness in the United States and Mexico". ^[22] The disease then spread very rapidly, with the number of confirmed cases rising to 2,099 by May 7, despite aggressive measures taken by the Mexican government to curb the spread of the disease.^[23]

On June 11, 2009, the WHO declared an H1N1 pandemic, moving the alert level to phase 6, marking the first global pandemic since the 1968 Hong Kong flu.^[24]

On October 25, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama officially declared H1N1 a national emergency^[25] Despite President Obama's concern, a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found in October 2009 that an overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans (74%) were not very worried or not at all worried about contracting the H1N1 flu virus.^[26] Though the President’s declaration caused many U.S. employers to take actions to help stem the spread of the swine flu and to accommodate employees and / or workflow which may be impacted by an outbreak. ^[27]

A study conducted in coordination with the University of Michigan Health Service is scheduled for publication in the December 2009 American Journal of Roentgenology warning that H1N1 flu can cause pulmonary embolism, surmised as a leading cause of death in this current pandemic. The study authors suggest physician evaluation via contrast enhanced CT scans for the presence of pulmonary emboli when caring for patients diagnosed with respiratory complications from a "severe" case of the H1N1 flu.^[28]

March 21, 2010 worldwide update by the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO) states that "213 countries and overseas territories/communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16,931 deaths." ^[29]

As of May 30, 2010 worldwide update by World Health Organization(WHO) more than 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 18,138 deaths. ^[30]

The research team of Andrew Miller MD showed pregnant patients are at increased risk.^[31] It has been suggested that pregnant women and certain populations such as native North Americans have a greater likelihood of developing a T helper type 2 response to H1N1 influenza which may be responsible for the systemic inflammatory response syndrome that causes pulmonary edema and death. ^[32]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikispecies has information related to: H1N1 virus

Wikinews has related news: Swine flu cases worldwide top 1,000

• European Commission – Public Health EU Coordination on Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.
• Health-EU Portal EU work to prepare a global response to influenza A(H1N1).
• Influenza Research Database Database of influenza genomic sequences and related information.
• Centers For Disease Control and Prevention H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu).
• American Medical Association Physician Resources: Swine Flu
• Consultant Magazine H1N1 (Swine Flu) Center
• Pandemic Influenza: A Guide to Recent Institute of Medicine Studies and Workshops A collection of research papers and summaries of workshops by the Institute of Medicine on major policy issues related to pandemic influenza and other infectious disease threats.
• The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease Report commissioned by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, written by Richard Neustadt and Harvey V. Fineberg. An examination of what happened during and after the 1976 swine flu outbreak and lessons to help cope with similar situations in the future.

Nontechnical[link]

• Why Revive a Deadly Flu Virus? By Jamie Shreeve – January 2006 New York Times – Six-page human-interest story on the recreation of the deadly 1918 H1N1 flu virus
• BBC News – 1918 flu virus's secrets revealed Results from analyzing a recreated strain.
• Publicly available data
• Oral history by 1918 pandemic survivor

Technical[link]

• Ludwig S, Haustein A, Kaleta EF, Scholtissek C (July 1994). "Recent influenza A (H1N1) infections of pigs and turkeys in northern Europe". Virology 202 (1): 281–6. DOI:10.1006/viro.1994.1344. PMID 8009840. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0042-6822(84)71344-4. 
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (February 1987). "Influenza A(H1N1) associated with mild illness in a nursing home–Maine". MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 36 (4): 57–9. PMID 3100930. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000863.htm. 
• Lederberg J (February 2001). "H1N1-influenza as Lazarus: Genomic resurrection from the tomb of an unknown". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98 (5): 2115–6. DOI:10.1073/pnas.051000798. PMC 33382. PMID 11226198. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/98/5/2115. 
• H1N1 Registry (ESICM – European Society of Intensive Care Medicine)

Legal Information Concerning the AH1N1 Virus and the Pandemic of 2009 in Mexico[link]

• from the Global Legal Information Network

Related information[link]

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2009)

Los Aldeanos began as one of many underground Rap Cubano groups based in Havana, Cuba. Dubbed as "underground rappers", Los Aldeanos became a group in 2003, composed of El Aldeano and El B, both of whom are MC's. Los Aldeanos describe themselves as not being the pioneer of Rap Cubano, but credit themselves with producing "real" Rap Cubano, giving to the followers of "real" Rap Cubano and "real" Hip Hop lyrics that not only instill a sense of understanding of the social, political, and economical problems that aggravate Cuban society today, but also with a sense of urgency.^[1] The lyrics of Los Aldeanos are largely anti-status quo and as a result express sentiments that are critical of the government of Cuba. Such an example can be found in their song "Libertad de Expresión".^[2]

With such claims to authenticity and explicit discontent with the status quo, Los Aldeanos are just one among many underground rap bands that oppose the rising popularity of Reggaeton in Cuba. Groups like Los Aldeanos have come to openly disagree with and condemn Reggaeton, calling it unconscious and negative music that detracts Cuban society from the ailments that continue to afflict society and instead focuses attention on the pleasurable acts of self-indulgence and dance.^[3]

History[link]

Friends Bian Óscar Rodríguez Gala (El B) and Aldo Roberto Rodríguez Baquero (El Aldeano) held their first public performance at 5 Palmas in La Lisa on February 27, 2003 – there weren’t more than five people present. Later that same year they performed at Park Almendares inaugurating their rap duo as “Los Aldeanos.” In their inaugural year, they received the Rap Plaza award for their song Aveces Sueño. Los Aldeanos is a Cuban rap group whose repertoire is recognized for being Revolutionary, yet critical of regimen bureaucracies and corruption. They recorded their debut album Censurado together in 2003 and soon after Poesía Esposada in 2004. Meanwhile El Aldeano recorded his first independent project titled Entre T las Musas. The following year Los Aldeanos took part in the final annual Habana Hip-Hop rap festival and the second annual Hip-Hop Symposium. On their third anniversary together in 2006, El B recorded his debut solo album titled Mi Filosofía and they released Abajo Como Hace 3 Febreros. Los Aldeanos received international recognition at the end of 2006 with a feature on the front cover of the entertainment section of the New York Times in the article titled “Cuba's Rap Vanguard Reaches Beyond the Party Line.” Soon after, a spotlight on Univision titled them "revolutionaries of the Revolution." The attention from US audiences propelled a newfound global curiosity for the Cuban rap group. Shortly after, in 2007 Los Aldeanos joined the collective of over 40 emcees called “La Comisión Depuradora” alongside Explosión Suprema, Maykelxtremo, El Adversario, Soldier Squad, Hermanos de Causa, and Mano Armada amongst others, contributing to the self-titled double CD album of the collective produced by 26 Musas and Real 70. That same year Los Aldeanos recorded their fourth album together titled Poesía y Corazón, for which they received the ‘best rap group’ award from the television program Cuerda Viva. In 2008 each has published their own independent albums, El Aldeano with Miseria Humana and Mantenimiento al Alma, and El B presented his double CD album Dr. Jekill y Mr. Hyde, while together Los Aldenaos released El Atropello. In this last year Los Aldeanos have recorded with Puerto Rican rap duo Intifada, El B won the national Red Bull freestyle competition “La Batalla de los Gallos” for a second year in a row, and they were labeled the Cuban folk singers of the new generation when they shared the stage with Pablo Milanés in the Anti-Imperialist Grandstand.23 In July, 2010, they will perform on the "Exit-festival" in Novi Sad, Serbia.Los Aldeanos have performed twice in Miami now and will hopefully keep performing.You can visit and listen to their music freely at www.losaldeanos.net ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Discography[link]

• Censurados (2003)
• Poesía Esposada (2004)
• L3 Y 8 - Inciso A (2004)
• En 3T La Musas (Aldo) (2005)
• Abajo Como Hace Tres Febreros (2006)
• Mi Filosofía (El B) (2006)
• Record Pila Acción (2007)
• Poesía & Corazón (Aldo) (2007)
• Inédito (2007)
• Comisión Depuradora Vol. 1 (2007)
• Comisión Depuradora Vol. 2 (2007)
• Miseria Humana (Aldo) (2008)
• Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde Vol. 1 (Dr. Jekyll) (El B) (2008)
• Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde Vol. 2 (Mr. Hyde) (El B) (2008)
• Mantenimiento Al Alma (Aldo) (2009)
• El Atropello (2009)
• Los Kbayros (Aldo y Silvito el Libre) (2009)
• Viva Cuba libre (El B) (2010)
• Nos Achicharraron (Aldo) (2010)
• A Moler Chatarra (Aldo) (2010)
• D'Finy Flowww (2010)
• Desacato (2010)
• Actividad Paranormal (Aldo) (2011)
• baby bello & don perfecto (2011
• tribu mokoya (2011)

References[link]

Interview video of Los Aldeanos - By Havana-Cultura Website

Los Aldeanos.net - Lyrics, Videos, Albums, News, and more. http://www.elgenero.com/

1. ^ Los Aldeanos: http://www.myspace.com/losaldeanos
2. ^ Lyrics - Los Aldeanos - Hip Hop
3. ^ Baker, Geoffery. 2008. "The Politics of Dancing" In Reading Reggaeton. forthcoming in Duke University Press
4. ^ http://www.exitfest.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3527&Itemid=87
5. ^ http://www.emetreceproductions.com/LosAldeanos.html
6. ^ http://hiphopcuba.com