Influenza virus vaccines: lessons from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic

2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus Seroepidemiology

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza.

On 11 June 2009, the World Health Organization declared the first human influenza pandemic since 1968–1969. The responsible virus, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza, is a novel triple-reassortant influenza A virus, incorporating avian, swine and human influenza genes.1 The virus is resistant to the anti-influenza medications, amantadine and rimantadine, but is generally sensitive to the neuraminid...

Influenza pathogenesis: lessons learned from animal studies with H5N1, H1N1 Spanish, and pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza.

Because cases of highly pathogenic influenza are rare, no systematic clinical studies have evaluated different therapeutic approaches. Instead, treatment recommendations are aimed at the alleviation of clinical signs and symptoms, especially the restoration of respiratory function, and at the inhibition of virus replication, assuming viral load is responsible for disease phenotype. Studies of h...

The Seroprevalence of Pandemic Influenza H1N1 (2009) Virus in China

BACKGROUND Mainland China experienced pandemic influenza H1N1 (2009) virus (pH1N1) with peak activity during November-December 2009. To understand the geographic extent, risk factors, and attack rate of pH1N1 infection in China we conducted a nationwide serological survey to determine the prevalence of antibodies to pH1N1. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Stored serum samples (n = 2,379) collec...

The 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Influenza Virus: What Next?

History suggests that the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus faces extinction unless it mutates to avoid already high global population immunity. The immune escape mechanisms potentially at its disposal include antigenic drift, antigenic shift via genetic reassortment, and intrasubtypic reassortment. Going back to the late 19th century, the evolutionary histories of past pandemic viruses are ex...