Even though the regular seasonal flu vaccine contains a strain of the A-flu virus group, it will not prevent you from getting sick if you come in contact with the new flu strain.
The strain H3N2 of the flu virus is causing many of the cases, reports suggest, and it is known to cause severe illness, especially among the elderly.
Swine flu is caused by a virus similar to the regular flu virus that circulates in people every year, but is a strain that is typically found only in pigs or in people who have direct contact with pigs.
Recall that the so-called Center for Disease Control is where the capitalists brag in the March 23, 2005 Wall Street Journal that they created their human-to-human strain of the H5N1 Bird Flu virus.
FORBES: Extradite Andrew Wakefield To Face Fraud Charges In The UK
So are we ready to battle a pandemic strain of bird flu if this new virus picks up the capacity to more efficiently spread from person to person?
Like all new drugs, any vaccine for flu - even one for a particularly lethal strain of the virus - will take time to develop and to be made available to the public.
That experiment was based on the long-held notion that a pandemic strain is more likely to emerge when a flu virus mixes its genes with another virus in an animal host, such as a pig.
WSJ: Scientists Craft Bird Flu Type That Can Be Transmitted Through Air
The news came as officials in the United States and Mexico, where the outbreak of the H1N1 virus started, were voicing hope that the worst of the new flu strain may be over.
Swine flu is caused by a virus similar to the type of flu virus that, in various forms, infects people every year, but is a strain typically found only in pigs -- or in people who have direct contact with pigs.
CNN: Among the swine flu mysteries: Why only deaths in Mexico?
Swine flu is a respiratory disease which is caused by a strain of the influenza type A virus known as H1N1.
There are still concerns that the virus could return in the fall, in the typical flu season, as a stronger strain.
As for why this winter's flu season seems especially bad, Dr. Marr believes it is because of the particular strain of the virus, H3N2, which causes "stronger" symptoms, as well as an early start to the season.
Those results will help determine whether a stronger strain of the virus will return to the United States and the Northern Hemisphere during the fall flu season.
In Chile and Australia, two countries with many flu cases, she said H1N1 appears to be the dominant strain, "crowding out" the seasonal influenza virus.
CNN: Swine flu 'not stoppable,' World Health Organization says
应用推荐