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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm SarahLong.
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And I'm Bob Doughty. In February, the World Health Organizationwill hold a series of meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. Healthexperts and representatives of drug makers will discuss the newestdevelopments in the continual fight against influenza.
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The flu -- in humans and birds --is our subject this week.
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Influenza is a common infection of the nose and throat, andsometimes the lungs. It is caused by a virus which passes from oneperson to another.
The flu causes muscle pain, sudden high body temperature,breathing problems and weakness. It is most common in the wintermonths.
Generally, people feel better after a week or two. But the flucan kill. It is especially dangerous to the very young, the very oldand those with a weak defense system against disease.
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Historical records have described sicknesses believed to beinfluenza for more than two-thousand years. The Roman historian Livydescribed such a disease attacking the Roman army. People infifteenth century Italy thought the sickness was caused by theinfluence of the stars. So they named it "influenza."
In seventeen-eighty-one, influenza went from Europe to NorthAmerica to the West Indies and Latin America. It spread in Asia ineighteen-twenty-nine, then again in eighteen-thirty-six. It alsotraveled to Indonesia, Russia and the United States.
In eighteen-eighty-nine, the flu began in Central Asia, spreadnorth into Russia, east to China and west to Europe. Later, itaffected people in North America and Africa. Experts saytwo-hundred-fifty-thousand people died in Europe in that flupandemic. Worldwide, the number was at least one-million.
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But the deadliest outbreak of influenza on record involved a fluthat first appeared in Spain. The so-called Spanish flu killedbetween twenty-million and fifty-million people around the world innineteen-eighteen and nineteen-nineteen. Even young, healthy peoplebecame sick and died in just a few days.
Times when diseases spread throughout the world are calledpandemics. The W-H-O says the next flu pandemic is likely to kill asmany as six-hundred-fifty-thousand people in industrial countries.But it says the greatest effect will likely be in developingcountries. The agency notes that health care resources in thosecountries are limited, and populations are weakened by poor healthand diet.
Researchers say the new kind of flu will appear unexpectedly.They will not have enough time to identify it and produce a vaccine.That is why they are developing faster ways to produce vaccines.
Eighty years ago, the flu virus took months to spread around theworld. Today, airplane travel means a virus can spread around theworld within days. Experts say another virus like the one thatappeared in nineteen-eighteen could be as dangerous as any diseaseever known.
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Medical experts have identified three major kinds of flu. Theycall them type A, B and C. Type C is the least serious. People mayget it and not even know it. But researchers study the other twokinds very closely. Viruses change to survive. This can make itdifficult for the body to recognize and fight an infection.
A person who has suffered one kind of flu usually cannot developthat same kind again. The defense system produces antibodies. Thesesubstances stay in the blood and destroy the virus if it appearsagain. But the body may not recognize a flu virus that has even asmall change.
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There are some antiviral drugs that doctors may use to treatinfluenza. But health officials say the best thing is to get ayearly vaccine to prevent the flu.
Each year, medical researchers work to develop vaccines toprevent the flu from infecting people. They meet in February todiscuss which kinds of flu viruses to include in the nextformulation. They try to decide which vaccines will be most usefulin fighting against the kinds of flu they think will appear monthslater.
For this flu season, the vaccine chosen a year ago did notinclude the virus known as the Fujian strain. It came from Fujianprovince in China. It appeared late. To avoid a delay, it was notincluded in the vaccine.
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No one knows yet exactly how much protection the vaccine providedpeople this flu season. The northern flu season usually does notbegin until December. This season, however, people started to getthe flu in October. The World Health Organization says the majorityof cases identified so far have involved the Fujian strain.
As of last week, the W-H-O reported that influenza remainedwidespread in many countries in central and eastern Europe. Casesalso increased in Italy and Japan. And the flu remained widespreadin some parts of Canada and the United States.
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Humans are not alone. Chickens and some other animals also getthe flu. Since December, parts of Asia have had high levels of birdflu. Avian influenza virus has jumped to some people. But directcontact with chickens or their waste has been suspected. The WorldHealth Organization says there has been no evidence that the virushas spread person-to-person.
Researchers are concerned about what could happen if the virusmixes genetic material with human flu virus. The new virus mightthen spread from person to person. People would become infected withproteins their bodies have never seen before. So they would have nodefense.
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Scientists are especially concerned about Asia, where many humaninfluenza viruses first appear.
In nineteen-ninety-seven, an outbreak of bird flu in Hong Konginfected eighteen people and killed six. Workers killed more thanone-million chickens to control the threat.
Last year in Hong Kong, bird flu infected two people and killedone. Also last year, a different flu virus infected someagricultural workers and killed one person in the Netherlands.
In the current outbreak, the W-H-O says Vietnam and South Koreahave the first epidemics ever documented in those countries. Japanhas its first epidemic since nineteen-twenty-five.
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But Vietnam and Thailand had the only human cases confirmed as ofMonday. At least seven people in Vietnam have developed bird flu.Six of them died. Of those, five were children. In Thailand asix-year-old boy became the first death in that country. Thailand isthe fourth largest exporter of chicken in the world.
Announcements of flu outbreaks in chickens expanded in recentdays to also include Indonesia and Cambodia. Pakistan and Taiwanhave both reported outbreaks of less serious forms.
Health officials say chicken and eggs that have been well cookedshould be safe to eat. The W-H-O says poultry should be cooked toseventy degrees Celsius. And the agency advise people to wash theirhands after touching poultry products.
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Millions of chickens have died of bird flu, or been killed in aneffort to contain the spread. The World Health Organization says itis also working to develop a vaccine to protect people from the birdvirus.
The agency, part of the United Nations, says the effort requiresthe use of a new technology. This is called "reverse genetics."Scientists collect the virus from human victims. Then they mixgenetic information from that virus with a virus grown in alaboratory.
The resulting virus is recognized by the defense system in thebody and causes a protective reaction. Drug companies could then usethis virus to produce large amounts of vaccine. But the W-H-O says avaccine may not be ready for several months to several years.
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The World Health Organization says influenza is thought to resultin two-hundred-fifty-thousand to five-hundred-thousand deaths ayear. As many as five-million people get severe cases of the flu.Lost productivity adds up to great economic costs. So medical andagricultural officials say stopping the spread of influenza is oneof their most important jobs year after year.
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaverwas our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
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And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more newsabout science in Special English on the Voice of America.