The Influenza Virus: Understa... Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

One of the things about influenza is that it causes yearly disease, but then also it causes severe outbreaks every certain number of years, 10 or 20 or 30 years.

One of the most severe outbreaks ever, which are called pandemics, was in 1918, the so-called Spanish flu, which infected almost half the world's population, and killed about 20 million people, more people than were killed in World War I, actually. And then there have been several other pandemics throughout this century. Actually, throughout the 1900s, really. The virus itself was not discovered until the Thirties, but outbreaks are very, very classic. They can be found going back, as I said earlier, to 1100 and after that.

JASON KENDLER, MD: And the most recent pandemic was the Hong Kong flu of 1968, in which over 30,000 people in this country were killed.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Are we due for another one?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: We hope not, but that's always something that people are concerned about, and one of the reasons why the surveillance is done so closely every year, to try to predict if that's going to happen, and to try and get in front of it and have a vaccine available for it, to prevent it.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Now, let's say the vaccine is off. It's the wrong one. Are we out of luck, or are there things that we can do?

JASON KENDLER, MD: The vaccine is one means of prevention of the flu. Obviously there are other means. There are some medications, actually, that have been shown to be useful in prophylaxing people who have been exposed to the flu, or who are likely to be exposed to the flu. The first ones that came on the market were amantadine and ramantadine. More recently, there are two new products, neuraminidase inhibitors under the names of Tamiflu and Relenza.

ADAM STRACHER, MD: And also, it depends on how far off we are. If the vaccine is only a little bit off from one serotype, then it may help protect us somewhat. And obviously the common sense things like washing your hands and covering your mouth, whether you're a pig or a human, obviously that's helpful as well, to help prevent the spread.

DAVID MARKS, MD: How do these serotypes keep changing? Is it just that we're selecting out for them each year?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: Through mutations. And we select, basically. As people get immune to the different serotypes that are there, the virus mutates and changes. When it has small changes, it causes yearly outbreaks, but when it has very large changes, it causes these severe pandemics.

DAVID MARKS, MD: And hopefully this year will not be one of them. Hopefully not.

ADAM STRACHER, MD: Correct.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Thank you both for joining us. Thank you for watching our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Goodbye.

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