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Thursday, September 16, 2010

New Zealand : Scientists prove humans can have two flus at once

Via Stuff National News :

" Concerns that a super-strain of swine flu could form are being raised by New Zealand researchers who have shown for the first time that humans can be infected with two types of flu at once.

Their finding is in an article published today in the scientific journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Scientists at Environmental Science and Research's National Influenza Centre in Wellington found at least 11 New Zealanders who caught swine flu last year were simultaneously infected with a seasonal influenza strain – which is resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

The discovery raises the possibility that a more virulent, drug-resistant flu strain could form in co-infected cells.

"When [co-infection] happens, influenza viruses are able to swap genes," lead author and ESR researcher Matthew Peacey said. "The worry here is this event could give rise to a more virulent influenza strain, such as a pandemic strain that is resistant to Tamiflu, and so needs to be monitored closely."

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