The city of Boston stated that around 700 confirmed cases of the flu have been reported in the city – ten times the 70 cases reported in the whole of last year’s season. Over 4% of all emergency room visits at Boston hospitals are now due to the flu. In response, the Boston Public Health Commission is working with community health centers to provide free flu vaccination clinics over the weekend.

“This is the worst flu season we’ve seen since 2009, and people should take the threat of flu seriously,” said Mayor Menino. “This is not only a health concern, but also an economic concern for families, and I’m urging residents to get vaccinated if they haven’t already. It’s the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your family. If you’re sick, please stay home from work or school.”

Like many of the flu cases seen across the U.S. this year, the cases in Boston have been particularly severe. 25% of the flu cases reported in Boston have required hospitalization, and four senior Bostonians have died from flu-related illnesses since the beginning of October.

(Image via Jared C. Benedict/Wikimedia Commons)

“Reports of influenza-like-illness (ILI) are nearing what have been peak levels during moderately severe seasons,” said Dr. Joe Bresee, the chief of epidemiology and prevention at the CDC’s influenza division. “While we can’t say for certain how severe this season will be, we can say that a lot of people are getting sick with influenza and we are getting reports of severe illness and hospitalizations.”

According to the CDC’s most recent weekly influenza report, the percentage of people visiting a doctor for the flu in the U.S. has been elevated for four weeks, climbing to 5.6%. Last year’s number peaked at only 2.2%. 29 states are reporting high levels of the flu, and 18 pediatric deaths have been attributed to the flu this season.

The CDC is recommending the flu vaccine and antiviral treatment “when appropriate.” Bresee stated that 91% of the viruses analyzed by the CDC this season are similar to viruses included in this season’s flu shot. The match between the viruses in the vaccine and circulating viruses is an indicator of how well the vaccine will work to prevent the flu.

“Anyone who has not already been vaccinated should do so now,” said Bresee. “And it’s important to remember that people who have severe influenza illness, or who are at high risk of serious influenza-related complications, should get treated with influenza antiviral medications if they get flu symptoms regardless of whether or not they got vaccinated. Also, you don’t need to wait for a positive laboratory test to start taking antivirals.”

Seasonal flu vaccines are created every year to match expected strains of the virus. The researchers’ new method uses recombinant genetic engineering to create the one-time vaccine using a small fragment of the virus that isn’t seasonal. The fragment is a portion that does not vary among different flu strains. The research has been published in the journal Molecular Therapy.

“We can now design a vaccine that makes it easier to induce a good immune system response to recognize a pathogen, regardless of how the surface proteins of the virus change,” said Sang-Moo Kang, co-author of the study and an associate professor at Georgia State University’s Center for Inflammation, Immunity, and Infection.

This new method, Kang stated, would be safer for young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems than current methods that use live viral vaccines or a dead virus. He also asserted that the method could prevent shortages of flu vaccine, such as the one seen during the 2009 “swine flu” outbreak.

“Outbreaks of pandemic can be a dangerous situation, and our current vaccination procedures are not perfect,” said Kang.

The new study, published this week in the journal Current Biology, reports that researchers were able to successfully manipulate a virus to evolve the ability to change behavior according to the number of other viruses present in a host. The research demonstrates that viruses can easily adapt their behavior to spread an infection alone or in combination with other viruses.

“Scientists are constantly searching for ways to limit the damage viruses can cause, to help reduce the impact of illnesses like winter flu and to respond to the next pandemic,” said Helen Legget, lead scientist on the study and a researcher at the University of Exeter. “Our work proves that regardless of how we try to manipulate viruses, they will always switch their behaviour to serve their own purposes and kill as many cells as possible. This study involved a relatively simple virus. If it can evolve so quickly, it’s reasonable to assume that a lot of other viruses and parasites can, too.”

The viruses tested were only able to cooperate with other viruses that were related to them. When infecting a host, the viruses cloned themselves and then “cooperated” with the new viruses. Researchers said that when the viruses interacted with others related to them, they killed the host cell slowly so as to replicate more. When they interacted with unrelated viruses, however, the host was killed more quickly as a result of competition between virus types to out-replicate each other.

New Scientist reports that researchers have possibly created a vaccine that targets the very building blocks of flu viruses. If effective, it could mean an end to influenza as we know it, and prevent any future outbreaks of the virus. The best part is that the new vaccine can be quickly made and distributed among those that need it most before an epidemic can break out.

To understand how this new vaccine works, you have to understand how a traditional flu vaccine works. The traditional flu vaccine introduces our body’s immune system to a dead flu virus, and the immune system builds up protection against key proteins found on the surface of the virus. Those key proteins are constantly shifting, however, as flu viruses evolve every year. That’s why you have to get a new vaccine every year.

Now, the new vaccine being tested at the moment is very different. It’s made up of messenger RNA, or mRNA, that controls the production of proteins in influenza. The vaccine would be comprised of this mRNA, and your body would view it as outside proteins that must be destroyed. Any future intruders containing these proteins, which pretty much means all flu viruses, would be targeted by your immune system and subsequently destroyed.

Life long vaccines against influenza have been developed for a while now, but all have been caught up in clinical trials or questions of safety. One such vaccine is the DNA vaccine, but some fear that a DNA vaccine could cause irreparable harm to the human genome. An RNA vaccine carries no such risk, but past trials have ended up in failure as the body’s immune system destroys the vaccine before it has a chance to work.

The current mRNA vaccine being tested in animals has proven far more effective as it uses a protein called protamine that binds to mRNA and protects it from the immune system. This allows the vaccine to move through the body, and curate the creation of antibodies.

Amazingly enough, early tests of this new vaccine on mice and pigs have proven very effective. Not only does the vaccine prevent the seasonal flu, but it also protects against the far more deadly bird flu. There’s no word yet on if it protects against swine flu, but it definitely seems possible.

The vaccine is still being tested on animals, but it could move to human clinical trials soon. After that, we may soon enter an era where children are given a flu vaccine at a young age to protect them from the virus throughout their entire lives. The mRNA vaccine method could also be used to build up immunities to certain types of cancer and other diseases like meningitis and E. Coli.

“Most people are fairly convinced we had already discovered flu in all the possible animals,” said Ruben Donis, a CDC scientist, but the new bat bug has contradicted this notion. As a side note, Discovery.com adds chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys to the avian aspect of the list.

Roughly five years ago, Russian virologists claimed finding flu in bats, but no actual evidence was ever offered. Researchers have theorized that bats first caught the virus centuries ago, giving it time to mutate within the bat population into its current state. Scientists haven’t been able to grow the new virus in chicken eggs or in human cell cultures, as they typically do with more common flu strains. Still, it could pose a human threat, if it came into contact with more common forms of influenza, and mutate further. Though I wouldn’t bank on a repeat of the scenario portrayed in Contagion.

Sturnira lilium, a.k.a the Little Yellow-shouldered Bat, is the species in question, found in Guatemala. This type of bat isn’t known to bite people, but likes to eat fruit, which makes contamination of produce possible. Interestingly, scientists have considered that people have already been infected in the long past, as well as presently. “Now that scientists know what it looks like, they are looking for it in other bats as well as humans and other animals,” adds Donis. One researcher isn’t even convinced that bat flu even exists – “All they found was a segment of genetic material,” said Richard “Mick” Fulton, a bird disease researcher at Michigan State. He adds, “in my mind, if you can’t grow the virus, how do you know that the virus is there?” Perhaps the bat will foster a new news epidemic.

The tips, which you can read for yourself below, consist of simple, common-knowledge stuff.  Still, their prominent placement could help drill them into people’s heads, and the link to Flu.gov may also come in handy.

Then there’s the flu shot finder to consider.  By sticking it in the search results (and on Flu.gov and the American Lung Association site to boot), Google will no doubt remind lots of people to get vaccinated.

Google should be able to make the vaccination process less of a hassle, too, since it’s more or less eliminated the risk that whatever Walgreens or Rite Aid a person stops at won’t have the shots in stock.

Finally, Roni Zeiger, Chief Health Strategist at Google, announced one more important detail on the Official Google.org Blog: "This year’s flu vaccine protects against the three viruses that research suggests will be most common, including the H1N1 virus, so officials do not expect the need for multiple vaccines."

Good luck staying healthy this flu season.

The website asks users a series of questions to determine how serious their flu symptoms are based on the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Users have the option to share their information with their doctor, as well as family members.

The site also provides a set of online tools to help doctors monitor their patients’ symptoms, make treatment decisions, and manage their practices’ patient flow.

AMA-Flu-Help

"With both seasonal flu and H1N1 circulating this year, physician offices are already busier than normal," said AMA Board Member Mary Anne McCaffree, MD.

"This resource allows patients to assess their symptoms and determine when to seek care for themselves or their loved ones. To prevent the spread of influenza, this site also helps determine when it is safe for those who have been sick to return to work or school."

AMAfluhelp.org can help people assess their own flu symptoms or those of a family member, and offer advice about seeking treatment. There is also a tool for pregnant women to evaluate their need for a flu shot and for all users to monitor any post-vaccine related symptoms. The site can also generate a doctor’s note when it is safe to go back to work or school.

The AMA says as the site develops it will add a number of applications that support patient/doctor communication, reduce redundant testing and allows for continuous  monitoring of patients with complex health conditions.

The new website now features a new H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation guide similar to the tool Microsoft launched on Wednesday. In addition the site has a new Flu Myths and Facts section, which provides people with the latest information about the flu such as people will not need to get two doses of the H1N1 vaccine because "scientists initially thought that two doses might be required, information from clinical trials has since demonstrated the H1N1 vaccine works faster than we expected and works well against the H1N1 virus."

Kathleen Sebelius,
Health & Human Services Secretary

"Flu.gov is a one-stop clearinghouse for the latest news about the flu," said Secretary Sebelius.  "These new resources on flu.gov will help individuals get critical information on how to protect themselves and their families from the H1N1 virus. They will also help us to get accurate information out into the public realm so people know what the facts are about the flu."

The H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation guide will give people more information about what they can do to take care of themselves, prevent the spread of the flu to other family members, and identify the warning signs of more serious flu symptoms that require medical attention.

The H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation guide does not collect identifiable information in any manner and is completely anonymous. Organizations providing public health education, blogs, and the media can add it to their sites.

"One way that we can help relieve some of the burden on the states and local providers this flu season is by helping people understand what the warning signs are when it comes to the flu," said Secretary Sebelius.

"In addition to the Self-Evaluation guide, we have also created some handy one-page information sheets called Flu Essentials that people can share with family, friends and neighbors."
 

Last year Google launched its Flu Trends tool in the United States, and has now taken the opportunity to expand it into 16 additional countries. The site is also now available in 37 different languages.

"By tracking the popularity of certain Google search queries, we are able to estimate the level of flu, in near real-time," says Google. "While some traditional flu surveillance systems may take days or weeks to collect and release data, Google search queries can be counted immediately. Google Flu Trends provides an additional surveillance tool that may help public health officials and the public make more informed decisions about preparing for the flu season."

"In the past year, we’ve expanded our coverage to include Mexico, New Zealand and Australia and have continued to see a good correspondence between our estimates and official flu activity data. In fact, our analysis of last season shows that Google Flu Trends had a close 0.92 correlation with official U.S. flu data," the company adds.

Countries where Flu Trends is now available include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the US.