Viruses and viral diseases are the target of the latest effort from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to Medscape Today, groundwork has already begun on a vaccine against a new strain of the swine flu virus that has infected 12 people since July.
The strain—called H3N2v—has surfaced in five states, including Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maine, Iowa and West Virginia. Though all evidence has indicated that the virus has generally been transmitted to humans from swine, the CDC isn’t taking chances. Officials have already encouraged public health agencies to begin testing for H3N2v in patients who exhibit flu-like symptoms.
Although the strain has not proven itself to be severe, it requires a new vaccine because its composition is different enough that it isn’t covered under the influenza vaccine engineered for the 2011-2012 flu season. There is still hope among health professionals that the flu will die out naturally, however.
“There have been past instances where a novel virus comes up and then goes down,” Christine Layton, an influenza pandemic expert at RTI International, told Medscape. “There may be something about the virus that [prevents] sustained human-to-human transmission.”
Developing a new vaccine for the strain could take as long as three to four months, Layton added, by which time H3N2v could no longer be a threat. What is more likely is that the CDC will incorporate its findings into the seasonal vaccine for 2012-2013.
The seasonal vaccine for this year’s flu season covers the 2009 strain of the swine flu, the non-variant form of H3N2 and a strain of influenza B, the news report said.
