same as normal influenza but it is obviously much more deadly

As many as one hundred lives have been taken by a new influenza virus surfacing in Mexico and it could potentially have infected thousands more. The virus which scientists say is an unusual strain contains DNA from four different types of influenza. They said that it is genetically most similar to the swine influenza virus H1N1 however it also contains bird flu and human flu DNA strains too.

The problem that medical officials in Mexico are having is that the symptoms are exactly the same as normal influenza but it is obviously much more deadly. The only way they are able to identify if you actually do have this strain of the virus is by doing DNA testing on flu samples taken from you. In America the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that it was extremely difficult at this point to predict how the virus would spread and how deadly it would be but in an ominous statement they warned that the world needed to be “prepared for change”. While most of the cases have surfaced in Mexico, people in America and Canada have been infected also. 

It was also stated that this influenza virus could be spreading in people who were not necessarily showing the symptoms of the illness yet and as a result health officials in Mexico were handing out face masks to all citizens in Mexico City and arriving tourists as a precaution. Mexico City one of the world’s most populated areas is quieter than it has been for decades as people stay at home in fear of contracting the virus. The Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy said that the virus may well be “all over the place”.

Another thing which flu experts are worried about is that some of the cases of people dying from the virus involved healthy young adults which is unusual as normally influenza kills very old people, very young people or those who are particularly unhealthy from other health conditions. Worldwide influenza pandemics are nothing new and in the last century they occurred in 1918, 1957 and in 1968 meaning that a new one is extremely likely in the near future and may well be happening right now.

The drug Tamiflu is considered by experts to be the most effective treatment for this new deadly strain of influenza and older influenza drugs are thought to be completely ineffective.