H3N7 is not safe for humans

Commenting : separating fact from fiction

Ficiton:
As an example of "Pandemic's" details, one of the CDC-Atlanta scientists nicely explained the concept of antigenic shift that resulted in the virulence of the Riptide virus. To the writers' credit, they did not take the clichéd H5N1 route, but instead opted for a fictional (I think) strain called H3N7.

Fact:

The hemagglutinin piece is not fictional, and is the variant of the Hong Kong 'flu virus of the 1968 pandemic. I'm not sure about the neuramidase variant, but I liked this touch. The writers used part of a strain that already infects people readily, and applied the antigenic shift to it. This is at least consistent with a "stuck-on-the-tarmac-make-small-talk-with-your-neighbor" conversation I had a couple of years ago with a virologist from Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia when we were stuck at the PHL airport. He noted that nasty flu strains often result from antigenic shifts from those that are already transmissible among humans. He allowed as how H5N1 deserved close vigilance, but that other strains could readily be the next big thing.

IMHO: Because a virus strain is not the classic Asian H5N1 does not mean it is harmless to birds or people. This is an often published incorrect snippet of data which allow the "other" forms HxNx to slip through the protection network and could cause a lot of problems.

H3N7 is contagious from bird to human and can make them sick. The fact that it not lethal -yet - does not obscure the fact the jump has occurred and disease symptoms appear. It is like saying a cold is nothing to worry about when many thousands of people die from flu each year.

Focusing on vaccines which target ancient strains of H5N1 is not an answer to creating a vaccine which will protect the public from the likely strain which will bring the Pandemic. Stockpiling an anti-viral effective against a strain which is a poor spreader in humans and unlikely to be our #1 troublemaker, may offer extremely low titration antibody responses in the blood, but in reality, unless we are looking for after years, H5N1 to suddenly spread its wings and become a virulent pathogen, this makes little sense.

IMHO all strains of HxNx should be monitored, especially those which can and have jumped the species barrier and have made species. In plain English, if it staggers like a duck and is not poisoned, it probably has Avian, or something close to it.

Saying H3N7 is not a problem may remove it from the banned list, but many countries are not buying this spin. They don't want it in the poultry.

posted by Medclinician