Does Swine Flu Target Young People?

The H1N1 influenza virus, known better as swine flu, has shown a pattern of causing particularly severe illness in young people according to many recent, prominent newspapers. A traditional flu virus customarily attacks the elderly and the very young first. The HINI seems to have a different target group, and young people definitely fall into that category. With youth being one of the focus groups who are being targeted for the first vaccines, the fact seems to be confirmed. As the swine flu epidemic continues to wreak havoc throughout the world, most of the schools have been closed to try and prevent spreading of the highly contagious virus. Some areas have even tried to limit, or stop completely, some forms of public transit.

There is great concern among experts that with the oncoming autumn and the new school season the swine flu epidemic will soar to new heights, and could possibly upgrade to a pandemic. Many pharmaceutical companies are already stepping up production of vaccines, hopefully effective against this particular strain of the virus. If the spread of the disease increases significantly in the autumn, as many are predicting, it seems very unlikely that supplies of the new vaccine will be sufficient to vaccinate the entire population. Many are hoping that vaccination programs that target children could possibly help control a potential swine flu pandemic. Some researchers argue that targeting children for vaccination would not only help protect those at the greatest risk of exposure to the virus, but would also offer protection to adults, naming this process the “herd immunity” effect. This could mean that significantly less vaccine might be necessary to help control the spread of the virus in the long run, rather than if it were offered to everyone randomly.

As it is, the swine flu’s preference for infecting youths is already the behavior of a flu pandemic rather than seasonal flu. Of the thousands of confirmed and probable cases of swine flu, the average age of H1N1-infected people is 15, and two thirds are younger than 18. Of the worldwide deaths thus far that are attributed to swine flu, over half have been healthy people with no previous medical conditions. Of the hospitalized patients with swine flu in the US, more than half have been between the ages of 5 and 24. Youths may be particularly at risk because they lack immunity to any H1N1 virus strains, many of which have been around for years. Medical personnel wonder if past exposure to the various H1N1 flu strains has shielded older groups a bit from this virus. After extensive studies, the WHO was able to differentiate between two major groups of people at risk for the swine flu: One, as is the case with regular seasonal flu, was the at-risk people with underlying chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. The other group, disturbingly, was of previously healthy young people. One theory is that most young people seek treatment later in the course of the disease. The lesson to be learned here is simple - Don’t think that just because you have the symptoms of stomach flu you don’t have swine flu, or H1N1 influenza.