Utah H1N1 mutation - Woman dies

Utah H1N1 mutation - Woman dies
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12100904/D225G_D225N_Utah_Fatal.html

A Davis County woman died from the H1N1 flu July 24, bringing the total number of flu deaths in the state to 17, according to Utah Department of Health data released Wednesday.

Health Department spokesman Tom Hudachko said it is unknown whether the woman, who was between the ages of 18 and 39, had any underlying health conditions.

The above report matches the demographic data for a case (28F) from Utah, which has D225G and D225N. The sample collection date also matches the date of death. The initial sequences were released at GISAID, but now the sequences are also available at GenBank. One sequence, A/Utah/42/2009 is from the original sample and has mixed signals for D225G and D225N. This combination could also code for D225S, although no such sequence has been described previously in pandemic H1N1. The second sequence is a clone which gives a clean D225G signal. The presence of sequences which can encode for D225G and D225N has not been reported previously in a single sample, but recently released CDC sequences from two patients in Ukraine had D225N, while four sequences from fatal cases released by Mill Hill had D225G. Both of the changes had been previously found in fatal cases in Sao Paulo Brazil and the recent association of these sequences with fatal or sever cases has raised concerns that the frequency of these changes is increasing, which could lead to more fatalities and severe cases in the next pandemic wave.

These concerns have been increased by a recent report on one of the Ukraine sequences, which was designated as a "low reactor" raising concerns that sequences with D225G (or D225N) could evade current natural immunity as well as immunity generated by the killed vaccine.

Therefore more information on the Utah case would be useful. Many of the fatal cases with D225G have been linked to a rapid decline and lung destruction, so information on the Davis country fatality and relationship to the samples collected on the date of her death would be useful.

This is even more concerning as we are seeing a range of changes in this virus. Even if the spread rate is low, the public should be informed about these changes. So many people think they are protected due to having the flu before, or the vaccine. These people may take risks they might not otherwise take due to lack of information.