HEALTH Q and A

The reported number of cases of confirmed infected with A(H1N1) virus abroad has steadily rising. Of the total cases, almost 101 have traveled to countries affected by the pandemic, with a lot coming from the United States where they had vacation during the summer break.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refuted reports that a new strain of A(H1N1) had been detected in Brazil.

The health chief showed reporters a letter of Dr. Howard Sobel, acting country representative of the WHO, stating that “US CDC rejected the claim of scientists at Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute in Sao Paolo” while “another scientist, a virologist dismissed the claim of a new strain.”

“Comparison of the amino acid sequence of the HA protein of A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1) with those other isolates of the current pandemic strain reveals no alterations in the HA protein which would allow the virus to infect new hosts,” he said, quoting the letter sent to him.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said, that there might have only been “minor modification” of the virus depending on location but its “major fragments” remain A(H1N1).