Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

This is worth quoting in full to demonstrate just what morons health officials Gupta and Law quoted below are

http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/2 ... uild=cache

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A West Virginia physician who claimed to have contracted the H1N1 virus twice now has proof -- from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, no less -- that her claims were true.

Dr. Debra Parsons, a pediatrician at Kid Care West in Cross Lanes, was met with reactions of doubt from local health officials last month when she said two flu tests had come back positive for H1N1, or swine flu.

Parsons first came down with the virus, complete with all the telltale symptoms, in August.

Her son became ill at the same time with the same symptoms. Figuring they had the same bug, Parsons tested herself to see what it was.

The test came back positive for Influenza A, so the lab at Charleston Area Medical Center sent it to be sub-typed. Parsons was positive for H1N1.

Parsons and her son recovered, but in October they started having the same symptoms, but they became much worse.

They were both tested this time, and the results were the same -- they were positive for Influenza A and then H1N1.

"It was swine flu both times," Parsons said.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, and John Law, spokesman for the West Virginia Division of Health and Human Resources, were skeptical of Parsons' claim.

Law said the possibility of getting the flu twice was "very, very, very rare." Gupta said he was "aware of no data or scientific body of research or case reports" that indicated someone could contract H1N1 more than once.

So the specimen from the Parsons' second flu test was sent to the CDC in Atlanta, where it underwent a preliminary strain reaction test. Parsons says that test is the "gold standard" in differentiating between seasonal and swine flu.

That sample came back a couple weeks ago, and it was positive for H1N1. The CDC then requested a specimen from Parsons' August flu test.

Last Friday, the results of that test came back positive for H1N1.

Parsons says she's spoken with CDC representatives about the results, and they said the double infection isn't all that unbelievable.

"They said this happens every year with seasonal flu, so there's no reason to expect that it wouldn't happen with swine flu," Parsons said. "Every flu strain can change a little bit."

The pediatrician says there may have been a tiny change in the virus that stopped her immune system from recognizing it or her body never built up immunity to it.

Parsons said the CDC's tests confirmed what she already knew, "so I'd know what to tell people, and I could prove that I wasn't trying to start a panic. I don't want to scare anybody."

"I need to know, as a physician, if it is possible or not. I want to tell my patients the truth," she said.

She says the confirmation also speaks well of CAMC's lab.

"It feels good to verify that the hospitals here are doing a good job and their tests, for the most part, are accurate," Parsons said.

Law, the DHHR spokesman, still says most people should "rest assured if you've had it, you'll develop some immunity.

"Can you ever say never? No you can't."

Gupta says he needs to see Parsons' test results before he can change his opinion. He says there are only two ways she could have contracted the virus twice -- the virus would have had to change, which he doesn't think has happened, or her body failed to develop an antibody response to it.

"That would mean you have a problem with your immune function," he said.

Parsons says to her knowledge neither she nor her son has any immunity problems.

"He's welcome to see them," she said. "I've had every test that he wanted done when he was on TV."

Sounds like a great doctor!

Thanks for the find, Saraseer!

It reinforces what a lot of folks around here have been talking about/experiencing for months.

After the confirming of Dr. Niman's polymorphism forecast, here is another example of an hypothesis/theory put forward on this board that has proved out. There may be more, but these two examples stand out.

Impressive.

So will the vaccine even work?

Saraseer, that is one great post.

Lynn,

As I understand it, the vaccine will increase your antibodies to flu, but it is not a 100% silver bullet against h1n1 if you are then exposed to an extremely high level of flu germs.

The way this was explained earlier on flutracker was that the vaccine stimulates your body to create antibodies to the flu. On a 100 point scale, you might assume that a young person who has never been exposed to this flu before would have almost no antibodies - say, 0 - 10

Then maybe they were exposed to the h1n1 flu, but got a mild case of it, or maybe even a case where they were asymptomatic. After recovering, their blood titer level might now be 30. [I picked 30 because that is what some people who participated in an h1n1 vaccination testing program measured who had not had a confirmed h1n1 test before taking part in the study.]

At this point, a person could maybe have enough immunity to resist the flu, but not an ideal level of antibodies. If our person was then exposed to the flu again, in large measure, he might get sick again.

If that person had received a vaccine at that point, perhaps his level of antibodies would have been raised to about 70+.

That is a level of immunity that would be expected to protect against another infection. Most people would not get sick, and it could be said that the vaccine worked.

Some things have been pointed out that might maximize the amount of antibodies produced. One cautioned against taking Tylenol or Ibuprofen to counter the bit of fever one might expect following a vaccination. Another suggested getting a lot of sleep prior to getting vaccinated, and a third article said that a group of people got higher titer levels if they consumed a probiotic drink for some time period. Lots of variables; lots to be learned.

A couple of comments on this story...

1. Dr. Niman published an article earlier discussing H1N1 reinfections in Buffalo, NY. This artlcle reinforces that story with actual proof via testing.

...and...

2. It may indicate that some small change has taken place in H1N1 causing the human immune system to not recognize the slightly changed H1N1 as a threat.

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11250901/H1N1_X2.html

In case people missed it:

H1N1 Re-infections Raise Pandemic Concerns
Recombinomics Commentary 02:30
November 25, 2009


Dr. Debra Parsons, a pediatrician at Kid Care West in Cross Lanes, was met with reactions of doubt from local health officials last month when she said two flu tests had come back positive for H1N1, or swine flu.

Parsons first came down with the virus, complete with all the telltale symptoms, in August.

Her son became ill at the same time with the same symptoms. Figuring they had the same bug, Parsons tested herself to see what it was.

The test came back positive for Influenza A, so the lab at Charleston Area Medical Center sent it to be sub-typed. Parsons was positive for H1N1.

Parsons and her son recovered, but in October they started having the same symptoms, but they became much worse.

They were both tested this time, and the results were the same -- they were positive for Influenza A and then H1N1.

"It was swine flu both times," Parsons said.

The above comments on lab confirmed re-infection of two family members two months apart by swine H1N1. These confirmations are supported by many anecdotal reports of similar re-infections. The timing of these infections allowed for easy identification, because at the time there was no seasonal flu, so identification of infections was straight-forward. Moreover, such infections in school aged children and parents are common because H1N1 infections exploded when school began.

At the time however, the H1N1 virus was evolving slowly, reflecting an ease of infection of a naïve population. The jump from swine H1N1 into humans allows for infections with low doses of virus. Low concentration of virus produces a mild infection and a weak antibody response. The rapid spread creates widespread antibody, but the low level allows for re-infection from individuals with a higher viral load. A higher viral load can be created in a school environment, where some students could be infected multiple times because of frequent contact with infected students.

Thus, the increased viral load could overcome the weak immune-response and re-infect those infected earlier, leading to a second wave. However, the higher viral load leads to more serious infections, especially for these not infected in the first wave. Consequently more previously health young adults develop more serious symptoms, leading to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. The higher viral load, especially when combined with receptor binding domain changes such as D225G can lead to the type of cases seen in Ukraine, where a high percentage of young adults develop infections that destroy both lungs in a matter of a few days.

In many areas, including Ukraine, this wave is subsiding, but the holiday season will lead to new infections by viruses with regional markers, leading to a third wave in early 2010.