CFIDS is no stranger to controversy and the latest paper published on line by Science seems to raise more controversial thoughts. The researchers led by Judy Mikovits have implicated a contagious, rodent derived retrovirus (defn: A type of virus that contains RNA as its genetic material. The RNA of the virus is translated into DNA, which inserts itself into an infected cell’s own DNA. Retroviruses can cause many diseases, including some cancers and AIDS) named xenotropic murine leukemia virus -XMRV.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recently surveyed H1N1 (Swine Flu) epidemiological 2009 data for 28 countries, finding that 51% of all deaths have been among people aged 20-49 years, and only 12% were among people over 60 years of age.

This is striking, as it is a near-perfect reverse of normal flu trends, and mirrors what was seen, demographically, in 1918. While the  President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have tried to factor in such trends, it is extremely difficult to know how influenza dynamics, illnesses and death rates may vary if transmission and illness is primarily among young adults.

Leaving aside the questions concerning the validity of receiving the new H1N1(2009) vaccine in terms of need, and whether there may be as yet to be discovered risk and side effects that are greater in health impact that the actual virus. The questions about does it actually induce immune defenses against the H1N1 virus are now starting to be answered.

Each year the respective medical authorities in the western world recommend the influenza vaccine and who should receive it. Since 1999 the age groups have been expanded to include greater numbers of people.  Whilst the UK has a more conservative approach to seasonal flu in terms of age, in the USA virtually the only groups not recommended to receive the vaccine are those aged between 19 and 40 without any ongoing health problem.

Vit D Balances the Innate Immune Response

A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that it has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and is shared only by primates, including humans – but no other known animal species. The genetic material – called an Alu short interspersed element – is part of what used to be thought of as “junk DNA” and makes up more than 90 percent of the human genome.

The influenza virus is a determined and relentless foe. Infecting about 1 billion people worldwide annually and killing hundreds of thousands. If influenza evolves into a pandemic strain, as it did three times last century, it could kill tens of millions.

Stripped to its genetic skeleton the virus that has wrought havoc on populations and caused untold misery is one of the simplest organisms on the planet. It consists of merely eight genes. Humans, on the other hand, have some 20,000 genes.

According to experts, in the first eight weeks of a flu pandemic, an effective mask could reduce the number of cases from one million to just 6. [1]

Comment: A paper out in the British Medical Journal on the 10th August 2009 [1] raises some interesting questions about the benefit of treating children under the age of 12 with neuraminidase inhibitors. This paper looked at 4 RCT’s involving 1766 children of whom 1243 had confirmed seasonal influenza A. Plus three RCT’s for the potential benefits of prophylaxis in 863 children.

Dr Harri Hemila MD PhD co author of the Cochrane Review article replies [1]:

The Cochrane review was limited to placebo-controlled trials in which at least 0.2 g of vitamin C was used per day.[2] Most of these trials examined vitamin C administration as regular supplementation and provided strong evidence that vitamin C shortens the duration of colds and alleviates its symptoms.

Comment: Natural Killer (NK) cells – a type of white blood cell – are a major component of the human body’s innate immune system. Over 1,000 NK cells are found in every drop of blood. They provide a fast frontline defence against tumours, viruses and bacterial infections, by latching onto and killing cells in the human body that are cancerous or are infected with a virus or a bacterial pathogen.

A Virus is an ultramicroscopic infectious agent.

The H1N1 A 2009 (Swine Flu)  is a novel strain of the influenza virus.

Viruses cannot reproduce on  their own. To reproduce, a virus must bind to a living cell inside some organism, insert its genetic material into that “host” cell, and take over the cell’s reproductive “machinery.” The virus then makes copies of itself – maybe hundreds of thousands. Sooner or later, this kills the infected cell – causing the virus to leave the cell and cause illness. Once out of the host cell new viruses start the process over, attacking other cells until the immune system, and or medication controls their activity and replication. The H1N1 Influenza A virus once inside a cell can produce approximately 100,000 new virions in about 8 hours.