Globe and Mail: Flu disproportionately targets the young and healthy

Flu disproportionately targets the young and healthy
Caroline Alphonso and Gloria Galloway

Toronto and Ottawa — From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Last updated on Saturday, Jul. 18, 2009 03:36AM EDT


The median age of Canadians infected with pandemic influenza is only 18 and, among those hospitalized, is 21 years old, according to newly released government figures that paint a picture of just how disproportionately the H1N1 virus affects young adults.

While answers are still lacking as to why youth have been affected by the H1N1 virus, health officials are considering the possibility that while young people have been exposed to other flu strains, they don't respond as well to H1N1 as older people whose first experience was with this strain.

“This kind of data pinpoints the ones that are going to have the most disease, and will also be incubators of disease to pass on to others,” said Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. “It really targets who is at greatest risk, because when a vaccine becomes available, if it becomes available in limited amounts, I think we have to identify high-risk categories.”

The pandemic virus, which slipped into a place where no one was looking for it, in a form that no one expected and swept the globe with unprecedented speed, has challenged all assumptions on what a pandemic would look like – including the age group it would primarily infect. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/flu-disproportionately-targets-the-young-and-healthy/article1223109/