Virologists have been working around the clock to gain a better understanding of the A/H1N1 flu virus. The Wall Street Journal notes that the key points of interest are the mortality rate, ease of spread and incubation time. And field teams from the World Health Organization and CDC are in Mexico trying to find out why the virus has been lethal in Mexico but usually quite mild in the U.S. and the 16 other countries it has spread to.
"You need to look at antibodies in people--how many got infected, how many got serious or mild disease, and how many died," said Dutch virologist Albert Osterhaus, who works at Erasmus University. One key point is whether the A/H1N1 strain shares identical pathogenic markers with other, far more deadly pandemic viruses, like the 1918 Spanish Flu.
"When the Spanish flu started in 1918 it was a relatively wimpy virus. Then it heated up" and killed some 40 million people, Dr. Osterhaus told the Journal. He added: "I wouldn't be too comfortable that this swine-flu virus isn't hot yet. It can adapt."
- read the report from the Wall Street Journal
ALSO: The real threat presented by A/H1N1 may not arrive in the U.S. until the fall, when some experts fear that a strengthened virus could hit in a second wave. So far some 30 people have been hospitalized from the virus, most under the age of 50. And that could mean that older Americans may have developed some immunity from earlier flu epidemics. Report