Analysis

Will bird flu spark a human pandemic? Scientists say the risk is rising Nature - H5N1 is adapting to new mammalian hosts, raising the possibility of the virus spreading between humans. Kozlov, Max nature

Although many of the infections have been mild, emerging data indicate that variants of the avian influenza virus H5N1 that are spreading in North America can cause severe disease and death, especially when passed directly to humans from birds. The virus is also adapting to new hosts — cows and other mammals — raising the risk that it could spark a human pandemic.

Flu vaccines have prevented millions of deaths, research shows The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was caused by a particularly virulent strain of influenza virus. It infected 500 million people, caused around 50 million deaths, and its impact was so severe that global ... Medical Xpress

...In terms of its effectiveness in preventing deaths, our analysis of the data shows that influenza vaccination is able to reduce infection-associated mortality by half overall, including H3N2 infections.

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