TUESDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The seasonal flu vaccine may offer partial protection against the pandemic H1N1 swine flu, but not enough to prevent a person from catching the swine flu, Mexican researchers say.
In a study of hospital patients during the H1N1 epidemic in Mexico City last spring, the researchers found that those who had had a seasonal flu shot and were infected with the H1N1 flu had significantly milder cases than those who had not received a seasonal flu shot.
For the study, a group led by Dr. Jose Luis Valdespino-Gomez reviewed the outcomes of 60 patients with swine flu and 180 patients with other diseases. Some of the patients reported having received a 2008-09 seasonal flu shot.
"Seasonal vaccine may provide partial protection against pandemic influenza, particularly severe forms of the disease," said Valdespino-Gomez, an epidemiologist at Laboratorios de Biologicos y Reactivos de Mexico.
But Valdespino-Gomez cautioned that these findings do not mean that a seasonal flu shot will fully protect you from the H1N1 swine flu or its complications. "These results do not mean that people should not be vaccinated with the H1N1 influenza vaccine," he said. "The recommendation is to receive both seasonal and H1N1 vaccines."
This year's seasonal flu vaccine is available now, and the new H1N1 vaccine is about to be distributed. People should get both shots, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The seasonal vaccine may boost existing antibodies in those who have had a similar flu virus or a vaccination against seasonal flu, the researchers say.
The study, published in the Oct. 7 online edition of the British Medical Journal, has limitations because of the small number of participants. "In addition, the control group had a high frequency of chronic underlying conditions and a high frequency of seasonal vaccination, which may underestimate our results," Valdespino-Gomez said.
Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, isn't surprised to hear that a seasonal flu shot offers some protection from the swine flu.
"The implication is that if you trigger an antibody response to an H1N1 flu virus of any kind, it may be useful as part of the body's attempt to fight the flu," he said. "That would explain why it wouldn't immunize you, but could prevent you from having a severe outcome."
Siegel cautioned that the seasonal vaccine the study participants received was last year's vaccine. This year's seasonal vaccine is a different mix of viruses so it may not have any protection against the H1N1 swine flu, he said.
"People who have gotten a seasonal flu shot should not assume they are protected from the H1N1 flu," Siegel said. "Clearly, the amount of protection you are getting from a seasonal flu shot is not nearly of the magnitude that would take the place of getting this year's H1N1 vaccine."
You need both shots, he said.
More information
For more information on flu, visit the Flu.gov.
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- With the H1N1 swine flu virus lurking in every nook and cranny, all Americans should be on guard this coming flu season.
But experts say those living and working in crowded locales -- schools, colleges, prisons, cruise ships, airplanes, military barracks -- need to be extra careful.
"Any crowded place carries a heightened risk," said Dr. Melinda Moore, a senior health researcher at the Rand Corp., in Arlington, Va. "It really has to do with people being in close quarters and having disease-transmitting behaviors such as coughing and sneezing."
"The virus is mainly spread the respiratory route, and it's also on inanimate objects like doors and knobs and handles and desktops and telephones," added Dr. Stuart Beeber, attending pediatrician at Northern Westchester Hospital Center, in Mount Kisco, N.Y. "It's mainly in close quarters where a lot of people are together, such as in classrooms or offices, potentially even movie theaters."
The danger of transmission lies not only in the fact that hordes of people are together for long periods of time, but that those hordes may not be practicing good hygiene.
"Any environment in which people are crowded together with compromised hygiene carries a heightened risk," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, an associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, Davis, Children's Hospital. "It's when people don't have access to hand washing or shower facilities."
Younger children are not naturally very hygienic, Blumberg pointed out.
College students may also engage in behaviors that are friendly to the spread of the H1N1 virus, such as kissing and sharing drinks. If those drinks are alcoholic, judgment may be affected, resulting in even more unsafe behaviors. Smoking can also compromise the respiratory system, making you more vulnerable to infection, Blumberg said.
The added problem in jails and prisons is that stepped-up hygiene needs to be balanced with safety and, in some cases, could actually compromise safety, Blumberg said. For example, "alcohol-based hand gels can be dangerous in that environment," he said.
Budget cuts may even be contributing to a hygiene crisis. The current fiscal problems plaguing California affect all school facilities, including those related to hygiene, Blumberg said.
"The people involved may not be quite as interested in disease prevention compliance as they are with other things, but that doesn't make it any less important," Moore said.
The first line of protection is what experts call "respiratory etiquette." Coughing and sneezing into your elbow or handkerchief doesn't require any special facilities. And, as often as you can, wash your hands or cleanse them with hand foam or alcohol gel. "You may also want to wipe down surfaces that you are in frequent contact with, like door knobs," Beeber said.
These are also messages the airline and cruise-ship industry are emphasizing more than usual right now, although, for the most part, it's business as usual for travelers.
According to Erik Elvejord, a spokesman for Holland America Line, based in Seattle, the cruise ship industry is already bound by strict public health standards, including not letting sick passengers board a ship and isolating sick passengers who are already on board. Ships do have some flu-testing equipment on board as well as antivirals, he said. Passengers also receive notes on their pillow reminding them to wash their hands, and containers of hand sanitizer are placed all around the ships, although these measures are not new, Elvejord added. "We've kind of been doing what we've been doing all along," he said.
Although one passenger on a recent commercial airline flight was told by the flight crew that blankets were no longer available in economy class because of swine flu concerns, David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association (ATA), said he has "not seen that wholesale."
For the most part, the airline industry is also proceeding with travel-as-usual. "We [already] have pretty sophisticated filtering systems," he said.
Debunking one persistent myth, Castelveter stressed that cabin air is not recirculated, but comes in the side, moves in a circular motion, then exits the plane into the great beyond. The worst danger comes from the person sitting next to you -- not in front or behind, Castelveter said. "The person who sneezes in row 3 will have no impact on someone sitting in row 11," he said.
Airlines are being more diligent in passing out hand-washing messages, and both water and antibacterial soap are available on most airplanes.
The ATA is also communicating regularly with CDC officials and will follow any recommendations they make, such as screening passengers before boarding an aircraft. So far, nothing has changed, Castelveter said.
As always, people who are sick should stay away from others. "The buzz word is social isolation, so children who have flu-like symptoms should stay home from school and workers who have flu-like symptoms should stay home from work until they have been fever-free for 24 hours without any drugs," Beeber said.
More information
There's much more on H1N1 flu at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.