La gripe A/H1N1(2009) y su tratamiento: Resumen de sus principales aspectos

• Autores: José Antonio Cabezas Fernández del Campo
• Localización: Anales de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia, ISSN-e 1697-4298, ISSN 0034-0618, Nº. 2, 2010, págs. 241-258
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen

  • At the middle of March 2009 an A(H1N1) emerged whose genome contains segments that are about one-third from �old� North American swine influenza, one third from North American avian, and the remaining third evently divided between eurasian swine and human origin. The new modality of influenza emerged initially in Mexico and immediately after in United States of America; its propagation in many other countries on several continents has been very rapid. Actually, what �was new was not just the virus but also the continent origin (North America, not Asia), the season of origin (spring, not late fall), and the cohort at risk for infection and death (children and young adults, not infants and the elderly)�. Contrary to earlier speculation, it seems that a certain level of immune protection against the new influenza A(H1N1) virus has been previously acquired by some sectors of population, depending on age. Vaccine production was internationally organized. Most licensed flu vaccines consist of inactivated egg grown virus, then purified and generally adjuvants added. Furthermore, the neuraminidase (= sialidase) inhibitors oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) have been used in treatments, mainly in children, at the hospitals. The risk of appearance of resistant strains advised cautious dispensation. Certain people considerer that perhaps some official sanitary authorities have been influenced by pharmaceutical companies to deliver an exaggerated message about the risk of this pandemics and have helped to intensify the vaccination campaigns. However, they argued that the risk of a reassortant virus containing segments of avian H5N1 or H9N2, which could result in chimaeric viruses with very dangerous characteristics, should be avoided with preventive vaccination and the use of antiviral agents.