Decodifican secuencias del genoma del H1N1 empleando aislamientos del brote en Argentina

Los resultados podrían dar luz sobre las diferencias genéticas de los brotes entre Argentina y otras locaciones

Investigadores del Centro para la infección y la inmunidad (CII) en la Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health están trabajando con el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas de Argentina, La Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud (ANLIS) y con Roche 454 Life Sciences, para decodificar las secuencias completas del genoma del virus de la influenza pandémica H1N1 del 2009, de pacientes con enfermedad respiratoria severa. Los científicos compararán las secuencias de virus asociados con el brote actual en la Argentina con aquellos encontrados en otras locaciones que puedan determinar diferencias potenciales que puedan estar ligadas a tasas de mortalidad más elevadas y brindar información sobre la evolución del virus.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/cums-sdg073109.php

The Mailman School of Public Health researchers, led by Gustavo Palacios, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology and CII Director W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, and professor of Neurology and Pathology at Columbia University, plan to completely sequence up to 150 virus specimens from nasopharyngeal swabs and cultures over the next 10 days, and will share their findings with the larger scientific community. The complete sequencing of these virus specimens will allow the team to both characterize severe versus mild cases, as well as determine how the virus evolved at different points in time. Swine flu has killed 165 people in Argentina, more than any nation with the exception of the U.S. Any significant changes in the virus might influence the effectiveness of vaccines or drugs used to fight the pandemic.
“No one knows how this pandemic will evolve. Continuous surveillance will be essential to focusing both research and public health response. We are analyzing these isolates in New York and Argentina; nonetheless, we expect that members of the broader scientific community will bring new insights. Thus, our plan is to release sequences in draft form so that the vetting process can begin as soon as possible,” said Dr. Lipkin.
“While there is no evidence so far to indicate the emergence of resistance to the oseltamivir vaccine, the antiviral drug that blocks the influenza virus from spreading between cells in the body, we are cautious about the findings until we have more sequences,” said Gustavo Palacios, PhD. “The changes already noted in comparing the outbreak in Argentina to the U.S. haven’t previously been associated with greater virulence.”