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Virus mutates quickly

 
By The Associated Press | Published: May 6, 2009    Comment on this article Leave a comment

WASHINGTON — A flu virus is a powerhouse of evolution, mutating at the maximum speed nature allows. A mild virus can become a killer and vice versa.

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One change already made this year’s swine flu more of a problem, helping it spread more easily among people. The big question is: What mutations are next? That’s why scientists are watching it so closely.

"There are no rules to flu viruses; they are just so mutable,” said Dr. Paul Glezen, a flu epidemiologist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "The fact that it changes all the time really confounds our efforts to control it.”

Think of flu’s evolution like a family tree: In the current flu’s distant ancestry are last century’s three pandemics.

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Related Topics: Science and Technology, Health and Fitness, Contagious and Infectious Diseases, Sciences, Life Sciences, Biology, Influenza, Genetics



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