In a recently published story, British and american researchers have found a human gene that influences how certain people's bodies react to the influenza virus. This finding may explain why some (often young and healthy) people died from the swine flu virus, while other people exhibited only very minor symptoms. Paul Kellam of Britain's Sanger institute called ITFITM3, a human gene, the first and "crucial" line of defense against the influenza virus. When this gene was present in an in vitro study, the influenza virus replicated much less, and was often confined to a much smaller area. However, when the gene was not present, the virus was able to replicate and spread much more easily. The spreading of the virus in a person without the gene would cause much more severe symptoms in a human. This research explains why the patients hospitalized by the flu are more often than not the patients that do not have the ITFITM3 gene. People without the gene may also be at increased risk during a pandemic. Finding a way to implement this gene into vaccinations may help control the spread of the more severe strains of the virus.
These findings are of particular importance because they will help doctors to screen patients and identify who is more likely to be severely impaired by the flu. In addition, it may help prevent flu pandemics by providing news vaccines against strong variants of the virus.
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