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There are indications that the swine flu virus may have found its way to Hawai'i. As of press time, 36 states now have confirmed cases of the swine flu.
UH Mānoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw studied the influenza virus in birds and pigs for over 20 years. In an interview with Ka Leo, she discussed what the swine flu is, how the outbreak could affect UH and how people can better prepare themselves against catching or spreading the flu.
Q: What is swine flu and how does it affect people?
A: This particular virus that is circulating and affecting people is related to the swine influenza virus that circulates normally in pigs, because they have H1N1. I worked on this for many years ... and those animals that caught that disease typically display symptoms similar to us: fever, congestion, runny nose.
This one is different in a couple of ways. We've seen transmission of swine flu to people before (but) the difference is that it hasn't had the ability to go from person to person. We saw a rare instance in the '70s ... but it's pretty uncommon to see that.
In this case, we have a virus that's picked up some genes from a human influenza virus and an avian influenza virus. And this is not unexpected in pigs. ... They have the swine influenza virus that circulates among them normally, and they also have a receptor on their cells so that they can be infected by human influenza viruses and avian influenza viruses.
And what happens when different flu viruses get into the same host ... you can get 256 different genetic combinations out of that. So it re-sorts its genes, it's kind of like a shuffling. And pigs, since they're susceptible to human, bird and their own, we've always viewed them as a very important host for mixing of viruses. ...
The concern right now is that it's spreading fairly rapidly among people, so it's certainly developed the ability to go human to human. ...
This virus causes the same symptoms that we see in seasonal flu that we have every year. Fever - fever is a hallmark of flu - distinguishes it from cold viruses. But they get runny noses, congestion, sore throat, cough, lethargy and the common symptoms.
But the world has to be alert if there is a virus they think people might not have much protection against, antibody-wise from prior exposure. It's showing the ability to spread into different areas and move fairly quickly. It could burn itself out or start simmering.
This has probably happened many times, but now we're really good at detecting it. And we were also all getting ready for the avian H5N1 that has caused so many problems in Asia. That's a very nasty virus, different than the one that's in pigs. Everyone had been getting ready for a pandemic due to that one. ... That's the reason why we're fortunate now, because at least we have stockpiles of antivirals, equipment that would be needed in case of a pandemic. We're a lot better prepared than we were a few years ago.
Q: How could the swine flu outbreak affect UH?
A: We have a group that is already meeting because we want to be sure that ... we have a health center so we have students coming in and we can collect samples in case they have any type of respiratory disease. ...
We also would have to think about if there was a big disease problem in the community. Should we keep our students here? For example, if you had a disease problem in a dorm, what's your response? There are a lot of factors you have to look at, particularly for a university like ours, where you have resident students. ... Right now we're trying hard to make sure people get good information and remain calm. If I had two bits of advice, get informed by reliable sources ... and stay calm.
There are things you can do as individuals to reduce your chances of infection in any type of outbreak. Wash your hands in warm soapy water - viruses don't like heat. Certainly do not hang out with sick people.
If you feel ill, you don't want to be out circulating with people, because you could spread it. So, you know, we think about if we had a case in the dorm, how would we isolate that individual? Those are the kind of things that come up for universities.
And we have a pandemic plan. ... I worked on a pandemic plan at another university, and since I'm a flu person, by training and by experience, I do understand what the viruses are about.
Q: Are there any UH scientists involved in swine flu research?
A: I'm not familiar with anyone other than myself. ... I spent over 20 years studying influenza, particularly in birds and pigs and particularly the transmission over species. ... I spent many years on that and ran an international surveillance program on flu in those species. So I think there are folks who are working with different influenza viruses but not particularly swine viruses, to the best of my knowledge.
Q: If the swine flu does hit Hawai'i, will UH start testing students?
A: Yes, they collect samples and submit them to the Department of Health, and then if those are confirmed ... at a certain point, if you have a lot of people who are sick, you stop doing that, because it becomes evident. Right now there is just too much that is unknown about what it's going to do. It's starting to taper down in Mexico, which is good. Will it come out and cause a fair amount of outbreaks in other countries? It's already doing that. But then the issue is whether it goes down or keeps infecting and making people sick. And that's an unknown, we have to watch that. And that will determine some of the reactions.
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