<
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-12/covid-killed-yamagata-type-b-flu-a-second-strain-might-be-up-for-elimination>
"Stay-at-home orders, border closures, mask-wearing and other measures aimed at
stemming Covid-19’s spread led to the global disappearance of a notorious
winter germ. Now, scientists say it might be feasible with better vaccines to
rid the world of a second one.
For decades, flu epidemics were driven by four strains. One of them, the
so-called Yamagata-lineage of type B influenza, was struggling to compete
before the pandemic and hasn’t been seen since March 2020, said Ian Barr,
deputy director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for
Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne.
Covid restrictions gave it “the killer blow which knocked it out,” Barr said in
an interview.
The strain’s disappearance eliminated a viral source of death and disease,
especially among children, and a component of annual flu vaccines.
It also showed that it might be possible going forward to eliminate its type-B
cousin, a strain known as “Victoria.”
Unlike type A influenza, which has a broad host range and risks causing
pandemics, B strains lack an animal reservoir and might be more readily snuffed
out with better vaccines that not only protect against getting sick, but also
prevent transmission, scientists wrote in a paper last week in the journal
Lancet Infectious Diseases."
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-child-deaths-clean-cooking-conservation-southern-ocean/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
