 German
ace Manfred von Richthofen is probably the best-known
killer of men from the twentieth century's troubled adolescence.
But the Red Baron's 80-long victim list is downright diminutive
when compared to that of the most bloodthirsty killer
of the 1910s — the 'Spanish' flu. The 1918 influenza
pandemic killed an estimated 30 million people worldwide,
including 50,000 Canadians.
Now, as the world medical community
collectively waits with bated breath for the next pandemic
— will it be SARS part two or avian flu gone mad?
— the University of Washington-based Katze Lab
is dusting off the medical charts and giving the 'Spanish'
flu another look. Their aim is to study the effects
of the old 1918 influenza virus on monkeys. The US government
is backing research on the 1918 flu to the tune of $22.2
million CDN ($12.7 million US) in grants.
COLD
CASE
Back in 1918, Canada was nearing the end of its participation
in the gruelling and devastating First World War. Then
the 'Spanish' flu struck. The pandemic was so called
because of the large number of deaths in Spain early
in the epidemic. But 'patient zero' of the pandemic
was a man called Albert Gitchell from Fort Riley, Kansas.
Why, some 86 years after the fact,
does lead researcher Dr Michael Katze, PhD, and his
team feel it's necessary? Is there no statute of limitations
on microbial manslaughter?
"Now we can do it, so we're doing
it," explains microbiology professor Dr Katze. "The
tools and the knowledge are considerably greater than
they were 86 years ago." He adds, "Our goal is to know
what genes are involved — we're looking for signatures
of pathogenesis. Also, we're hopeful to have an animal
model come out of this — to mimic what goes on
in humans so we can start testing vaccines and antiviral
therapeutic drugs."
One might reasonably wonder where
a lab can get a hold of some vintage 1918 virus specimens
to study. "It's an interesting story," says Dr Katze,
explaining how US Armed Forces pathologist Jeffery Taubenberger
managed to get some samples from the military archives.
"And he got some samples for bodies exhumed from the
permafrost of Alaska." Dr Katze adds, "It was a real
tour-de-force getting the specimens intact because RNA
is very unstable." Dr Taubenberger has conducted studies
himself on the virus and has found distinct similarities
between the 'Spanish' flu and swine fever. The virus's
origins are still far from certain.
FEAR
THE FLU
The recent SARS and avian flu scares have taught us
that we probably do have some lessons to learn from
the 1918 influenza and subsequent pandemics like the
1968 Hong Kong flu. But with modern medicine and communications,
surely it's unthinkable that a deadly virus could infect
upwards of 30% of the world's population as the 1918
bug did — or is it? "All the communication in the
world isn't going to avert a virus," says Dr Katze.
"There are lots of things you can try to do — quarantine
for instance — but without a proper vaccine we
have very little to protect us." And if that wasn't
scary enough for you, Dr Katze points out that, common
as it is, the flu isn't exactly child's play. "Bear
in mind that influenza typically is much more easily
transmitted than SARS," he says. "Any health professional
who isn't concerned about the possibility of a major
flu pandemic is in denial or delusionary. We're long
overdue." "But I don't think a virus akin to 1918 flu
would be as deadly today as an avian type virus," he
adds, "because we've had less exposure to that type
of virus."
THE
GREAT FLU WAR
Dr Katze sees the war on influenza as an enormous undertaking,
requiring worldwide cooperation. "When you have a virus
that kills so many so quickly, everyone in the world
— including the Canadian government — ought
to be concerned with proactively researching the flu,"
he says. "It's not a good idea to wait for the next
pandemic. Even if you can prevent one death, how could
you put a price tag on that?" The University of Washington's
planned simian studies on the 1918 flu haven't been
immune to criticism. "This project could create a new
bug that infects someone in the lab who then walks out
at the end of the day and, literally, kills tens of
millions of people," Ed Hammond of the Sunshine Project,
a biotechnology watchdog group, told the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer in September. The University's
safety director, Karen Van Dusen, dismissed Mr Hammond's
claims, saying they're going to assess safety prior
to commencing studies and they'll take all precautions
recommended. However, Ms Van Dusen said if the study
were deemed so dangerous that it would require expensive
self-contained biohazard 'moon suits' the University
would have to call it off.
|
