Mutated virus of H1N1 found in Norway

OSLO (BNO NEWS) -- The Norwegian Institute of Public Health on Friday said it discovered a mutated version of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

The institute analyzed samples from a number of patients as part of its surveillance of the influenza A(H1N1) virus, it said in a statement. The viruses have many similarities, according to the institute, but some mutations have been observed. "This is normal and most of these mutations will probably have little or no importance," it said.

However, the scientists say, one mutation of the virus caught a special interest. "It has been found in two patients who died from the new influenza A(H1N1) and in one patient with severe influenza disease," it said. "These were the two first patients who died from the new influenza in Norway. Some of those who died later have been examined without finding the same mutated virus."

The institute says the mutation could possibly make the virus more prone to infect deeper in the airways and thus cause more severe illness.

"We have analyzed approximately 70 viruses from confirmed Norwegian cases and found the mutation in only these three patients," said Norwegian Institute of Public Health Director General Geir Stene-Larsen. "Based on what we know so far, it seems that the mutated virus does not circulate in the population, but might be a result of spontaneous changes which have occurred in these three patients."

Stene-Larsen says there is no indication that the mutation has any importance for the effect of the H1N1 vaccine or the effect of antiviral treatment.



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