Mutated flu virus in Iran continues to kill people.

Mutated flu virus in Iran continues to kill people. (Taz).

At least 33 people have died after contracting the virus, while 600 people have been hospitalized.

At least 33 people have died from a swine flu virus outbreak in two provinces of southwestern Iran in the past three weeks, the country’s deputy health minister, Ali-Akbar Sayyari, said Monday.

Mr. Sayyari also said the virus, known as H1N1, was likely to spread to other areas, including Tehran, the capital and Iran’s largest city with about 8.3 million people.

Iranian physician Ali Shekofteh told Trend that the mutated virus has emerged due to small changes in the genes of influenza viruses that happen continually over time. He added that flu viruses usually change and mutate on a constant basis.

Shekofteh dismissed the idea that the virus came to Iran from the neighboring countries.

He said that sometimes the mentioned mutations occur when virus is transmitted to people from animals, and the consequences could be deadly.

Shekofteh explained that the virus that is currently spreading in Iran, can cause heart and lung diseases, which mostly transmit by direct contact with infected individuals.

Shekofteh agrees that the above mentioned factors prevent proper care for flu-affected patients, as the sickness intensifies and eventually leads to multiple organ failure.

Previously, Iran's health minister, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi said the virus is spreading in Iran's south-eastern regions. Hmmmm......Perhaps time Airports take notice of this before an pandemic starts.Read the full story here.

@MFS001 pic.twitter.com/8SuufFfqX5

— Juliane Meyer (@JulianeMeyerK) December 9, 2015

Canada: Flu vaccine likely a poor match with this fall's strain, H3N2 tries to evade the immune system.

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2013, tables 1, 7, 10, 20[PDF - 1.5 MB]

Canada: Flu vaccine likely a poor match with this Fall's strain, H3N2 tries to evade the immune system. HT: Croft.

Via CBC News British Columbia, a local story: Flu vaccine likely a poor match — again — with this fall's strain. Excerpt:

The seasonal flu vaccine is likely a poor match for the strain of the virus circulating in B.C., offering just 30 to 50 per cent protection — though officials still urge people to get the shot. 

So far, it appears H3N2 is the predominant influenza strain making people sick in the province — with three outbreaks at long-term-care homes this fall. 

The seasonal flu vaccine is designed to protect against the H3N2 strain — along with H1N1 and influenza B — but it appears it will offer only 30 to 50 per cent protection, said Dr. Perry Kendall. In a good year, the protection offered by the seasonal flu vaccine can be 60 per cent or higher. 

"It's less than we like," said Kendall, but it is "significantly better protection" than last year, when the flu shot offered nearly zero protection. 

That hasn't changed the official advice that anyone over six months old, as well as those at high risk of serious illness, including children, pregnant women and the elderly, should get the shot. 

"If I could reduce your chances of having a really nasty illness by 50 per cent, would you take it?" said Kendall. 

'Notorious' strain for evading immune system 

The mismatch isn't for lack of trying by scientists around the world. But influenza is a difficult virus. 

Each year, the World Health Organization makes forecasts which strains are likely to be predominant in the Northern Hemisphere during flu season — in time for drug companies to manufacture the vaccine. 

By the time flu season arrives, the fast-mutating, gene-swapping virus may have outfoxed those efforts. 

"It's important to emphasize that influenza viruses, particularly H3N2, are really notorious for changing their antigenic makeup ... to try to evade the immune system," said Kendall.