MHSC
Senior Moderator
There is no date on this at the site, but it is at newsnow for Oct 20.
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/NewsViewsAndEvents/News/MRC001726
This is a joint statement from Sir John Skehel at the Medical Research Council?s National Institute for Medical Research and the World Health Organisation.
?The genetic and antigenic analyses of viruses recovered from two fatal cases of H5N1 influenza in Turkey have been completed at the WHO International Influenza Centre at the MRC?s National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London.
These viruses are very closely related to current avian H5N1 viruses in Turkey, and also to those isolated at Qinghai Lake in Western China last year.
The gene sequences of the viruses indicate that they are sensitive to the antivirals Tamiflu and amantadine.
Virus from one of the human cases contains mutations in the receptor binding protein, haemagglutinin. One of these has been observed before in viruses from Hong Kong in 2003 and Vietnam in 2005. Research has indicated that the Hong Kong 2003 viruses preferred to bind to human cell receptors more than to avian receptors and it is expected that the Turkish virus will also have this characteristic?.
For further information, contact the MRC Press Office on 020 7637 6011.
Note to Editors
1. 1. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK tax-payer. Its business is medical research aimed at improving human health; everyone stands to benefit from the outputs. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and the academic world. MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC?s expenditure of approximately ?500 million is invested in its 40 Institutes, Units and Centres. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools.
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/NewsViewsAndEvents/News/MRC001726
This is a joint statement from Sir John Skehel at the Medical Research Council?s National Institute for Medical Research and the World Health Organisation.
?The genetic and antigenic analyses of viruses recovered from two fatal cases of H5N1 influenza in Turkey have been completed at the WHO International Influenza Centre at the MRC?s National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London.
These viruses are very closely related to current avian H5N1 viruses in Turkey, and also to those isolated at Qinghai Lake in Western China last year.
The gene sequences of the viruses indicate that they are sensitive to the antivirals Tamiflu and amantadine.
Virus from one of the human cases contains mutations in the receptor binding protein, haemagglutinin. One of these has been observed before in viruses from Hong Kong in 2003 and Vietnam in 2005. Research has indicated that the Hong Kong 2003 viruses preferred to bind to human cell receptors more than to avian receptors and it is expected that the Turkish virus will also have this characteristic?.
For further information, contact the MRC Press Office on 020 7637 6011.
Note to Editors
1. 1. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK tax-payer. Its business is medical research aimed at improving human health; everyone stands to benefit from the outputs. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and the academic world. MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC?s expenditure of approximately ?500 million is invested in its 40 Institutes, Units and Centres. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools.
