While prior infections with influenza A can help build immunity to the virus, prior exposure to pandemic strains may increase an individual's likelihood of dying in future flu pandemics, according to a study published in mBio.
For the study, researchers reviewed monthly mortality and flu circulation data compiled by the U.S. and Mexico from October 1997 to July 2014. The team discovered surges in mortality among individuals born in 1952 during the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic and the resurgent 2013-14 H1N1 outbreak. Researchers suggested these individuals' exposure to the 1957 H2N2 Asian Flu pandemic may have rendered them more susceptible to the 2009 and 2013-14 pandemic flu strains.
The findings align with previous research that identified higher death rates in the 1968 flu pandemic among those born in the previous pandemic years of 1890 and 1918.
"We suggest the phenomenon of 1918 is not unique … We believe that exposure to pandemic influenza early in life is a risk factor for mortality during subsequent cross-strain pandemics," said Matthew Miller, senior author of the paper and an assistant professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. "Our research highlights the urgent need to develop more broadly-protective 'universal' influenza virus vaccines — capable of providing protection against both seasonal and pandemic influenza strains."
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