The study, released Friday, analyzed more than 200 cases and found the highest death rate occurred in patients aged 10 to 19. Patients in that age group were 17 percent more likely to die than an older patient, the Times said.
The study drew comparisons to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, when the death rate for people 18 to 30 soared while other age groups did not. The WHO study said the strength of a young person's immune system may help the virus take over the body sooner.
Ninety percent of the avian flu cases worldwide have been in people under 40.
Indonesia and Vietnam are the two countries hardest hit by the avian flu, which has claimed three times as many lives this year than in previous years, the Times said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Researcher micro-sizes genetics testing
Using new "lab on a chip" technology, James Landers hopes to create a hand-held device that may eventually allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory.
Sugar linkage could lead to better treatment for autoimmune diseases
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire Glycomics Center have helped identify a specific carbohydrate structure that confers anti-inflammatory activity to a glycoprotein antibody that could lead to improved treatment of autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. The study, reported in a recent edition of the journal Science, was led by immunologist Jeffrey Ravetch of Rockefeller University.
Faster test reported for detecting fake Tamiflu in fight against counterfeit drugs
Chemists in Georgia are reporting development of a fast new method to detect fake Tamiflu, the mainstay medication for preventing and treating bird flu. Tamiflu has become a target for counterfeiters as recent outbreaks of bird flu have increased public demand for supplies of just-in-case antiviral drugs to use in case of an epidemic of the deadly disease.
New vaccine against deadliest strain of avian flu tested by scientists
A vaccine against the most common and deadliest strain of avian flu, H5N1, has been engineered and tested by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research and Novavax Inc.
New field-deployable biosensor detects avian influenza virus in minutes instead of days
Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.
Miniature lab can detect deadly bird flu virus in 30 minutes
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have successfully developed a miniaturized device that can be used to detect the highly pathogenic avian flu (H5N1) virus.
Human antibodies protect mice from avian flu
An international team of scientists, including researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, report using antibodies derived from immune cells from recent human survivors of H5N1 avian influenza to successfully treat H5N1-infected mice as well as protect them from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.
Researchers sequence western H5N1 virus genomes
In a paper in the May issue of
Emerging Infectious Diseases, an international team of researchers report the first ever large-scale sequencing of western genomes of the deadly avian influenza virus, H5N1.
