Russian Flu Expected in U.S. This Winter
Federal health officials, looking ahead to the winter flu season, predicted Thursday that the United States may see a return of the Russian flu virus after an absence of two years.
The national Centers for Disease Control, noting outbreaks of the virus in other parts of the world, suggested the virus may show up in this country during the upcoming fall and winter influenza season.
“The occurrence of influenza in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere between April and September frequently indicates the influenza type that may occur in the Northern Hemisphere during the subsequent winter,” the CDC said.
In Southeast Asia
“The recent increase in circulation of influenza A(H1N1) virus (the Russian flu) in Southeast Asia suggests that it may appear in the United States during the 1986-1987 influenza season after an almost total absence during the last two seasons.”
The Russian virus, so named because it caused an epidemic in that country in 1976 after a 20-year absence from the world scene, causes typical influenza symptoms but primarily strikes children and young adults. It surfaced in this country in 1977.
Persons born before the mid-1950s have generally been protected, presumably due to immunity to the virus developed earlier in life.
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