Resumen

Following a recent report, the median age for patients with confirmed H7N9 virus infection is 61 years old with 42.3% of patients being 65 years of age or older. A total of 61.3% of the patients had at least one underlying medical condition. H7N9 infection causes severe illness, including pneumonia and ARDS. A recent epidemiological survey seeking influenza-like illness caused by avian influenza A[H7N9] confirms the preferential targeting of the elderly by this virus, since it found no evidence of widespread mild disease in young people in the Chinese provinces with confirmed human cases of infection. The virus preferentially targets elderly people with comorbidities due probably to the weak immune status of this demographic. Ageing is associated with a decline in the diversity of the T cell’s repertoire, leading to impaired immunity to influenza. In turn, the presence of comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or hepatitis B co-infection could impair host response to infection. In fact, the higher incidence of influenza A/H7N9 infection in males (68.5%) could be due to the higher frequency of comorbidities generally observed in men.

Palabras clave: Influenza; H7N9; elderly.

2013-06-18   |   463 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 7 Núm.6. Junio 2013 Pags. 497-498 J Infect Developing Countries 2013; 7(6)