[HN Gopher] Extinction of the Influenza B Yamagata line during t...
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       Extinction of the Influenza B Yamagata line during the Covid
       pandemic (2022)
        
       Author : JumpCrisscross
       Score  : 60 points
       Date   : 2024-10-21 16:26 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
        
       | thangngoc89 wrote:
       | Need to add [2022] in the title.
        
       | PreInternet01 wrote:
       | Yeah, influenza type B 'Yamagata' has been mostly gone since
       | 2020, but that's not necessarily because of COVID, but just
       | because the virus is so variable. In fact, it's highly unlikely
       | for an influenza sub-type to hang around for more than 18 months.
       | 
       | In Europe, for 2024/2025, types A 'Victoria' and 'Thailand' (with
       | type-B 'Victoria' and 'Yamagata' following closely, so you can
       | see it's still there-ish) are expected to be the most virulent.
       | but, as always with influenza, this might be wrong, which means
       | vaccination might be slightly less effective, although still
       | beneficial.
        
         | jsnell wrote:
         | In Europe, the 2024/2025 vaccine composition guidance[0]
         | recommends excluding B/Yamagata, because it hasn't been
         | detected since 2020 and "no longer seems to pose a threat to
         | public health". That doesn't look like "still there-ish".
         | 
         | [0] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/eu-
         | recommendations-2024-20...
        
           | PreInternet01 wrote:
           | Well, the strains that I listed are in the Sanofi
           | Quadrivalent vaccine that is most popular in Europe (and
           | being administered right now) as far as I know...
        
         | taeric wrote:
         | I'm confused on the reporting. The push from folks I'm seeing
         | is definitely inline with social distancing and masking being
         | the big wins.
         | 
         | I thought, during the time, it was also felt that different
         | respiratory viruses effectively out compete each other? Not
         | seeing that mentioned much, at the moment.
         | 
         | I'm also somewhat terrified that folks seem to be taking this
         | in the anti-vaccine direction.
        
           | timr wrote:
           | Yeah, people who are making claims about social distancing,
           | etc. are wildly leaping to conclusions.
           | 
           | There are a number of more plausible / simpler alternatives.
           | For example: the innate immune system gets activated whenever
           | you have an infection. This is the most primitive form of
           | immunity that you have, and is blunt (fever, snot, generic
           | immunoglobulins, etc.) but effective at warding off pathogens
           | of any sort. It's why you don't often get two different upper
           | respiratory infections at the same time.
        
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       (page generated 2024-10-21 23:01 UTC)