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Interview With Scott Harper
Aired December 05, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So, how's that A-Fujien-H3N2 coming along? And what about that A-Panama-H3N2? Those aren't license plates you'd see in California, you know. They're flu strains getting a jump on the season in several states all the way from Washington to Pennsylvania.
And while you don't need to memorize those formal names there are some things you do need to know. And so we turn to Dr. Scott Harper. He is an influenza specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here in Atlanta. Dr. Harper, good to have you with us.
DR. SCOTT HARPER, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Thanks for having me today.
O'BRIEN: This flu strain caught you a bit off-guard this year. How did that happen?
HARPER: Every year surveillance is performed year round, actually, to look for what influenza viruses are circulating. Not just in this country but in others as well.
And in January, a big meeting occurs in Geneva. That's where the strains are selected for the following year's vaccine. So soon there after, about the time the vaccine went into production with three different influenza strains, a new strain emerged. And it still was still unclear at that time if that strain would be the predominant strain or if another one would this season.
However, we're lucky in that that strain that's circulating right now is, in fact, one that is related to one that is in the vaccine. We do expect some cross-protection from the vaccine this year.
O'BRIEN: But no guarantees, though, necessarily. I guess when you select a vaccine, I'm sure this isn't the technical or medical term, but a bit of it is a crap shoot.
HARPER: Well, a bit of it is an art form, I would say. A lot of science goes into it. And year after year, we've had pretty good results in making predictions about what should go in the vaccine. But every once in a while, some timing issues could crop up just like this year.
And we're fortunate in that the laboratory testing preliminary shows some cross reactivity with the circulating screen and ongoing data collection is occurring in humans to see how well this vaccine dose work this season. O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about making the vaccine more nimble. As I understand it, takes about three to four months to create the new vaccine to respond. And by the time you did that, flu season would be over. So we're kind of stuck with the vaccine we have.
Are there other ways in the near-term horizon where the vaccine can be more nimble?
HARPER: Well, I would say in the near future that's probably not going to occur. On down the road, there are some technologies in development that might lead to a quicker vaccine.
But for the time being this is the way that things work when we choose and manufacture vaccines. And I would emphasize that's also, it's a private industry endeavor, and for the time being, it works pretty well. Every once in a while, we see a season like this in which the strains don't match exactly.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about putting this whole thing into some perspective here. Is it at the level or rising to the level of a pandemic? I mean is it something like the Hong Kong flu of the late '60s?
HARPER: This is a very different situation than the Hong Kong flu of the '60s or the 1918 influenza pandemic when a brand-new virus emerged nobody in the population had ever been exposed to before.
Right now we have a virus that's circulating -- that comes from a family of viruses circulating for many years in the United States and world wide. So there is a good deal of immunity in the population.
We do know however that this family of viruses causes more severe influenza seasons in general, with higher deaths and hospitalizations when these kinds of viruses circulate.
O'BRIEN: All right, before we leave you, wanted to give some warning signs for parents out there, because, as is always the case in these situations, the older folks among us and the younger folks are more susceptible. But if you're a parent and you have child who's sick, there's some things you need to watch out for which would separate this from your average case of strep, let's say.
On list, lethargy, confusion, dehydration problems, with breathing. If you have that bundle of symptoms, Dr. Harper, what should you do?
HARPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bring that child into an emergency room as soon as possible. We know that influenza in children usually presents, as it does in older people, in other words with headache and fever and coughs, sore throats.
In kids, it can present with some different symptoms, as you mentioned. Then they can have some neurological problems in fact without even having a fever. So any of those serious symptoms should instigate an immediate trip to the emergency room or another physician to have that worked out.
O'BRIEN: Not to be taken lightly. And just button this up, for adults as well there are warning signs which set it apart from your average, if you want to call it a cold or whatever. Trouble breathing. And fevers which get really high, 103 to 105. For an adult, when you get in that realm of fever, you shouldn't be taking any chances, I presume.
HARPER: That's right. We would certainly encourage somebody that had that symptom to go and seek medical attention sooner rather than later. And I would emphasize as you are doing that this is influenza, a virus that causes very severe illness, it's not the common cold.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and I think there's a lot confusion out there. People say "I got the flu" when they really don't have the flu, per se.
HARPER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: So that's something to consider.
All right, Dr. Scott Harper, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thanks very much. Very informative. We appreciate it.
HARPER: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 5, 2003 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So, how's that A-Fujien-H3N2 coming along? And what about that A-Panama-H3N2? Those aren't license plates you'd see in California, you know. They're flu strains getting a jump on the season in several states all the way from Washington to Pennsylvania.
And while you don't need to memorize those formal names there are some things you do need to know. And so we turn to Dr. Scott Harper. He is an influenza specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here in Atlanta. Dr. Harper, good to have you with us.
DR. SCOTT HARPER, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Thanks for having me today.
O'BRIEN: This flu strain caught you a bit off-guard this year. How did that happen?
HARPER: Every year surveillance is performed year round, actually, to look for what influenza viruses are circulating. Not just in this country but in others as well.
And in January, a big meeting occurs in Geneva. That's where the strains are selected for the following year's vaccine. So soon there after, about the time the vaccine went into production with three different influenza strains, a new strain emerged. And it still was still unclear at that time if that strain would be the predominant strain or if another one would this season.
However, we're lucky in that that strain that's circulating right now is, in fact, one that is related to one that is in the vaccine. We do expect some cross-protection from the vaccine this year.
O'BRIEN: But no guarantees, though, necessarily. I guess when you select a vaccine, I'm sure this isn't the technical or medical term, but a bit of it is a crap shoot.
HARPER: Well, a bit of it is an art form, I would say. A lot of science goes into it. And year after year, we've had pretty good results in making predictions about what should go in the vaccine. But every once in a while, some timing issues could crop up just like this year.
And we're fortunate in that the laboratory testing preliminary shows some cross reactivity with the circulating screen and ongoing data collection is occurring in humans to see how well this vaccine dose work this season. O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about making the vaccine more nimble. As I understand it, takes about three to four months to create the new vaccine to respond. And by the time you did that, flu season would be over. So we're kind of stuck with the vaccine we have.
Are there other ways in the near-term horizon where the vaccine can be more nimble?
HARPER: Well, I would say in the near future that's probably not going to occur. On down the road, there are some technologies in development that might lead to a quicker vaccine.
But for the time being this is the way that things work when we choose and manufacture vaccines. And I would emphasize that's also, it's a private industry endeavor, and for the time being, it works pretty well. Every once in a while, we see a season like this in which the strains don't match exactly.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about putting this whole thing into some perspective here. Is it at the level or rising to the level of a pandemic? I mean is it something like the Hong Kong flu of the late '60s?
HARPER: This is a very different situation than the Hong Kong flu of the '60s or the 1918 influenza pandemic when a brand-new virus emerged nobody in the population had ever been exposed to before.
Right now we have a virus that's circulating -- that comes from a family of viruses circulating for many years in the United States and world wide. So there is a good deal of immunity in the population.
We do know however that this family of viruses causes more severe influenza seasons in general, with higher deaths and hospitalizations when these kinds of viruses circulate.
O'BRIEN: All right, before we leave you, wanted to give some warning signs for parents out there, because, as is always the case in these situations, the older folks among us and the younger folks are more susceptible. But if you're a parent and you have child who's sick, there's some things you need to watch out for which would separate this from your average case of strep, let's say.
On list, lethargy, confusion, dehydration problems, with breathing. If you have that bundle of symptoms, Dr. Harper, what should you do?
HARPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bring that child into an emergency room as soon as possible. We know that influenza in children usually presents, as it does in older people, in other words with headache and fever and coughs, sore throats.
In kids, it can present with some different symptoms, as you mentioned. Then they can have some neurological problems in fact without even having a fever. So any of those serious symptoms should instigate an immediate trip to the emergency room or another physician to have that worked out.
O'BRIEN: Not to be taken lightly. And just button this up, for adults as well there are warning signs which set it apart from your average, if you want to call it a cold or whatever. Trouble breathing. And fevers which get really high, 103 to 105. For an adult, when you get in that realm of fever, you shouldn't be taking any chances, I presume.
HARPER: That's right. We would certainly encourage somebody that had that symptom to go and seek medical attention sooner rather than later. And I would emphasize as you are doing that this is influenza, a virus that causes very severe illness, it's not the common cold.
O'BRIEN: Yes, and I think there's a lot confusion out there. People say "I got the flu" when they really don't have the flu, per se.
HARPER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: So that's something to consider.
All right, Dr. Scott Harper, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thanks very much. Very informative. We appreciate it.
HARPER: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
