Hong Kong flu

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As Hong Kong flu designated infectious disease broke out in July 1968 in Hong Kong from where has remained unclear whether the viruses of the Hong Kong flu previously in the People's Republic of China are circulated. The global spread of the viruses caused the last major influenza - pandemic of the 20th century. Around one million people died worldwide between 1968 and 1970; other numbers speak of 750,000 to 2 million dead.

In the Federal Republic of Germany there was the worst outbreak of the Hong Kong flu in the winter of 1969/70 - an epidemic . Exact case numbers were not collected at that time in the confusion of federal competencies , but in retrospect an excess mortality of around 40,000 deaths was determined for the Federal Republic.

The Hong Kong flu was caused by an infection with the influenza virus A / H3N2 in variant A / Hong Kong / 1/1968 H3N2. Compared to the related Asian flu of 1957, the Hong Kong flu was milder because most people's immune system contained antibodies against the influenza virus A / H2N2 , which had caused the Asian flu in 1957 and was similar to the influenza virus A / H3N2. The spread of Hong Kong flu only stopped after achieving herd immunity .

The Hong Kong flu originated from a combination of avian influenza- causing viruses and influenza viruses already circulating among humans . This process is known as reassortment and the result of the genetic recombination is known as an antigen shift .

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ WK Chang: National Influenza Experience in Hong Kong, 1968. In: Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Volume 41, 1969, pp. 349-351, full text .
  2. ^ World health group issues alert Mexican president tries to isolate those with swine flu , Associated Press. April 25, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2015. 
  3. ↑ Michael Mandel: No need to panic… yet Ontario officials are worried swine flu could be pandemic, killing thousands , Toronto Sun. April 26, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2015. 
  4. ↑ David Rengeling: From patient perseverance to all-encompassing prevention: flu pandemics as reflected in science, politics and the public. Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden 2017, ISBN 978-3-8487-4341-4 , p. 215.
  5. ↑ David Rengeling: From patient perseverance to all-embracing prevention ... , p. 199.
  6. ↑ H3N2 in the Influenza Research Database .
  7. ↑ Marcel Görmann: "Totally erased from collective memory": 50,000 died of a pandemic in Germany - the politicians reacted very differently. Merkur.de, April 27, 2020, accessed on May 1, 2020.