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A new strain of the H1N1 virus has been identified by some Brazilian scientists. The new strain of the virus was noticed while examining the sample of an infected person from Sao Paulo.
The new variant of the H1N1 virus has been named as A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute. This variant has been named so to distinguish it with the A/H1N1 swine flu virus variant which has been identified from California.
Terezinha Maria de Paiva, who was one among the researchers of the swine flu virus study, was the person who had isolated the genetic string of the new variant of the H1N1 virus. The information was reported by the Institute.
The mutations which have been identified in the new strain consist of alterations in the protein called Hemmagglutinin, which is the one that helps the virus in infecting people. The facts regarding the aggressive level of the newly isolated virus strain is not yet known.
Scientists who conducted the research told that the genetic make-up of the different variants of H1N1 virus is very critical, as this information will help in the manufacturing of vaccines against the swine flu.
But the scientists also expressed fear that the strains of the H1N1 virus have the capability of mutating into deadly strains, similar to the virus of the Spanish Flu of 1918, which had resulted in the death of millions of people.
According to the latest swine flu update from WHO, about 36,000 people from 76 nations have been confirmed with H1N1 viral infection. The death toll due to the infection is about 163, from all over the world.
