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Hong Kong Flu
The Hong Kong Flu was a pandemic outbreak of influenza that began in Hong Kong in 1968 and spread to the United States of America that year. The outbreak ended the following year, in 1969.
Although there was an outbreak of avian influenza in Hong Kong in early 1968, the Hong Kong flu was actually the A type of regular influenza, specifically the first known outbreak of the H3N2 strain (a notation that refers to the configuration of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins in the virus).
Because of its similarity to the 1957 Asian Flu (which was the H2N2 strain, differing from the Hong Kong flu only in the chemical arrangement of the hemagglutinin protein as a result of antigenic shift) and possibly the subsequent accumulation of related antibodies in the affected population, the Hong Kong flu resulted in much fewer casualties than most pandemics: it is estimated that only 750,000 people died of the virus worldwide (34,000 people in the United States) during the two years (1968-1969) that it was active. It was therefore the least lethal pandemic in the 20th century.
Posted by Staff at May 10, 2005 1:23 AM
blog comments powered by DisqusComments Archive
I had the Hong Kong flu in 1969. Will I be
immune to this new bird flu?
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STAFF
Probably not.
Posted by: Grace Agan at October 12, 2005 4:26 AM
What are the symptoms of Hong Kong Flu of 1968-1969
Posted by: Jennifer at January 5, 2006 5:59 PM
My husband is undergoing a lot of tests, due to severe pain in the head and debilitating dizziness. As a child in 1969, he under went vaccinations for various illnesses, as his parents were moving to Singapore. During the course of the vaccinations, he, his older brother, and mother nearly died from the Hong Kong Flu. Could their immune systems have been supressed enough to catch it; could this be the underlying problem of his current health problems?
Posted by: Jennifer at July 16, 2006 12:17 AM
My mother died of the Hong Kong Flu in Dayton, Ohio in 1973. I was sick at the same time, I got better (I was 17) and she got worse. First pneumonia, overnight, double pneumonia and within one month she was on kidney dialysis and her body shut down. She died at 40 yrs of age. Where could she have gotten this from, she was a housewife.
Posted by: Victoria Hill-Brosset at December 15, 2006 9:45 PM
My mother died of the Hong Kong Flu in Dayton, Ohio in 1973. I was sick at the same time, I got better (I was 17) and she got worse. First pneumonia, overnight, double pneumonia and within one month she was on kidney dialysis and her body shut down. She died at 40 yrs of age. Where could she have gotten this from, she was a housewife.
Posted by: Victoria Hill-Brosset at December 15, 2006 9:45 PM
If I had the Hong Kong Flu in the late 60's would that have had an affect on my immune system later in life?
Posted by: ROCKI at January 18, 2007 3:34 PM
