Strep may predict H1N1 severity

NEW YORK, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Strep bacteria may predict the severity of H1N1 flu, researchers in Argentina and United States found.

The study, published in the journal PLoS, said the presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a new risk factor for H1N1 -- independent of obesity, asthma, diabetes or chronic illness.

The discovery was made after reports of higher morbidity and mortality rates in flu victims in Argentina prompted researchers from that country's National Institute of Infectious Diseases to work with researchers from elsewhere, including those from the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York.

The researchers examined nasopharyngeal samples representing 199 H1N1 cases from Argentina -- 39 cases classified as severe and 160 as mild. The findings showed the virus was not evolving toward greater virulence. However, using a new technology called MassTag PCR that can simultaneously detect the presence of several pathogens the researchers linked H1N1 severity to S. pneumoniae.

"The presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae in individuals between the age of 6-55, those most affected by the current pandemic, was associated with a 125-fold increased risk of severe disease," Dr. Mady Hornig of Mailman School of Public Healt, the study's co-first author, said in a statement.

"This study is the first to demonstrate that the diagnosis of S. pneumoniae, when it is still actionable, might have an impact on clinical management."