Flu viruses can quickly swap genes—study
Strains of the influenza virus are constantly swapping genes among themselves and giving rise to new, dangerous strains at a rate faster than previously believed, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
They found that slightly mutated influenza A strains in New York that circulated between 1999 and 2004 gave rise to the so-called Fujian strain that caused a troublesome outbreak in the 2003-2004 flu season.
Such events probably are what lead to the occasional pandemics of flu that can kill millions of people, David Lipman and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health found.
S. African donates blood for record 350th time
An elderly South African broke his own Guinness world record Tuesday when he donated blood for the 350th time, inspired by the enduring memory of a terrible accident he witnessed as a child.
The South African National Blood Service said in a statement that 79-year-old Maurice Creswick had cracked his own record for the fourteenth time and that he donated 480 mL of his blood every 56 days.
