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Article: Little evidence for genetic susceptibility to influenza A (H5N1) from family clustering data.(DISPATCHES)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The apparent clustering of human cases of influenza A (H5N1) among blood relatives has been considered as evidence of genetic variation in susceptibility. We show that, by chance alone, a high proportion of clusters are expected to be limited to blood relatives when infection is a rare event.
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Since December 2003, 36 family clusters among 261 confirmed human cases of influenza A (H5N1) have been documented (1,2). These clusters range in size from 2 to 8 infected persons; in only 4 clusters were 2 unrelated family members (e.g., husband and wife) infected. This pattern has been considered by the World Health Organization as evidence of genetic ...