Dr. Daniel Jernigan explained that the elderly are less vulnerable to the influenza A (H1N1) because they were potentially exposed to other strains of the same virus in 1957.
"The further back you go in time, the more likely you are to have been exposed to H1N1 virus back before 1957, and there is a possibility that having exposure to that virus many years ago may allow you to have some [antibody] reaction to the new H1N1 that’s now circulating," explained Dr. Jernigan.
Despite the presence of antibodies in the blood of seniors who were exposed to the virus, Dr. Jernigan believes that caution must be taken with these results, and that we are a long way from finding a vaccine that will treat cases of this particular flu virus.
The actual H1N1 virus has similar characteristics to that of the Spanish flu of 1918, which lead to the death of 20 to 50 million people worldwide.