UT researching H1N1 with supercomputer

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The University of Texas is using a powerful supercomputer to study the H1N1 flu and how best to use limited doses of the vaccine.

The research group use the "Ranger" supercomputer, the most powerful computing system in the world, to process massive amounts of data. 

The group determined that giving out more antiviral medication like Tamiflu and Relenza before the H1N1 vaccine was available may not have been the right strategy. 

"There is a risk that if you use antivirals extensively," UT Associate Professor Ancel Meyers said, "We will see antiviral resistant strains emerge and then the antivirals won't do anybody any good."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used the information from the research group in their distribution strategy of the vaccine.  Research showed it was beneficial to prioritize high risk people like children and the elderly. 

The amount of analysis on H1N1 done by the supercomputer in two months would have taken 70 years on a desktop computer.

Data produced by the supercomputer shows that there could be a third wave of the H1N1 virus in the spring.