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hi
echo << yo!
Wired has an interesting article on "cleaning blood" as a way to prevent the spread of the Avian Flu.
Please.
I imagine this is only the beginning of ways that hucksters will profit from people's fear.
Please.
I imagine this is only the beginning of ways that hucksters will profit from people's fear.
The WSJ has a nice article on amateur flu watchers and webloggers more prolific about the flu than myself. The article also contains a bit of information about some non-mainstream ideas about the flu.
Eric gave me a pointer to this nice rundown on the strains of the virus.
Eric gave me a pointer to this nice rundown on the strains of the virus.
Following up on what I posted earlier, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as state agencies in Alaska are going to start testing birds for the Avian Flu, Reuters Reports.
While H5N1 hasn't been spotted in North America yet, it has spread through Europe, Africa and Asia.
I sometimes wonder if the fears of this flu aren't blown out of proportion. Then I read the reports of infections in bird populations and I began to see why it causes so much fear.
Also, the World Health Organisation has a map that shows the confirmed human cases in the past three months and in the past three years. Clearly, the disease is crossing over to humans more often. Which makes the even odds that one expert gave H5N1 for becoming a human pandemic seem even more real.
While H5N1 hasn't been spotted in North America yet, it has spread through Europe, Africa and Asia.
I sometimes wonder if the fears of this flu aren't blown out of proportion. Then I read the reports of infections in bird populations and I began to see why it causes so much fear.
- Qatar's Gulf Times reports that 70,000 chickens were killed to contain the flu.
- Congo have recorded at least 260 chickens and ducks suspected of having died of the avian flu.
- 10,000 chickens and quail have died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in central Burma, and authorities have culled nearly 41,000 more to prevent the disease from spreading.
Also, the World Health Organisation has a map that shows the confirmed human cases in the past three months and in the past three years. Clearly, the disease is crossing over to humans more often. Which makes the even odds that one expert gave H5N1 for becoming a human pandemic seem even more real.
A Q&A on the Flu says that only 101 deaths are attributable to the flu and most of those were people working closely with poultry. If the virus does finally mutate to become more contagious, perhaps it will be more deadly.
Also, although it was initially thought that H5N1 would come to the U.S. from Asia through Alaska, it seems that there has been a lot of westward movement of the virus in to Europe.
Especially re-assuring is this statement:
Also, although it was initially thought that H5N1 would come to the U.S. from Asia through Alaska, it seems that there has been a lot of westward movement of the virus in to Europe.
Especially re-assuring is this statement:
WSJ.COM: If a duck dies of H5N1 in Alaska, how would this affect the life of an average American?
Dr. Morgan: If we find a duck that is positive, that should not be a cause for alarm … because as I said, that's
considered to be early detection.
The WHO warned today of an avian flu pandemic. The world is overdue for an influenza pandemic because they hit every 20-30 years and we’ve gone almost 40 without one.
I wonder if the mutant virus would be stronger as the result of mass vaccinations? The avian flu virus (H5N1) would have to mutate so that it would become more infectious for human-to-human transmission. But there is evidence that that is likely. The MSNBC article above quotes Laurence Tiley, a molecular virologist at Cambridge University in England: “It is the most likely candidate for adapting and becoming a pandemic strain because we are not going to be able to get rid of it easily,”
Of course, this is being compared to SARS, which only killed 800 people. That’s down from the 137 million that died in the Bubonic Plague.
I wonder if the mutant virus would be stronger as the result of mass vaccinations? The avian flu virus (H5N1) would have to mutate so that it would become more infectious for human-to-human transmission. But there is evidence that that is likely. The MSNBC article above quotes Laurence Tiley, a molecular virologist at Cambridge University in England: “It is the most likely candidate for adapting and becoming a pandemic strain because we are not going to be able to get rid of it easily,”
Of course, this is being compared to SARS, which only killed 800 people. That’s down from the 137 million that died in the Bubonic Plague.
I’ve never gotten a flu shot: I just suffer like a caveman. My thinking on this is that I’ll be protected and the rest of ya’ll die like the Native Americans did when the Europeans brought smallpox to the New World. Who knows? Maybe in the near future the Influenza virus will mutate into something that “outsmarts” the vaccines.
Related to this, a report yesterday revealed that the flu shot isn’t effective in preventing death among those 65 and older.
If you look at this chart on deaths since 1976, you can see an initial drop in the number of deaths, but there has been a rapidly diminishing “return on investment” as use of the vaccine becomes more widespread.
The primary author of the report thinks that we shouldn’t stop immunizing, but that we should produce more effective immunizations. I’m just a simple layman, but I think he’s looking at a loosing battle there.
Related to this, a report yesterday revealed that the flu shot isn’t effective in preventing death among those 65 and older.
If you look at this chart on deaths since 1976, you can see an initial drop in the number of deaths, but there has been a rapidly diminishing “return on investment” as use of the vaccine becomes more widespread.
The primary author of the report thinks that we shouldn’t stop immunizing, but that we should produce more effective immunizations. I’m just a simple layman, but I think he’s looking at a loosing battle there.
Researcher’s at Oxford University are reporting that we don’t know the full extent of flu cases in Vietnam.
This is because this strain of the avian flu can affect all parts of the body. Till recently, people studying the flu thought that it only affected the Lungs.
In other news, the Australian government is planning a simulated avian flu outbreak in an exercise named “Exercise Eleusis”. A war-game on the flu, it will help them plan for possible outbreaks in the future.
This is because this strain of the avian flu can affect all parts of the body. Till recently, people studying the flu thought that it only affected the Lungs.
In other news, the Australian government is planning a simulated avian flu outbreak in an exercise named “Exercise Eleusis”. A war-game on the flu, it will help them plan for possible outbreaks in the future.
Michael Jackson’s got the flu, or so he says. It’s quite convenient to get ill on the way to court!.
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