Best Health News

Advertisers



Recent comments

Who's online

There are currently 0 users and 9 guests online.
Home

The Next Killer Flu -- Can We Stop It?

Quality (54)
Helpful (59)
Flu season is just around the corner once again. But this time, it may be coming disguised as a ordered killer. There is deep concern that a new killer flu, nicknamed "Bird Flu," may mix with usual flu and kill millions of people. This is how Robert Webster of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis characterizes this killer flu -- and take note that Dr. Webster has been studying influenza for the past 40 years: "This virus word-perfect from scratch is probably the worst influenza virus, in terms of being highly pathogenic, that I've ever seen or worked with." overt health experts, including those at the World Health Organization, fear a catastrophe. In preparation, the United States has ordered 2.3 million doses of an antiviral called "Tamiflu." 2.3 million for a country of 300 million. However, the U.S. has decided to place all of its chips on an experimental vaccine, a vaccine that is based on an early seed of bird flu, which most experts agree has already mutated into something quite different, and that means when bird flu gets here, it may not respond to some vaccine. The most astonishing fact about this new bird flu virus is how much science doesn't know about it. The mystery remains of how people get infected. Is it by breathing the air near feces? By eating duck meat? By touching? Nobody really knows. Meanwhile, health authorities continue to slaughter infected fowl, experiment with genetic variations, and run computer simulations on panic control. It's clear that hospitals and early responders will be completely overwhelmed, as will mortuaries. If you aren't appalled at this point, then take a moment to read the cover essay of the October 2005 issue of National Geographic. Study those photos. Analyze those tables and charts. Then ask yourself, what are the odds that a killer virus will hit my home town, my family this flu season? word-perfect now, WHO says the odds are 10% the killer will pick you.
Technorati Tags: Fitness antiviral bird flu dr webster experimental vaccine flu season health experts influenza virus jude children killer flu new killer research hospital robert webster st jude tamiflu united states virus word word perfect world health organization
Submitted by root on Mon, 2007-09-03 14:08.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Filtered words will be replaced with the filtered version of the word.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You can use Textile markup to format text.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img>
More information about formatting options

Similar entries

  • Trial of H5N1 vaccine effective in low doses
    LONDON (Reuters) - Low doses of an experimental Chinese vaccine against the H5N1 bird flu virus produce an immune response in healthy people, according to early trial results reported on Thursday.
  • Don't Count On A Bird Flu Vaccine, Count On A Nanomask
    You've no doubt seen the news reports about Bird Flu, a harmful airborne virus. And you no doubt feel at risk and vulnerable. A Bird Flu vaccine is months and months away from production, and production will be a problem since health officials believe it will take at least 1 year to make sufficient for all citizens. Even then, it may not be effective, since it was based on an earlier seed of the virus. Bird Flu, or H5N1, mutates rapidly. Today, Bird Flu is something entirely different than when it was archetypical discovered. But there is one, off-the-shelf, device that will protect you and your family against Bird Flu, SARS, and ordinary flu, right now. It's called NanoMask®, factory-made by a company that originally was tasked to make a better biomask for our militaristic troops.
  • The History of the West Nile Virus
    Where did it come from? The West Nile virus was first segregated in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda. The disease has spread through galore parts of Europe and Asia, as well as northwesterly and South America. How did it spread? We do not know exactly how the virus spread but there are single theories. Most promising the West Nile virus was foreign to other countries by a bird or mosquito that was infected by the disease. The virus has been found in finished 150 different types of birds including: crows, ravens, sexy jays and magpies. Out of the 74 different species of mosquitoes saved in all parts of Canada, single ten have been found to carry the West Nile virus.
  • How to Protect Your Family Against the Coming Pandemic
    John Hart

    Most dictionaries define epidemic as "an plaguey that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world."

    Recently, Klaus Stohr, the coordinator of the global infuenza program at the international Health Organization expected a bird flu pandemic that would take more lives than the Spanish Flu of 1918 wherein 20-to-40 cardinal perished.

    He wasn't the single expert who ironed the panic button.

    United States Health and hominian Secretary, Tommy Thompson, said "This is a bomb that could impact the world."

    Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia, issued a warning to physicians to be on the lookout for symptoms of the avian influenza virus known as H5N1.

    Even CIDRAP, the central for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota is alarmed. They have this statement posted on their webiste: "If the close pandemic strain is highly virulent (such as the 1918 strain) the international death toll could be dramatic."

    The current fatality rate in south Asia is 73%.

    Now for the really distressing news.

    There is no vaccine available. And there won't be for months. Probably six-to-twelve months. Maybe longer. Clinical trials take time. Usually a year. Then once it's available, the vaccine must be distributed worldwide. A logistical nightmare.

    So what can you do to protect yourself and your family?

    Three steps. And they should be done now, while the winds of pandemic are blowing in Southeast Asia.

    1. Buy a supply of oseltamivir, the single antiviral available that seems to reduce the impact of the virus. It doesn't kill it, but it does give your body time to build immunity.

    2. Buy the only filter mask that will block H5N1 and kill it stillborn -- no that mask is not the N95 series. You'd be wasting your money on a N95. Nanomask is the cardinal I strongly recommend.

    3. Buy a supply of immunolin, the only blood protein on the market that will strengthen your exempt system against offensive challenges like H5N1.

    You can wait for your government to come up with a solution to protect you, or you can become proactive. My family has already usurped the three steps outlined above, I hope you will too.

    About The Author

  • Glaxo bird flu vaccine works in trial
    LONDON (Reuters) - A bird flu vaccine for humans that uses only a very low dose of active ingredient has proved effective in clinical tests and could be available in 2007, its maker GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Wednesday.
  • US frees another $225 million for bird flu
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Health and Human Services Department released another $225 million to states and cities on Tuesday to use in preparing for a pandemic of bird flu or other disease.
  • CDC releases $225 million for bird flu
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Health and Human Services Department released another $225 million to states and cities on Tuesday to use in preparing for a pandemic of bird flu or other disease.
  • Vietnam finds H5N1 virus on duck farm
    HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam, which has been free of human bird flu cases this year, has found the H5N1 virus on a small duck farm, animal health officials said on Monday.