BIRD FLU: DEVELOPMENTS & MEASURES

dr. low - mentioned earlier - also stated that people with strong immune system would "likely" be more at risk than those with a weak immune system "if they are otherwise in good health".
he said that a strong immune system could go into overdrive and and wear out the bodies normal defences ( i believe that happens with some other diseases too, namely that the body defences will get frenzied and attack healthy body cells).
dr. low feels that "good hygenie" practices , such as frequent and thorough handwashing, staying away from crowded areas , staying well rested etc. etc. are always a good first defence.
while he admitted to having purchased tamiflu himself since he expects to be in the forefront of any fight against any kind of pandemic, he said that he really does not know if it would be of any benefit at all. he also thought that modern antibiotics would probably be able to keep a pandememic in check. the problem of course is, that there is no reliable scientific evidence at the moment that might help the medical /scientific researchers to develop an effective treatment or vaccine.
it's somewhat like trying to forecast when, where and with what destructive power the next earthquake will hit. hbg

birdflu
article by the...U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE...about "influenza virus vaccine". hbg

Here's my questions I think should be considered...

1) If this disease does become a panademic, how will it's affect differ from country to country? For example, bird flu is affecting people only currently in 2nd and 3rd world nations. How will geographic/economic factors affect the severity of the disease? I believe the environment would play a factor in severity. Part of the reason the spanish flu was so sevre, was because it happened right after World War I and directly prior to the great depression, so the environment in 1918 was very favorable to the disease. The same can be said of south-eastern Asia right now. The worse the environment the worse the risk for disease and vice versa, right? So I wonder if those in North America and western Euiroupe are any safer?

2) Obviously antibiotics technology has prgressed significantly since the last major panademic. So it seems there should be many antibiotics that can be at least tried if it comes to the worst.

3) politics will go out the window if this becomes a panademic. Trial periods for medications that are normally years will not apply.

Massive cull as China battles bird flu
By Hamish McDonald, Beijing
November 8, 2005/the AGE

CHINA has slaughtered more than 6 million chickens and ducks to contain its latest bird flu outbreak, centred in the country's north-east on the route travelled by wild birds migrating to Australia for the northern hemisphere winter

The drastic action came as China's epidemic reporting system came under renewed international scrutiny with its health authorities reversing an earlier stance denying any human deaths from avian flu and asking the World Health Organisation to retest samples from a young girl who died last month in the middle of the last outbreak.

As the WHO and national health agencies watch fearfully for the avian flu virus to mutate into a form transmitted from human to human, a top WHO official warned that "reporting blind spots" in Asian countries such as China were the great weak spot in global defences.

Getting local authorities to spot and report the crucial signs of a change in the behaviour of the virus was critical, Dr Shigeru Omi, the WHO's director for the Western Pacific region, told a conference of 400 international experts in Geneva yesterday.

"In Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia surveillance is very weak. China needs support," he said. "If I could only do one thing, I think prompt reporting and prompt sharing of information would be it."... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/massive-cull-as-china-battles-bird-flu/2005/11/07/1131212007316.html

in the 1918 flu epedimic those in the "prime of their life" - 20 to 40 year old - were at the highest risk for getting the spanish flu. experts expect that - assuming the same pattern would emerge with a current outbreak - people with very healthy immune systems would be at the greatest risk . the current understanding is that a very healthy immune system would more likely to go into a frenzy - and attack healthy body cells - than a slightly weakened immune system which would react slower and not as vigourisly. the question is : what will the the major flu be like when it arrives ? there seem to be a lot of questions but few if any answers. hbg