Health secretary says no one prepared for bird flu

and i think the other thing is called ribovirin. they are supposed to be effective on that sort of thing.

I am not sure if it's an issue of efficacy or tolerance to the drug or what.

A new strain of avian flu will have no special adaptations against antiviral drugs, but in any case they aren't cures. They increase the odds.

Asian nations are staging an all our war on bird flu.

I suppose it's just the US that isn't ready. If he says we're not ready and ther's an outbreak, then he can say it wasn't his fault.
:(

makers figure out how to boost production.:sarcasm: Being the great humanitarian that he is, maybe he could help figure out how to stop world hunger and cure AIDS and cancer! LMFAO!!!!!!!

I'm calling bullshit. Vaccine manufacturers ALWAYS mass-produce their vaccines. What do they THINK they do - make them in tiny batches in an apartment kitchen??? A dozen eggs at a time (if they are still using eggs to make them)????

This is total malarkey. He means the manufacturers are refusing to manufacture the bird flu vaccine until and unless they get BIG FINANCIAL GUARANTEES.

Follow the money.

is that they're still not sure how much vaccine will be needed... how large a dose? Will one shot do it, or are two necessary? Ideally, the vaccine would be produced in response to an actual strain that's highly contagious in the human population... and that hasn't popped out yet, but when it does, we'd want millions of doses, virtually overnight. Failing that, it would be a Good Thing to at least have millions of doses against the nastiest variant currently circulating, which would probably be the one showing resistance to Tamiflu. Allegedly, there are some doses of trial vaccine NIH is working with. I personally don't think there will be enough vaccine to be any practical use to any of us common folk. Basically, if avian flu really turns into the pandemic WHO fears it could be, we aren't going to be any better off than we were in 1918.

both skyrocketed in the US and most of the world since 1918. Crowding is one factor necessary for a disease to propagate through a population rather than die out.

A better understanding of hygiene could work in our favor, but most Americans are notoriously bad about basic common-sense hygiene.

Better medical care should help, but only until the system gets completely overwhelmed, then it's back to medieval conditions.

because there isn't a bird flu vaccine.

time to finish the testing and ramp up production.

It's a complete waste of money- it's just a corrupt pork barel for the drug companies. That's why other countries rejected the vaccine approach. It makes no clinical sense.

Of course, since Republicans don't believe in science- but do believe in K street you have to expect as much.

Another DUer, Shance, posted this last night. It should have received more attention, it's straight to this very point.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4980457

will protect against the H5N1 Avian Flu now ravaging Asia. If I have read my virology/immunology correctly.

(If anybody with more expertise than me in this matter disagrees, let me know)

You have to almost try to get it.

However, if the virus undergoes a significant mutation or viral reassortment (which is what everyone fears) then the antigen coat will change significantly, rendering the vaccine ineffective.

That's why you have to get a new flu shot every year. And why other countries aren't buying into the current vaccine as a pandemic defense strategy.

The avian flu kills the egg before the antibodies are produced so a new method of production needs to be created.

It will strike especially hard in backward nations with restricted health care, such as the United States of America, or BushAmerica, as I prefer to call it as it spirals out of control.

:patriot: Wake up, America!

The worrying about whether we have enough Tamiflu is really, IMHO, secondary to the fact that there are unnecessary deaths each year from our usual run of the mill flu because people do not have access to health care. Tell the mom who can't get her kid in to see a pediatrician because she doesn't have health insurance that bird flu is a big deal. Hell, many would be happy to be able to see a doc for a sore throat. We have a dysfunctional health care system that is a privilege, not a right. We become easily distracted by end of the world pandemics yet cannot generate sufficient traction to deal with a health care system that is ranked 37th in the world, right there with Costa Rica and Slovenia.

No one could have anticipated, no one is prepared, no one, no one, no one!!!! If it is 911, anthrax, hurricanes, or bird flu, they always start out making excuses with NO ONE KNEW!!!

I guess when you do not read the paper or listen to anyone but ignorant acolytes, you feel very comfortable with the "Who knew?" excuse.

Regardless of what * may urge, there still isn't a usabele bird flu vaccine. In fact, there are many diseases in which there are no cures or effective treatments. And whether its bird flu or some other disease, we may not always be able to save the day. If not this year, then some year in the future. If not bird flu, then SARS II, or some other unknown.

We also know that California sits on a fault line; that yellowstone is a volcano that could wipe out humanity. That in 2028 a 100 meter asteroid will pass between the earth and the orbits of our weather satellites. Hell, if we're gonna worry, lets get all this shit out on the table. let's not just be paranoid about whether the CDC and FDA have been co-opted by the fascistas, lets get into our bunkers and do some first class worrying!!! The end is near!!!! do not make that next mortgage payment!!! You won't have a house, nor a bank!!

All the other "western" countries have had their orders in for Tamiflu since last year. That's why there isn't anymore for the US to order now that we're pretending to be "concerned".

Gyre

doesn't mean every other country is.

In fact, most countries are already building up their stockpiles of Tamiflu (something America refused to do)- and most countries have had pandemic contingency plans in place since early last spring.

What a lying piece of garbage. Too bad the so called "mainstream" media will never call him on it

Katrina and Rita relief.

Yeah. Right. I feel sooooo safe and secure now.

Words escape me. I just sighed rather protractedly.

This is the cutest animal picture I've ever seen. :)

We are so screwed if this outbreak hits the US..."distributing not just medicine but also food and water – would fall to states and localities."


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-texasflu_07tex.ART.State.Edition2.1dfbdce7.html

If a deadly bird flu spreads fast and wide among humans, Texas may be one of the more vulnerable places in the U.S. because of its size, poverty and tightfisted spending on public health, experts said Thursday.

Many duties required to contain a feared flu outbreak – such as keeping large numbers of people homebound for extended periods and distributing not just medicine but also food and water – would fall to states and localities.

Emily Palmer, spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services, said state planners have considered "surge capacity" at hospitals – the ability of institutions to handle a sudden influx of panicked patients and those seeking vaccinations. Also under consideration are the instructions that would be given to the public and the availability of anti-viral drugs.

Dr. John Carlo, chief epidemiologist with Dallas County Health and Human Services, said the department does not stockpile the main anti-viral flu drug, Tamiflu. But if sufficient supplies are available, the federal government is supposed to supply doses within 12 to 18 hours, he said. In any case, he said, it's unclear how much Tamiflu might help against the avian flu. Dr. Carlo has said that quarantines would be a last resort.

Canada and western European countries have adequate stockpiles that they've been buying up for the last two years. The chimp admin was never interested enough to buy more than a million doses. Now they're claiming they're not negligent by falsely claiming that eveybody else is as negligent as we are, like that makes it ok. Wankers!

Gyre