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Avian Flu in Humans

Living in HK...it's almost as though we get everything firsthand from China - Avian Flu, SARS and all that crap (now the bloody stupid freshwater fish with poison :hmpf:

) The biggest problem is that China always tries to cover up their stuff, and it's not until the world & WHO DEMANDS for info that they leak out bits. Lately, they've been discovered to inject their chicken with a substance which has been banned by the WHO (forgot the name and in a hurry so can't check it up now). Apparently it's only to be used at the very last minute on humans as a treatment when the Avian Flu becomes uncontrollable again. However, many chinese farmers, without knowledge (cos the government doesn't educate them enough and many officials are bribed to keep a blind eye on many farmers) use the substance to prevent their chicken from catching Avian Flu...which in the long term would mean the virus would be immuned to it and when another epidemic strikes, we humans become extremely vulnerable.

HK citizens CONSTANTLY protests to demand information from the Chinese government...but doesn't seem to make a FLIPPING difference. :mad:

Reply 21

Riddy

Is this on the news? Also this is a dumb question but is it spreading and killing the birds?

Reply 22

cherryade

i think i saw on the news the other week that in mid-europe farmers were being told to keep chickens etc in sheds/inside so not to be in contact with other birds - think the ones that were migrating from ermmm china? sorry my geog is a little sketchy! anyway yea, itll only affect humans IF it mutates, and noone knows yet whether it will. agree tho, if it does transmit to humans it will be rly bad.

Reply 23

dappleddawndrawndauphin

3

Personally, not philosophical, not worried - more like terrified. Mind you I fear everything that may cause death, so...

Reply 24

Jenna999

1

i'm really worried. 50,000 people is a lot.

Reply 25

Helenia

20

morris

I believe this is a type of influenza. I know a nurse and she said that very old, very young and ill people are often killed by this, but that healthy people can fight it off...

I hate it when it comes onto the news, because it would be tragic. I think that there was a very similar case in spain in the early 1900's. Looks like Jamie would be able to confirm this, however :tongue:

It happened in 1919 (Spanish flu) and several million (can't remember how mant) died - more than WWI just before had killed. There were also epidemics of different strains in the 50s and 60s. The way the virus works means they every so often there will be a completely immunologically novel version that we have little defence against.

bodhittsava

There are indications that it can, although so far not in the feared mutated form which could fuel a pandemic.

Is that not what I said? So far, a couple of anecdotal cases does not = evidence. However, soon enough I expect (and Jamie will back me up, I think) that it WILL become very transmissible. The increased movement of people around the world now, not to mention the level of HIV-induced immunosuppression in places like Africa, mean that this could spread - and kill - very rapidly.

Reply 26

RetiredAccount89

18

morris

I believe this is a type of influenza. I know a nurse and she said that very old, very young and ill people are often killed by this, but that healthy people can fight it off...

I hate it when it comes onto the news, because it would be tragic. I think that there was a very similar case in spain in the early 1900's. Looks like Jamie would be able to confirm this, however :tongue:

its quite funny actually, is called spanish flu by us, italian flu by the spanish, french flu by the italians...

Ny research and that of most of the Influenza camp led us to believe it originated in america. (the 'leading' expert n the UK John Oxford reckons is started in France in the trenchs)

As for worldwide death figures, I think 50million is what is touted.
Since then there have 3 other pandemics, all much less damaging.
1956, 1967 (hong kong flu) and 1977 (russian flu - it is thought to have come from a body that had been buried in the permafrost and then dug out, or released from a science laboratory...).

H5N1 will eventually jump, that is inevitable. Its how flu works. If it isn't H5N1 then it'll be H9N2, and if not that there are loads of them waiting in the background.

And the worse thing is pandemics are noteworthy versus epidemics because the pathology is uniquely different - its not the virus that kills you but the massive reaction by your immune system....which means those with decent immune systems are hit just as hard as those with weaker ones.

Ergo it will kills young healthy adults as easily as old frail grannies.

Reply 27

RetiredAccount89

18

bodhisattva

I'd be interested in reading that if you have it in .txt/.doc/.rtf format. :smile:

its a 2.5mb file, not sure how would put that up...

Reply 28

dave

Jamie

its a 2.5mb file, not sure how would put that up...

Zip it and it should go through msn.

Reply 29

RetiredAccount89

18

bodhisattva

Zip it and it should go through msn.

Dah, just send my a PM of your MSN adress/username and I'll send it over to you. honestly i think you'll find it a bit too anal to be interesting! but you're welcome to it anyway.
[helenia - you can find it in the pathology library lol - its in one of the new books there!]

Reply 30

Helenia

20

Jamie

Dah, just send my a PM of your MSN adress/username and I'll send it over to you. honestly i think you'll find it a bit too anal to be interesting! but you're welcome to it anyway.
[helenia - you can find it in the pathology library lol - its in one of the new books there!]

Groovy. Except I'm not doing path any more :frown:

I had some Pandemic influenza lectures as part of the IDHPI course though, and thought they were fascinating. My supervisor was quite keen on it too.

Avian Flu in Humans

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