Asian Bird Flu in the Year of the Chicken

[Mr He]

I guess my best bet is just to stay as healthy as I can, wash my hands regularly, and stock up on those masks. (

Exercise, veggies, and active carbon masks. Also get your sleep - apart from washing your hands.

Did you know that if everybody washed their hands often, most cold and flu epidemics would be stopped in their tracks?

Surgical masks are designed to protect others, not yourself. Get a stack of those 3M thingies.

[Tempo Gain]

scary but I don't fully get how they come to the conclusion that this bird flu is going to be the next one and it could happen soon. I would tend to think it would be much more likely to be unpredictable. but I'm not no expert

then again this guy is, check this quote:

"During the last 36 years, there has been no pandemic, and there is a conclusion now that we are closer to the next pandemic than we have ever been before," Stohr told reporters.

well we ain't any farther that's for sure

[Mr He]

75% mortality??? Wonder how WHO comes up with 7million out of some 2 billion infected

I know that the mortality rates will be lower, 5-10% is more realistic, I think.

[lane119 (aka Cola)]

Thanks, Mr He, for starting this thread.

Watching the newspapers and online sites, the numbers from Vietnam and other nearby countries are edging up day by day. The Taiwan-excluding WHO says get ready, be prepared. But can anyone really be prepared?

Vietnam has claims 13 dead from the bird flu this month. If you read the newspapers, it's in the news every day, and yet, there is nothing we can do to prepare, except to be prepared for any eventuality. China is preparing, Manila is preparing.

What is Taiwan doing at the moment? All we need is a good cold spell, some bad medical care in southeast Asia, some unlucky outbreaks, and wham, it could be SARS all over again.

Mr He, what have you heard lately?

[Mr He]

What I heard back then was that the vaccine will be ready in 2 months from now. Then everything should be OK - if we make it thru without any big outbreak.

[lane119 (aka Cola)]

What I heard back then was that the vaccine will be ready in 2 months from now. Then everything should be OK - if we make it through without any big outbreak.

Hong Kong residents are sweeping a drug called ''Tamiflu'' off pharmacy shelves there, in preparation.

is this avail in Taipei?

it's made by Roche from Swissland

For the record:

Bird Flu Kills Vietnam Girl, Possible Cambodia Case
Vietnam Reports 12th Human Bird Flu Death; Thai Cases Spread Bloomberg
Bird flu claims 2 more Vietnamese Japan Today
Borneo Bulletin - Turkish Press - Xinhua - BBC News - all 151 news stories related

[jplowman]

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64713-2005Feb4.html]
This sounds bad.[/url] The Washington Post.

Public health experts say it is only a matter of time before the flu strain remakes itself, unleashing a disease that is both highly lethal and as easy to catch as an ordinary flu bug.

If this occurs, World Health Organization officials predict that, in the most optimistic scenario, 2 million to 7 million people would die worldwide and that the toll could potentially reach 100 million.

You might need to register to get in.

[Kea]

I'm not sure if we should be worried about this over here in Taiwan-and would like the opinions of others...and I'm not trying to play chicken little (bad pun alert)...

Asian bird flu claims two more victims
Health officials brace for possibility of pandemic
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7052514/


EDIT: OK, I searched after I posted-sorry (doh!). Please move this post into the old thread. Also, it seems that a few of you were very worried at this time last year, so hopefully it is just a Winter thing.