Facing up to the flu, San Jose Mercury, Friday, October 14, 2005

[Coastie for Truth]

Facing up to the flu: THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE IN UPGRADING VACCINE-MAKING TECHNOLOGY

Just as we know the Bay Area at some point will be subjected to another major earthquake, eventually pandemic flu will strike again in the United States. And the nation is unprepared.

The United States needs to lift the state of vaccination technology out of the 1950s and develop a vaccine that can be produced in a matter of weeks, not months. That will require significant government incentives, since the vaccine business is not very profitable because its products are primarily single-dose cures.

Unfortunately, 80 percent of the $3.9 billion the U.S. Senate wants to devote to increased flu prevention would be used to stockpile Tamiflu, which may or may not be effective when pandemic flu strikes. Another ineffective proposal, according to an array of medical professionals, is President Bush's suggestion to draw up a plan for a military-driven quarantine.

A significant chunk of the Senate's proposed funds should be reallocated toward researching newer technologies for vaccine development. The state of the art hasn't advanced since the United States developed the current method to protect troops in World War II. That technique relies on the growth of virus in millions of chicken eggs each year. The process, by its nature, cannot be shortened to less than six months, which will mean certain death to millions in the event of pandemic flu.

[SheilaT]

1. What I'm trying to figure out

is why there is such incredible scare-mongering about the possibility of a flu pandemic this year. It seems much worse than in previous years, and it's always a case of "The sky is falling! The sky is falling", or, to be more accurate "There's a flu epidemic coming! There's a flu epidemic coming!"

The other thing I'm puzzled about in regards to connecting the avian flu to the Spanish Influenza is that previous research (I thought) had shown the 1918 virus to be a swine flu, not an avian flu.

Another thing to consider is that the spread of the 1918 flu was greatly aided by overcrowded army camps and mass troop movements, even though someone in the public health sector told the Department of the Army to stop the troop movements to at least slow down the spread of the disease.

Do read the John . Barry book The Great Influenza. It's fascinating.

[Coastie for Truth]

2. I am no MD but the reading I've done is that

"swine flu" is evolved from avian flu.

I did read Barry's book. And I took a whole bunch of biochem and biotech graduate courses as part of my former employer's "golden parachute" for "early retirees" (I picked the most expensive local university - Stanford ;) ). Also, I was thoroughly idoctrinated by my Mom (a retired nursing school prof with an MSN/MPH background).

An interesting read is David Clark and Lonnie Russell's "Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun"-- it is not demeaning or simplistic -- it just presents complex concepts for non-PhD's--->

<>

[DamnYank]

3. OT - why is a pic of * on the cover of a biology textbook?

:evilgrin:


It's a good book, incidentally.