The chances of future flu pandemic was

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

Poll question: The chances of future flu pandemic was

[Lerkfish]

1. pandemics have been real in the past

they are an absolute possibility.

what they are lying about is the way they wanted to deal with it. They wanted to create a martial law scenario where the military controlled our very lives in a police state.

[Birthmark]

2. A pandemic is a certainty...

...over maybe a thousand years. I don't see any particular reason to believe that a pandemic is (or isn't) imminent.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. There have been 3 flu pandemics since 1900.

[TheWraith]

21. So what? Since 1900, our medical science has come a long way.

We didn't have the kind of advancements in microbiology in 1918 that we do now.

[Why Syzygy]

22. Or the FDA protecting our food and drug supplies. *snarf*

OMG!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologics_Control_Act
The Biologics Control Act was passed in the United States on July 1, 1902 after two incidents involving the deaths of children caused by contaminated vaccines. The first involved the horse named Jim whose tetanus-contaminated serum was used to produce a diphtheria antitoxin that caused the deaths of thirteen children in St. Louis, Missouri. The second involved contaminated smallpox vaccine which killed nine children in Camden, New Jersey. Both incidents were attributed to failure of proper procedures and testing by local officials. The act established the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which was placed under the authority of the NIH by the Public Health Service Act of 1944, and became one of the centers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1972. Although it was signed with much less fanfare than the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Biologics control act set a precedent for federal regulation of biological products.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration#Organization

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. I was responding to the statement that pandemics are a certainty every 1000 years or so.

What exactly is your point about advancements in microbiology?

David

[Why Syzygy]

26. oh.

"advancements in microbiology"? No, that wasn't a point. Though it could be pursued.

I just had an interest in the role that the FDA may have played, if any, in the occurrences of pandemic. It was just a quick glance, and that's the first thing that caught my eye, since it's the first thing on the list of FDA actions. They would certainly be one piece in anything that affects the publics' health. That's their job, right? Preserve life and health?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

27. That's really the CDC's role.

The FDA has oversight over the vaccines and anti-virals but it's very little oversight since they have all been approved. I'm sure they do some random testing of vaccines and anti-virals, probably very little in the grand scheme of things.

David

[Trajan]

3. What's up with the mixed tenses ?

Very confusing grammar there ....

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. Surely you can work your way through it.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Grammar patrol! Grammar patrol!

I looked at a post that I wrote a few days ago, and I was mortified by
a few glaring errors that I made.

They were obscene, and I have a degree in journalism!

Can we all just call of the grammar hounds, and all agree that sometimes people
just make mistakes?

Who cares?

I think it's really rude when people correct grammar on a message board. If you were at a party--talking
with a group of people--and one person made a comment and just happened to split an infinitive--would you
call that person out in front of the entire room?

It's rude! People make mistakes. Just let it go!

[Trajan]

19. I was not do that again ...

[CoffeeCat]

6. Looking back...

I think BushCo tried to use every possible disaster as a way to control this country. They
sat on their haunches, just salivating for the next pandemic or terrorist event, so they
could declare martial law or strip away more of our rights.

And another thing...it seems more than an odd curiosity that Don Rumsfeld was on the board
of the company that manufactured Tamiflu. That drug was marketed heavily during the Bush
Administration. It got a lot of press. Also, doctors and nurses were pushing it.

I actually had a conversation with my doctor about Tamiflu. She was practically rolling
her eyes--as if she didn't buy into the marketing slogans surrounding this drug. For one
thing, you had to take it almost immediately after getting the flu. Most people wait a few
days, because the flu symptoms, at first, aren't dire. Secondly, it doesn't "cure" the flu,
it just stops the virus from replicating. So, you don't get any worse--but it's not a cure-all.

She seemed to think it was a ridiculous solution.

Now, I NEVER hear my doctor or other health-care workers pushing Tamiflu or even bringing up
the subject. It's as if BuchCo saw a window, opened it and tried to make as much money
as possible. Now, that window is closed after bilking us a bit more.

You just have to wonder how deeply we are being bamboozled...

[Mojorabbit]

17. It is not being used this year

as the main flu going around the country has developed resistance to it. In Indonesia if a person gets it within two days of getting bird flu and sometimes a bit later than that they live. Otherwise they die.
Article re tamiflu resistance
http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/19/tamiflu-roche-flu-markets-equity-cx_lal_1219markets20.html

[jwirr]

8. If you are watching any of the organizations that follow this like the WHO

you can see that there are epidemics in over half the world already. All it takes is for a disease to take over fast and we will not have time to develop are cure.

[Why Syzygy]

9. Does this poll equate "experts" with the Bush? nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. Where did you get that idea?

I was referring to the CDC, WHO, etc.

[Why Syzygy]

13. Then why is Bush included as a poll question? nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. How did you get that I equated them with experts?

[Why Syzygy]

15. I didn't exactly "get" that.

But, those are the two options with both "real" and implied exaggeration. ("fear tactic" and "no where near as serious")

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

16. Yes and specifically separate questions.

[iamjoy]

10. All Of The Above Plus...

I think the threat of a flu pandemic was and is real. The question is not if but when. When is a key question. Who really believes/believed it is/was imminent (coming within a few years)? To what extent was it used to sow fear by the Bush administration because they were so good at it, by Bush detractors and other doom hawkers to point out how unprepared we would be and by the media who loves scaring us because they think it is the only way to get us to watch/listen/read.

And another possibility is the Bush administration was trying to cover its butt after 9-11. They warned about every possible threat and not just to sow fear. I think they were trying to cover their butts. You know, by constantly "warning" us about "something" they figured that if a worse case scenario came to pass they could claim they were prepared and warned the public, even if the warnings were little more than shrill shouts rather than something to protect us or help us protect ourselves. Anyone remember duct tape and plastic sheeting?

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. Chemist/biologist checking in here - the threat is indeed real, and a matter of "when", not "if".

Problem is that the shit is hitting the fan on so many fronts these days, it is hard to pay attention. But this is a potential biggie.

[Th1onein]

18. It was a move to get money for Rumsfield's tamiflu stocks.

eom

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

20. So do you think Obama will stop the funding of pandemic flu planning, research, etc?

BTW, how is it going with the non-smoking? I hope well.

David

[Th1onein]

23. I started and stopped again.

It's going well. I don't know Obama will do in this regard, but I know what Bush did and why he did it.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. Hang in there.