Bird Flu

**Rat Faced** · 03-01-2005, 08:40 PM

I cant believe that the Government is being criticised for buying enough Anti-Virals for 1/4 of the UK population and stockpiling it.

They KNOW that there will be a Pandemic of Flu within the next few years, and the UK Government has done way more than any other in the world ffs.

You can never do enough, granted... but i doubt the opposition would have done anything

The stupidest thing i heard was that they should be buying vaccines..

WTF?

How can they do that when they dont know what the strain will be?

It has to evolve before you can vaccinate against it... thats like saying "I wont rest until everyone is on above average wages".. pure ignorance.

Sorry.. both for defending the government on something and the rant

**Biggles** · 03-01-2005, 08:45 PM

It seems like a sensible move to me. If there was an outbreak and there was nothing the others would be yelling incompetence very loudly (or weakly if they had the flu)

Pandemics are horrendous. I see it is not just the UK that is stocking up. I take the scientist types around the world are already pretty sure this thing is going to break out of S E Asia.

bad news indeed.

**bigboab** · 03-01-2005, 09:27 PM

There is nothing new in the precautions been taken. I am probably the only member of this forum who was caught in the last pandemic of Asian flu in 1957. Take my word for it. Whole families were laid low. Neighbours had to go and help other families where the whole family were stricken. I saw all my friends and family catch it. I thought I was immune but I finally succumbed to it. It was frightening. You lost about a week of your life. Did not know where you were. Lots of old people and people with breathing\heart troubles died.

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1957: British public gets 'Asian Flu' vaccine
A vaccine against the strain of influenza currently sweeping around the world has been made available to the British public.
The so-called 'Asian Flu' pandemic has already killed thousands of people around the globe - many of them in the United States.

The virus is believed to have originated in North China in February before spreading worldwide.

It reached the UK three months ago.

The vaccine, which is being produced at the Wright-Fleming Institute of Microbiology in west London, will be distributed free on the National Health Service.

Medical priority

To give the fullest protection against the flu strain two injections are needed at an interval of not less than three weeks.

Tens of thousands of units of the vaccine have been produced during the last two months, however, there is still not enough at present for everyone to be vaccinated.

Doctors, nurses and other medical staff are being given priority.

Yesterday the Registrar-General's latest bulletin showed the influenza mortality rate rose sharply last week with 121 deaths registered in England and Wales compared with 47 the previous week.

The latest deaths brought the total to 472 since the beginning of the year.

But that figure is well down on the 1,073 influenza deaths registered in the same period last year.

However, what is causing the concern is the rate at which the deaths due to Asian Flu are increasing.

The elderly and young children and those with heart or lung disease, are influenza's chief victims with many dying of secondary problems, such as bronchial pneumonia.

The killing power of influenza comes from the ability of the virus to mutate easily and rapidly meaning a new vaccine must be produced to deal with each strain.

But it is rare for an epidemic to be transmitted beyond national boundaries and become a pandemic - the last was the 'Spanish Flu' outbreak of 1918-1920.