Avian 'Flu: Good News! Government will vacinate everyone!

[Dead_Parrot]

Bad News: Not your government, mine. (NZ)

"A vaccine to protect New Zealanders against a deadly flu pandemic has come a step closer with a deal signed between the Health Ministry and an Australian manufacturer.


The arrangement with CSL – the only influenza vaccine producer in the southern hemisphere – gives New Zealand a guaranteed supply of pandemic vaccine if it is needed.

Officials have advised that an influenza pandemic could strike 1.6 million New Zealanders and kill up to 33,000.

The deal with CSL will provide enough pandemic vaccine to give every New Zealander two doses – about 8.4 million altogether – and the optional jab is likely to be free."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3466744a7144,00.html

No, there's no vaccine yet. There's no killer 'flu yet: but if it does emerge, at least my family will get jabs in a few months...

...sorry guys.

(Some days I'm really happy to live here... :))

[tocqueville]

1. neat to have a vaccine against a virus that doesn't exist

[DRoseDARs]

3. Doesn't exist? According to whom?

Unless you're talking about the fact that human-to-human transmission of H5N1 hasn't occured yet, this virus is very much real. It isn't some boogeyman conjured up by the Bush Administration. Scientists have been warning about this disease since its emergence a while back. The 1918 pandemic originated as an avian flu. The vaccine we have is ALL we have at the moment to combat the virus. There's no guarantee it will protect against a mutated strain of H5N1, but again it's all we have right now.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. There's a big difference between a virus that already exists

which oh by the way has been around for 1000's of years, and a worldwide pandemic.

[DRoseDARs]

5. And this is why doctors have such trouble fighting diseases...

:eyes:

Yeah, that's how a lot of diseases are. They're around for God knows how long until one day... opps! Human contact. That's how a lot of diseases start consuming Humans. Glad you're paying attention...



Now educate yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H5N1

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. I'll take the word of an expert on avian diseases

before that of Wikipedia.

Now educate yourself:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1894094

[DRoseDARs]

10. Thanks, but I'll take the World Health Organization over an article in...

..a Gainesville, Florida newspaper.

[DRoseDARs]

12. And if real experts on matter of world-wide health concerns aren't to your

...liking, here's something straight from DU's homepage since you're so keen citing threads of an online forum as The One True Gospel on the matter of H5N1:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/035_ep.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Well, this is what they say at WHO

Influenza pandemic threat: current situation

Given the unpredictable behavior of influenza viruses, neither the timing nor the severity of the next pandemic can be predicted with any certainty. Information on these pages has been compiled to help policy-makers and the public stay informed in a situation that is rapidly evolving.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/pandemic/en/index.html


I think that the same could have been posted for the Smallpox scare and the SARS scare. Now, the scare of the year is avian flu, which at this point is a very serious matter in the poultry industry and needs to be brought under control but it HAS NOT MADE THE JUMP from human to human and neither have 1000's of other viruses. In the meantime, I will trust the people who do viral research to stay on top of these threats and that they will let me know when there is a real problem. Unfortunately, we can no longer trust the government to do their part. Instead, they will milk it for all it's worth in order to keep the sheeple scared.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. And I'll take the words of...

The WHO...
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/avian_influenza/en/
...The NZ Ministry of Health...
http://www.moh.govt.nz/pandemicinfluenza
...and the BBC...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4373774.stm

Before I take the word of a florida vet. You pay your money and take your choice, I guess.

AbE: Has US healthcare sunk that far, that you're going to a vet to take care of your health? Dude, that sucks...

[DRoseDARs]

13. You do know that the Spanish Flu of 1918 was an avian flu (H1N1) right? nt

Just asking, since you've got expert advice. :shrug:

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. I happen to think

that science, sanitation and communications have come a long way since then. Maybe that's why we don't have that many worldwide pandemics anymore?

[DRoseDARs]

16. Maybe in the West, but 3rd world countires are still in the pits...

...and have few, if any, resources. Then there's the little matter of rapid and easy movement of people from one side of the globe to the other and next to no monitering of peoples' health before they get onto or get off the planes.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. So what else is new?

I don't mean to be flip about it, but being an alarmist only feeds the monsters.

I may not be a viral expert, but I did work in pediatrics at the Mailman Center in Miami when HIV started to spread. Talk about scary. We had no clue how it was transmitted at that point but that it was probably through body fluids. Nice job to have to holding babies all day, who like to leak out of every orifice. Well, gee guess what, we all lived.

[Massacure]

17. H1N5 has to mutate to jump to humans.

Depending on how much it has to mutate, the vaccine we develop right now may or may not be effective against it. It is entirely possible that they will have to stop using the current vaccines and develop a new one.

[tocqueville]

19. sorry but the "pandemic " virus doesn't exist YET

"A vaccine to protect New Zealanders against a deadly flu pandemic"

Which means that New Zealand has invented a PREEMPTIVE vaccine which will give them the Nobel Prize for all times.

The actual virus H5N1 is not very contagious to humans (unless you live with chickens in your bed) and hasn't mutated yet or "crossed" with a human flu virus. It's not sure if it is going to do it, maybe yes, maybe not. And BTW it is not contagious human to human and can be cured with actual mean in 50% of the cases.

The article alludes that the NZ vaccine (probably against the H5N1) is the SAME than an eventual deadly MASSKILLING virus.

No wonder people freaks out

the article is BS.

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Did you actually read the article?

Or my post?

This is saying that if H5N1 settles down to a pandemic strain, we've reserved production capacity for the vaccine, when available. Or do you want to stick your fingers in your ears and not worry about it at all? Or trust *'s investment in Tamiflu? Personally, I'd rather follow the WHO's line on treating it as a very real risk.

[tocqueville]

20. Exactly what I said

"ut it will take four to six months from when a new virulent flu strain appears till a vaccine is developed and made available in New Zealand, leaving the public exposed during the early stages of a pandemic.

Ministry director of public health Mark Jacobs said manufacturers would have to develop a vaccine specific to the virus that emerged as a danger and this would take some time.

"We have done our best to access vaccines so we can protect all New Zealanders," Dr Jacobs said.

"Until we know exactly what the virus causing widespread human disease is, we cannot come up with a vaccine against that virus."


the H5N1 is ALREADY a pandemic, but it kills .... birds and less humans than in a "normal" average flu. If it MUTATES the vaccine against it won't be very efficient.

New Zealanders would be far more helped by reinforcing their customs and monitoring their migratory birds, doing quarantine and disinfection exercises and finding alternative ways of running society avoiding mass gatherings.

[tmiley]

2. Vaccines for the bird crap flu

I hope you were being sarcastic. I would never take one of those vaccines because I don't want my health being compromised by one of them. Do a google search on thimerosol and autism. Mercury is not something I would want injected into my children (if I had any).

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Do a google search on H5N1 mortality

Since estimates appear to run at around 50%, I'd rather take my chance with the vaccine, thank you.

[pecwae]

8. Say, I don't think I'd

mind in the least to live in NZ whether I got a flu vaccine or not:)