Scott McPherson's Web Presence

Prince of Wales Island in Alaska is the home to the most recent outbreak of respiratory illness Adenovirus 14, otherwise known as Ad14.  And true to form, it has sickened 34, caused severe illness enough to warrant mainland evacuation of seven, and killed one. 

It has also promoted rumors of quarantine, which are unfounded.  But that is what happens when a mystery illness for which there is no treatment happens to a community.

No one is sure how the disease made its way to the island, but the virus has appeared time and again in the Pacific Northwest, so perhaps it is not surprising that it would eventually find its way to an Alaskan island. 

Longtime readers of this blogsite know I have been sounding the alarm bells on Ad14 for over a year.  This virus is the "hidden epidemic" of respiratory illnesses, in my opinion.  It is everywhere.  It is pervasive.  And we are not testing for it.  So we don't know what we don't know, and doctors will continue to misdiagnose it as "a cold" until such time as we take it for what it is:  A new variant of an old virus that can kill if not taken seriously.

Where is the research into Ad14?  While avian flu gets all the glamour, Ad14 continues to spread and to inflict disease and, in several cases, death.  While we (necessarily) prepare for a pandemic of influenza, we must also concern ourselves with this new and developing threat.  For a quick primer on adenovirus, simply search my blogsite, key word adenovirus. 

"We've come for your liver!"

"But, Im using it!"

Forgive me if I am reminded of the hilarious skit from my beloved ensemble Monty Python.  But that was exactly what I began thinking when I read the Google Alert coming from Bloomfield, Connecticut. 

Bird flu survival tied to hands-on therapy

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Chances of surviving a deadly avian flu pandemic would likely increase with hands-on therapy, even without antiviral drugs, a U.S. health newsletter says.

Integrative manual therapy in the area of the spleen and liver, for instance, would help fluid, blood and lymph flow appropriately, significantly boosting people's immune systems and helping them endure the feared pandemic, The Burnham Review said.

The review said flu patients back then who received manipulative therapy had a 0.25 percent mortality rate, compared to a 6 percent U.S. average. (incredulous bold mine)

"The results are striking," Editor Kimberly Burnham told United Press International.

"Some gentle manipulative therapy resulted in a dramatic difference in mortality," said Burnham, who has a doctorate in integrative medicine from Westbrook University.

What is really striking about this news report is the claim that there was a 6% mortality rate in 1918.  And I doubt if there were so many patients who received this massage to have skewed the non-massagees to die at a rate three times that of the stated mortality rate from the virus, which has always been around 2% of those infected.

Since I do not know how to massage my liver and spleen, I assume I will need to go to a qualified professional liver massage person.  I am guessing that a chiropractor or other such person could be consulted.

I also do not know how in Hades this organization came up with metrics for 1918 that somehow the established medical community missed.  It is possible, I suppose, so let's mine this new data source for what it is worth.

Until then, I suppose this therapy is as good as any other.  Wait, there's a knock on my door.... be right back.

Something is going on in Birmingham -- the new Influenza Research Capital of the US?

I was perusing the Goole Alerts - Bird Flu folder this morning.  If I don't see evidence of avian or human cases, or breaking news such as the untimely death of Graeme Laver, I kind of pass on them until I have some free time.

So I was more than a little interested in the stories that were datelined Birmingham, Alabama.  A vaccine company out of Marietta, Georgia, named Solvay, announced that due to the economy about to do its Death Roll and spiral into the great Abyss of Flaming Mismanagement, along with a Federal shortage of grant monies to build its plant, plus the oversupply of flu vaccine, it was abandoning its plans to build a manufaacturing facility in -- Birmingham, Alabama.

Birmingham?

Then I remembered the hubub surrounding antiviral manufacturer BioCryst, of -- Birmingham.  Its human tests of its new injectible influenza N-class antiviral Peramavir did not go as well as planned, and the company voluntarily stopped Phase three testing and wrote off some $4.9 million in lost revenue from the discontinuation of the HHS-sponsored trials.  But the research into Peramavir continues.

Also showing up on the radar recently is the vaccine manufacturer Vaxin.  Now when I first heard of Vaxin, forgive me if I conjured up a magazine with scantily-clad babes and stories about how to get rock-hard abs and drive Tony Stark's Audi to the foot of the Matterhorn and climb it before lunch.  

Vaxin is actually a company that is trying to use adenovirus as a transport mechanism to deliver influenza vaccine without injection.  Delivered nasally or onto the skin, the adenovirus-transported vaccine would confer quick immunity against influenza, bird flu, anthrax, and Alzheimers (!).  No vaccine against lending money to people who clearly can't pay it back, nor a vaccine against Wall Street and Washington, DC greed, excesses and stupidity.

But I digress. Vaxin is working on the Holy Grail of vaccines:  Cell-based, not egg-based vaccines, delivered quickly and without the need for needles, thimerosol, etc.  Initial tests by Vaxim claim to prevent a host of A and B flus, including some evidence of cross-immunity against H5N1.  The nearly million-dollar NIH grant will fund the research.

Just for grins, I Googled "university Birmingham influenza" and I came up with some additional stuff.  UAB (Go Blazers!) also has a nifty influenza research department, and one Gillian M. Air published a paper on "Antigenic properties of influenza neuraminidases" with none other than the recently late Graeme Laver and the Pope of Influenza, Robert G. Webster.   Published books and papers on the structure of influenza go back well into the early 1990s, and the university has partnered with Vaxin to study the effects of its work.

So a Southern city with its history in the production of steel, civil rights heroes and football players has turned into a major influenza research hub.  I think that is pretty cool.  I also think that is a great example of what a few civic leaders with vision and persistence can accomplish.  Plus, I think it is cool that a college with a dragon as its mascot is doing flu research. 

We have lost Graeme Laver.

Dr. Laver was one of the modern pioneers in the field of influenza research, and his work helped pave the way for N-class antivirals such as Tamiflu and Relenza. An Australian, Dr. Laver was widely respected by his peers for his superb work and his personality.

That personality can best be gauged by this homage, written by his close friend and longtime colleague Dr. Robert Webster yesterday.  The passage appeared in the pro-MED post notifying the world of its loss:

"In classical Graeme style, he finished his life with a great flourish while on his way to a scientific meeting on influenza in Portugal.

"The air traffic controllers cleared the air space over Heathrow so that he could receive rapid medical attention. We his friends all know that he would have reveled in the mayhem caused had he been aware of it."

ABC News Australia has a short summary of his life:

Well-known Canberra scientist Graeme Laver has died in London at the age of 79. Dr Laver researched the influenza virus for more than 30 years and helped develop the anti-flu drug Relenza. In 1996, Dr Laver was awarded the Australia Prize for excellence in the field of pharmaceutical design. [In addition to being awarded the Australia Prize, he was a member of the Royal Society of London]. Professor Adrian Gibbs worked with Dr Laver at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. "With the 2 vital discoveries that Graeme made, he really worked out the major foundation of influenza biology in that period of 20 years and how to control it," he said.

But an interview with Washington University's Virology History department in St. Louis, Missouri, helps showcase his life's work. The interview is fascinating and informative and also helps us better understand the dynamics of the 1968 pandemic of H3N2. Here's the link:

http://virologyhistory.wustl.edu/Laver.htm

Dr. Webster further goes on to describe his friend Laver's work:

"Graeme Laver, the maverick of influenza research in Australia, was always prepared to challenge authorities. He established the biochemical basis of antigenic drift and shift in seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses and played a key role in the development of the anti-influenza drug Relenza. It was Graeme's contention that antiviral drugs (Relenza and Tamiflu) should be available in everyone's medicine cabinet. His argument is that many will die in an influenza pandemic before available stockpiles could be distributed.

"He also contended that those claiming that this would promote antiviral resistance have got it wrong!"

The Tamiflu over-the-counter reference was covered by yours truly last year, during Australia's severe flu epidemic. Dr. Laver made headlines by staunchly advocating the immediate sale of Tamiflu over-the-counter.

One less maverick means one less person to question the existing world order when it comes to flu research.  We commend Dr. Laver for all he did in his life to save us from the next pandemic, and to reduce the severity of influenza.  Thank you, Dr. Laver.

For the first time since testing was inaugurated, ducks in New Zealand have tested positive for the low-pathogenic version of H5N1.  Specifically, ducks in the city of Invercargill have tested positive for low-path bird flu.

Well, it is only two ducks, and they are at opposite ends of the city.  But according to MAF Biosecurity New Zealand animal response team manager Dr Andre van Halderen, for all he and they know, the virus may have always been there and may indeed be endemic to the nation.

Or not.  Who knows?  One thing is for sure:  New Zealand poultry farmers should be more aware, since we all know that if left unchecked, low path goes into poultry facilities, and high path as often as not pops out.

It will be interesting to see if there is any sort of genetic linkage to mainland high-path H5N1 at all.  Speculation centers on migratory birds (again) and the East Asian Flyway as the potential source of the virus. 

Low-path H5N1 is not surprising.  It has turned up in the United States before, as recently as 2007, and undoubtedly will turn up again.