Entries by Scott McPherson (423)
A honey of an idea to combat MRSA
Scott McPherson
in Popular Culture, influenza and infectious diseases
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1 Comment
Robyn of Montana, a veteran reader of this blog and a medicinal blogger herself, sent me a link to an MSNBC story regarding the use of honey to fight infections. I also noticed it posted to FluTrackers.com by veteran poster Shannon.
It's really self-explanatory, so I will just bow out and let you read the story. Battle-tested in Iraq and here in the good old US of A, it sounds like a honey of an idea to me!
Sorry about that, Chief. I could use a few days off......
On tsunami's third anniversary, an open letter to Indonesia's leaders
Scott McPherson
in Politics and government, influenza and infectious diseases
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To the leadership of the nation of Indonesia:
Today, as you know, marks the third anniversary of the terrible tsunami that ravaged your nation of 18,000 islands. The world grieves today, as it did the day after Christmas, 2004. And we continue to grieve at your loss of life, as we grieve today for the deaths due to the mudslides that have hit your nation and killed scores of your citizens.
So long as the human race has any modicum of compassion left in it, the world will rush aid to your people. May we never let you down on that score.
But the world also works on a principle of reciprocity. The ying and the yang, if you will. Quid pro quo. And there is a way the nation of Indonesia can help repay the world for its ongoing compassion.
And that is by showing some compassion back. Simply put: Please share all of your H5N1 human, swine and avian samples with the world community -- beginning today.
You believe you have some sort of stake in the game with your samples. You believe you have some currency. And it is understandable that you would want to try and leverage the little you have on behalf of your people.
However, the world's next pandemic may not start at your door. Your versions of bird flu may not even start the next pandemic. And then again, perhaps your nation is indeed at the eye of the viral typhoon to come. Only God/Allah knows the answer to that question -- and He ain't giving the answer away easily.
There is an army of scientists -- legions of them, on every continent on Earth save Antarctica -- that are prepared to work with you on this issue. These men and women can help decipher the clues to the next mutation that might turn H5N1 into the most efficient, ruthless killer of human life ever seen on this planet.
To withhold this viral information in the hope that you can somehow get into line first among equals is simply not right. Remember that a vaccine is probably eight months away from a pandemic's start, in the best of circumstances. Time and again the world has shown it is ready to fly antivirals into your nation in the hope that the Next Pandemic can be stopped at the rural village level, before it has the chance to mutate and enter your largest cities. And that is where the First Wave will be fought. With antivirals, possibly at your front door. Not with vaccine.
Your contract with America's Baxter Pharmaceuticals is understandable. Your desire to begin injecting your citizens with prepandemic vaccine underscores your nation's obvious and justified preoccupation with this disease. And if indeed the Indonesian strain is the trigger of the next pandemic, I am sure the shots and the royalties from Baxter will be most helpful. As you also know, H5N1 is a mutating wonder. What guarantees are there that any prepandemic vaccine will even work? Even if Baxter's formula does work, I do not believe Baxter alone will not be able to manufacture enough vaccine for your entire nation. Sooner or later, you will be calling upon the collective manufacturing capability of the rest of the world to help you. And the perception that Indonesia may be putting profits ahead of lives creates global enemies that your nation cannot (literally) afford to have.
Also heed the lessons of 1976 and Swine Flu H1N1. Read the history of that debacle before you store vaccine "in people, not in warehouses." Learn from the mistakes the US made in 1976 and 1977.
Above all, practice proper diplomacy. The world has a long memory. If indeed the next pandemic comes from an Indonesian strain, and your government was withholding the strain's viral molecular information in order to obtain financial and/or vaccine guarantees, and the world determines that Indonesia could have saved countless millions of lives by sharing virus samples now and deliberately chose not to: Know that the world's compassion has limits.
Choose wisely..
All clear in Serang, Indonesia
Scott McPherson
in influenza and infectious diseases
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It appears that the potential family cluster surrounding an Islamic school in Serang, Indonesia, is just that -- potential. Tests show that all of the first six potential infected are negative for H5N1.
That is a holiday present, and we are thankful for that news.
WHO: Limited Human Transmission of Bird Flu in Pakistan
Scott McPherson
in Politics and government, influenza and infectious diseases
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1 Comment
The following is straight from the Voice of America Website. My comment is at the very bottom of this blog.
In the photo at left, the AP caption reads: Hospital staff clean and disinfect room in isolation ward where bird flu patient was treated in Abbotabad, Pakistan, 17 Dec 2007
| WHO: Limited Human Transmission of Bird Flu in Pakistan |
| 21 December 2007 |
WHO's top bird flu official David Heymann Friday, said there appears to be no threat of the further spread of the H5N1 virus, with the last human case reported December 6.
At least eight people were infected in Pakistan's northwest in recent weeks - in the country's first human cases of bird flu.
One man who worked on poultry farm in North West Frontier Province has died. His brother also died recently, but was not tested for the virus.
Heymann says the cases appear to be part of a small chain of human-to-human transmission.
A WHO team is investigating the outbreak and results from initial laboratory tests are expected in the next few days.
Pakistan's Health Ministry began sending out messages Thursday, asking people to take proper care when slaughtering and handling chickens.
Earlier this week, a WHO team visited a hospital in the northern city of Peshawar to educate doctors on controlling the spread of bird flu.
WHO says more than 200 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-21-voa50.cfm
So the WHO confirms limited H2H in the Pakistani cluster. So we were right. And notice how there is the distinct absence of surprise to this disclosure from the WHO. I think it was Mike Coston who points out this lack of emotion in today's blog over at Avian Flu Diary. Point well-taken. Add this to the list of other H2H episodes that have taken place around the world.
It is also time for Dr. Anthony Fauci to update his Powerpoint presentation. The following two images are taken directly from a Powerpoint presented by Fauci, who is well-known in flu circles as the director of the national Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the National Institutes of health, an arm of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The presentation was found on the Internet and is public record.
Dr. Fauci does not shy away from bringing up the topic of human-to-human transmission of H5N1 avian influenza. In fact, he dedicates at least two key slides to the debate. Here they are, and they are pretty self-explanatory:
When I am trying to make the case to move to Phase Four, it is not merely because limited human-to-human transmission has occurred multiple times. It is because the suspected H2H transmission is becoming more and more common. It is also because we do not know when Tamiflu may mask the presence, or prior presence, of H5N1 in people, and we also do not know if the authorities are being completely transparent and conducting all possible tests to make sure the issue is closed.
People closely connected with H5N1 in humans will speculate quietly that, of all the clusters that have appeared since 2003, the Turkish cluster (noticeably absent from Dr. Fauci's slide) was the most probable H2H2H we have known of. But since scientific access was so tightly restricted by the Turkish government, we will never know for sure if a Phase Four virus emerged from that cluster. I say "since 2003," because everyone pretty much feels like the 1997 debut of human H5N1 was a big, big event and was the single biggest pandemic threat since 1976.
Anyone need a refresher on Turkey?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4594488.stm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/05/news/flu.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/06/news/flu.php
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/35875.php
The suspected Turkish cluster occurred in January 2006. The Sumatra cluster (diagramed above) happened in May, 2006. The Pakistani cluster happened this month. And as Dr. Fauci points out, there have been numerous other times where H2H2H cannot be proven.
But it cannot be disproven, either. And the empirical evidence points to H2H2H. So does the expenditure and mass distribution of impressive quantities of Tamiflu. Actions speak louder than words, WHO. So may we agree that whenever more than a few courses of Tamiflu are distributed -- let's say, when Tamiflu is delivered to more than 2,000 people within four remote Indonesian villages (August 2006) or an entire island off the coast of Sumatra (October 2007) or used on Pakistani villagers (December 2007), or used on an Indonesian town (December 2007), this just might constitute prima facia evidence of increased human-to-human transmission?
Or is it just being careful?
MetroTV video of suspected Serang bird flu victims
Scott McPherson
in Popular Culture, influenza and infectious diseases
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You know, we don't get to see many breaking television bird flu news stories outside of the US, but Indonesia's MetroTV seems to be doing a good job of broadcasting breaking bird flu news to their viewers. Back in the 1980s, then-news director of Miami's Channel 7, Joel Cheatwood coined the expression "If it bleeds, it leads,"
The MetroTV mantra must be "If they sneeze, they lead." Sorry.
Anyway, if you click on this link, you will see the news story of the family being transported to Jakarta via ambulance. Again, a top of the cap to Commonground, veteran flusite poster. Now I want you to put yourself in the position of any Indonesian resident who is watching this unfold on television. How would you feel if this was broadcast in New York, or Peoria, or Billings, Vancouver, or Tampa? Or Tallahassee?
As Count Floyd used to say: Pretty scary, kids.