Comments on: Turkey And Avian Flu

By: Edward

Edward — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 20:28:14 +0000

“No optimism. Just a refusal to be frightened by mere proximity.”

Basically, I agree with both of you. I don’t think we should be frightened, but I do think we need to be vigilant.

There is a real, if hard to measure, threat.

Preparations may or may not be very helpful, depending on the final human-human strain (if it ever arrives). Finding an appropriate vaccine, and, even more to the point, getting it out on the street won’t be easy.

Meantime there are more cases, this time near Ankara, but they still seem bird-related.

My big point here is the need to get the information balance just right: too much dramatisation only causes alarm, but inaccurate information finally causes even more alarm.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 23:57:37 +0000

No optimism. Just a refusal to be frightened by mere proximity. It will probably acquire that capability, but probably not in Anatolia, as pig farming is rare in that area. The danger is little changed. Yet every day, preparations are improving.

By: Claus Vistesen

Claus Vistesen — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 23:26:03 +0000

“As long as there’s no transmission between humans, it might kill a few farmers, but it is not a public health problem.”

I wish I could share you optimism Oliver.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 23:12:43 +0000

The fundamentals are not changed. As long as there’s no transmission between humans, it might kill a few farmers, but it is not a public health problem.

By: Edward

Edward — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 20:17:53 +0000

Update, I’m afraid Claus is probably right. There are also more deaths in Turkey:

A third Turkish child from the same family died of bird flu on Friday as the virus which has killed 74 people in east Asia reached the threshhold of Europe. Hulya Kocyigit, 11, was the sister of Mehmet Ali, a 14-year-old boy who died last weekend, and of Fatma, 15, a girl who died on Thursday.

By: Claus Vistesen

Claus Vistesen — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:15:32 +0000

I hope we have our vaccine storages ready, because that damn flu just keeps on creeping in on us!

It can only be a matter of time before people in “the West” fall victim.