Bird Flu

Status
Not open for further replies.
heartoflesh

heartoflesh

Puritan Board Junior
I'm starting to pay attention to this. I read somewhere else yesterday that scientists have recreated the virus from the flu pandemic of 1918, and it turns out it was a bird flu. Apparently this type of flu affects primarily healthy persons, 20-40 years old-- turns your immune system against you, so the healthier you are, the more at risk you are.

Lovely.
 
We've been paying attention as well. Scarey stuff.

Concerns:

not enough vacs

the vacs themselves could cause outbreak as a person is contagious for a time after most vacs take place

how are they planning on dealing with this issue. Militarily has been mentioned so far...but no REAL plan on dispersion of medically technology...at least none that is mentioned.

[Edited on 10-11-2005 by LadyFlynt]
 
Though the flu is cause for concern

I am more concerned that pharmaceutical companies will be given a pass to make vaccines without any possibility of being sued if the vaccine itself causes death.
And I am VERY concerned at the government's rush to make the military the police in this country...which was an option Mr. Bush has already floated.
 
The guy in the next cubicle to me suggested that if you get the vaccine, you take sick time so you don't spread it while you're contagious.
 
Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press 11-1-05

WASHINGTON -- President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy Tuesday to prepare for a possible worldwide super-flu outbreak, aiming to overhaul the vaccine industry so eventually every American could be inoculated within six months of a pandemic's beginning.

Such a huge change would take years to implement "” Bush's goal is 2010 "” and his plan drew immediate fire from critics who said it wouldn't provide enough protection in the meantime. States, too, got an unpleasant surprise, ordered to purchase millions of doses of an anti-flu drug with their own money.

The long-awaited strategy also stresses expanded attempts to detect and contain the next super-flu before it reaches the United States, with particular attention to parts of Asia that are influenza incubators "” a global focus that flu specialists have insisted the government adopt.

"Early detection is our first line of defense,'' Bush said in a speech at the National Institutes of Health. He called on other countries to admit when super-flu strains occur within their borders. "No nation can afford to ignore this threat,'' he said.

At the same time, Bush sought to reassure a public jittery over the spread of bird flu, called H5N1, which has killed at least 62 people in Asia since 2003 and caused the death or destruction of tens of millions of birds.

There is no evidence that a human pandemic, of H5N1 or any other super-strain, is about to start, Bush said repeatedly.

Still, there have been three flu pandemics in the last century and the world is overdue for another. Concern is growing that the bird flu could provide the spark if it one day mutates so that it can spread easily from person to person.

"Our country has been given fair warning of this danger to our homeland, and time to prepare,'' Bush said.

Topping Bush's strategy:

"”$1.2 billion to stockpile enough vaccine against the current H5N1 flu strain to protect 20 million Americans, the estimated number of health workers and other first-responders involved in a pandemic.

"”$1 billion for the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, which can treat and, in some cases, prevent flu infection. Enough to treat 44 million people and prevent infection in 6 million others is headed for the federal stockpile. States were told to buy 31 million treatment courses, but Bush is funding only a quarter of the states' anticipated bill.

"”$2.8 billion to speed production of pandemic vaccines "” including better-matched strains "” by learning to manufacture them in easier-to-handle cell cultures, instead of today's slow method that relies on millions of chicken eggs.

"”$251 million for international preparations, including improving early-warning systems to spot human infections with novel flu strains.

"”$100 million for state preparations, including determining how to deliver stockpiled medicines directly to patients.

"”$56 million to test poultry and wild birds for H5N1 or other novel flu strains entering the U.S. bird population.

"”A call for Congress to provide liability protection for makers of a pandemic vaccine, which unlike shots against the regular winter flu would be experimental, largely untested.

Bush's announcement came after his administration was battered by criticism over its lethargic response to Hurricane Katrina.

Public health specialists, briefed on the strategy but awaiting details, called it a good start.

"Clearly this is the No. 1 public health issue on the radar screen,'' said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, who advises the government on infectious disease threats.

But it's not strong enough, said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who helped lead Senate passage of $8 billion in emergency funding for pandemic preparations last month.

"Stockpiles alone aren't enough without the capacity to make use of them,'' he said, calling for steps to help states, cities and hospitals prepare for a flood of panicked patients.

"There is a gaping hole'' in the plan, added Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said the nation should stockpile enough Tamiflu for half the population, not the quarter that would be covered if the states added their share under Bush's plan.

The states' contribution will be difficult, said Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chairman of the National Governors Association. "They expect us to pay 75 cents on a dollar for flu medicine "” that's going to be a tough pill to swallow,'' he said through a spokeswoman.

The states' collective tab would reach $510 million, said Kim Elliott, deputy director of the nonpartisan Trust for America's Health. She worried that some wouldn't buy any, and that others wouldn't share their Tamiflu stash if a pandemic struck in a part of the country that ran out.

"It depends on where you live and the state of your state's budget as to whether or not you might receive a treatment drug,'' she said.

"”"”"”

On the Net:

Government's pandemic flu site: www.pandemicflu.gov
 
Poor George! And you thought being president was just about foreign policy and domestic economics! Who knew it involved hurricanes and disease control and your buddies' business deals and the ethics of torture? You know, I think he's doing about what most of us would do in the same circumstances. You won't see me running for Prez any time soon, it's too many for me!
 
Good News About "œPandemic" Flu
How to Protect Yourself and Your Family

Worried about Avian Flu? Don't be. As a physician and a scientist, I want to share the best news of this flu season: You can prevent or treat the Avian Flu (IF it develops the ability to infect humans) easily, simply, cheaply, safely and naturally. And I know that there are things you can do to make the problem much, much worse. The choices are yours. Please share what you are about to read with everyone you know. This information could save huge numbers of lives.

Please remember, though, that this information is not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. It is educational material intended to help you develop your own personalized disease prevention or treatment strategy. You might want to consult a nutritional professional or natural physician to help you personalize it for you and your family.

How does the Avian Flu do its damage? Birds (or humans if the virus mutates spontaneously - or is mutated in a lab) die because the H5N1 virus depletes Vitamin C stores so quickly that the cause of death is fulminate scurvy. Scurvy is the same disease that killed seamen on long voyages because unless we get enough Vitamin C from our diet or our supplements, we get sick or die. Humans cannot make Vitamin C but we need it for a great many vital processes including immune function and vascular integrity. This particular type of virus uses up Vitamin C stores so quickly that the immune system is overwhelmed and the blood vessels loose their structural integrity: they leak so badly that infected animals literally bleed to death through those damaged vessels.

Prevention? Vitamin C: lots and lots and lots of Vitamin C. Treatment? Lots and lots and lots of Vitamin C.
Vitamin C is not toxic. Under stress (like a viral infection), your need for Vitamin C is increased. When your body has had enough, your body will tell you by soft stools or diarrhea. This is not a sign of toxicity: it is a sign that you have reached "Bowel Tolerance" (BT). Once you get there (and it can be at 1 gram or 20 grams: your body will tell you), cut back to 75% of the dose that represents BT for you and keep taking that dose EVERY DAY.

Write down each of the 4 daily doses of Vitamin C that you take each day because you will be increasing your intake gradually until you find the amount that you need for immune support. This dosage information is important enough that it could literally save your life so it is worth taking the time to record this information carefully and stick to the dosing schedule precisely. If you mess up, don't quit, but do make your best effort to stick to it.

You will start with 1 gram per dose so, for example, on Day 1, suppose that you take 1000 mg (= 1 gram) of Vitamin C every 4 hours for a total of 4 grams. On Day 2, increase the first dose to 2 grams and then take 1 gram for your other 3 doses. (You will take 4 doses per day). On day 3, take 2 grams for your first and second doses and 1 gram for the remaining two doses. On Day 3, you would take 2 grams for the first three doses and 1 gram for the next dose. You would continue increasing your dosage in that way until your body lets you know via your GI tract that you've reach the level you need. Now multiply that total daily dose by 0.75 and you've got your daily dose.

For example, suppose you reach Bowel Tolerance at 10 doses. Multiply by 0.75 and you now know that you need 7.5 grams of Vitamin C a day for immune system support. You would do well to take reasonable doses of Vitamins E and A along with Zinc and reduced L-Glutathione since they work together with Vitamin C. How much? That depends upon your weight, health, etc. I would also recommend that you take a good Multivitamin along with the preventive levels of Vitamin C described above. The Multivitamins I recommend have so much in them that a full adult dose requires 6 capsules or tablets to get all the nutrients in. A single multivitamin cap is just not potent enough to provide serious immune support, no matter what the company tells you.

And I hope it goes without saying that the more processed foods you eat, the more chemicals, flavors, preservatives, pesticides, sugar and artificial sweeteners, in short, the more junk you put into your body, the more acidic your body will be and the less resistant to viral infection it will be. So now would be a great time to switch over to a diet rich in fruits, dark and brightly colored veggies, free range animal protein and organic everything. Those are food choices that build your immune capacity, not bang it around.

Selenium blocks deadly mutations in the Avian Flu virus (J American College Nutrition 20: 384"“88S, 2001; FASEB Journal 15: 1846"“48, 2001; Journal Nutrition 133: 1463"“67S, 2003) while elderberry syrup has been shown to be an effective flu remedy (J International Med Research 32:132"“40, 2004; Israeli Medical Assoc Journal 4:919"“22, 2002; European Cytokine Network 12:290"“6, 2001; J Alternative Complement Medicine 1:361"“9, 1995). Garlic is a highly effective anti viral substance which should be part of your diet (Planta Medica 58:417"“23, 1992).

Children's doses should be titrated the same way taking the weight of the child into account.

That part is important: this part is even more important: at the very first indication of anything that might be viral disease, increase your Vitamin C immediately. DO NOT WAIT TO SEE IF THINGS GET WORSE! INCREASE YOUR VITAMIN C TO YOUR NEW BOWEL TOLERANCE LEVEL. That level might be very, very high. Vitamin C is not toxic. Unlike drugs, which poison enzymes and are thus capable of severe toxicity, nutrients, especially water soluble ones like Vitamin C, have no meaningful level of toxicity. Your body knows what you need. Pay close attention to it.

In the event that you think you may have the flu, take the amino acids l-lysine, l-proline and l-glycine. An average size adult can take up to 3 grams of each one 4 times a day since they help prevent the spread of the virus in your body.

My personal regimen for immune health includes high dose Vitamin C and Vitamins A and E along with zinc and L-Glutathione:

I travel with Olive Leaf Extract, Oil of Oregano (not to be taken by pregnant women since it can cause abortions), goldenseal, Echinacea, curcumin (from turmeric), probiotics, B complex, fish oil and alpha lipoic acid. I drink organic green tea and I do not eat any sugar whatsoever.
If you do become ill, the best thing you can do is contact a physician who practices natural and nutritional medicine and begin a regimen of Intravenous Vitamin C treatments (you may need between 100 and 200 grams (not milligrams) for a short time since the Avian Flu is so good at using up your urgently needed Vitamin C.

Here's what not to do:

Do not take Tamiflu (oseltamivir). The widely touted antiviral drug (like its cousin Relenza or zanamivir) produced drug resistant viruses in 18% of children treated with the drug and a drug resistant strain has been found in a Vietnamese girl treated with the drug. A drug resistant strain would be a far more dangerous virus than one which had not learned how to evade the drug's effect. Viruses can not become resistant to Vitamin C.

Do not take FluMist
FluMist is a live virus vaccine which introduces between 10 and 100 million viruses into the nose. Those viruses are not the same as the Avian Flu and therefore do not confer immunity against it since only the identical virus could do that. FluMist is based on last years viruses which were not effective against last year's viruses. They are certainly not effective against the Avian Flu virus which has not yet become infective to humans so no vaccine exists against it in its infective form.
However, once treated with FluMist, people shed live, infective viruses for up to 3 weeks which can give people flu In fact, immuno-compromised people, nursing babies, people with eczema, HIV, taking steroids, chemotherapy, radiation treatment (or the 60% of the American population which is chemically immuno-suppressed) are at significant danger if they come into contact with anyone who has been inoculated with FluMist.

FluMist is delivered into the nostrils by a forceful squirt. This puts infective viruses very close to the brain where they can pass through the thin cribiform plate at the top of the nostrils and enter the brain. It is not known if such treatment causes encephalitis. Only time will tell but the risk is a serious one considering the morbidity (sickness) and mortality (death) caused by encephalitis.

Each of the three viruses in FluMist can mutate and can cause mutations in the Avian Flu. Those mutations can supply the Avian Flu virus as it currently exists with the genetic sequences it needs to become a pandemic virus. The FluMist live virus nasal inoculation can assist the much feared Avian Flu virus to transform into the very pandemic we are being told to fear.

Flu Vaccines for a pandemic version of the Avian Flu do not exist. The only way to make a vaccine against a particular virus is to have the virus available and then make a toxic brew filled with poisons (mercury, aluminum, squalene), foreign particles (egg, chick, and other proteins) and contaminants (stealth viruses, etc.)That flu virus does not yet exist, we are told. Assuming that it is not already manufactured and waiting for release in a lab somewhere, it would be 6 months before an Avian Flu vaccine could be ready. Vaccination with anything else would not help a bit with the Avian Flu strain which we are supposedly facing disaster from.

But, assuming that we already had a vaccine for the right flu strain, and assuming that vaccines were safe enough to use (which I do not believe they are since vaccines are very dangerous treatments which should be approached with the gravest reservations) the fact is that they do not produce immunity most of the time. We have been ballyhooed and mislead about the efficacy and safety of vaccination.
It is neither efficacious nor safe. And to ask the American people to submit to vaccinations which are infective (because they spread live vaccines), ineffective (because they are not vaccines against the real danger which does not exist yet and vaccines take 6 months to make) and dangerous (disease rises sharply with vaccination) and for which manufacturer liability is being removed is not good medicine, good policy or good sense.

Please safeguard your life and that of your loved ones. Pass this information to everyone you know so that they can delve further and make their own choices.

And please visit www.HealthFreedomUSA.org to sign the new Citizen´s Petition which contains the Revised Vitamin and Mineral Guideline which can make the US Codex Complaint and preserve your rights to optimal health through nutrition. If you have signed it before, you can sign it again since the original Citizen´s Petition has been revised.
Yours in health and freedom,

Rima E. Laibow, MD

Medical Director,

Natural Solutions Foundation
 
Good advice Dan!!!

Im leary of taking any vacines since most I believe are or is the virus itself?.

Vitamin C is a good thing to take regardless if this stuff is around. When my mom got real sick with the flu I had to take care of her and never got it. I drank LOTS of cranberry juice and it helped keep me safe.

Blade
 
Linus Pauling would certainly support your post. But have you read the following :

The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy

It's enough to drive men to drink, wondering who is correct. (I believe I'll have a Moose Drool.)

We've been paying attention as well. Scarey stuff.

Concerns:

not enough vacs
Click to expand...

I am curious, LadyFlynt, since I remember your opposition to children's vaccinations. Are you ok with adults getting them?
 
Actually, I'm leary of these vacs as well. Why? There has not been sufficient testing on those vacs, if at all. Kinda like what the military did with the Anthrax vax...they used their own troops as guinea pigs. Personally, I think these vaccines are going to just help spread the virus more.

I am not 100% against ALL vaccinations. I have an issue with the contents of some, certain vaccinations' risks being higher than the natural risk of the disease it's supposed to prevent, the age and amount at which they are typically given, and the irresponsibilty of the pharmaceutical companies as well as certain physicians.

Recently a ped's office received some vaccination's. There were two different boxes of the same vac. When asked by the nurses and office staff as to why...well, one was for the office staff and the rest were for the patients. The ones for the office staff had thermisol and formaldihyde in them. The staff refused to take those and instead used the ones for the patients (don't blame them myself). However, they replaced those with the ones that carried said ingredients. So parents who were signing papers for thermisol free and formaldihyde free vac's, were in fact receiving unawares the loaded vac's.

Also there is a bill in Congress right now to release pharmaceutical companies from all liabilities of any vaccinations required by the government they put out. This means that the government can require that we all receive certain shots and tough cookies if you die or end up with permanant damage from it. Sorry, but I'm not anyone's guinea pig and I'm not chancing "hot lots".
 
Linus Pauling would certainly support your post. But have you read the following :

The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy
Click to expand...

Anything from that site has no credibility for me. Stephen Barret (the guy who runs it) was caught in a blatant lie on one of the local radio shows here in my area. He's also on the "Scientific Board" of the Amercian Council of Science and Health which is an organization funded solely by the pharmaceutical and chemical companies and the AMA. Hmmm, it's obvious what he's going to say. Look who he works for.

An interesting opinion here (although I don't know anything about the guy who wrote it):
http://www.bolenreport.net/archives/default_t.htm
 
Feds could restrict travel if bird flu strikes

Associated Press 11-2-05

WASHINGTON "” Sustained person-to-person spread of the bird flu or any other super-influenza strain anywhere in the world could prompt the United States to implement travel restrictions or other steps to block a brewing pandemic, say federal plans released Wednesday.

If a super-flu begins spreading here, states and cities will have to ration scarce medications and triage panicked patients to prevent them from overwhelming hospitals and spreading infection inside emergency rooms, the plan says.

It provides long-awaited guidance to the front-line local officials urging them to figure out now how they would prevent that "” and to practice their own plans to make sure they'll work.

Pandemics, or worldwide outbreaks, strike when the easy-to-mutate influenza virus shifts to a strain that people have never experienced before, something that happened three times in the last century.

It's impossible to predict the toll of the next pandemic, but a bad one could infect up to a third of the population and, depending on its virulence, kill anywhere from 209,000 to 1.9 million Americans, say the Bush administration's new Pandemic Influenza Plan.

The illness will spread fastest among school-aged children, infecting about 40 percent of them, and decline with age, the plan estimates. It puts the health costs alone, not counting disruption to the economy, at $181 billion for even a moderately bad pandemic.

It's also impossible to predict when the next pandemic will strike. But concern is rising that the Asian bird flu, called the H5N1 strain, might trigger the next one if it eventually becomes easily spread from person-to-person.

With a public increasingly jittery about the H5N1 spread among birds and a drumbeat of criticism that the nation is woefully unprepared, President Bush on Tuesday outlined a $7.1 billion strategy to get ready for the next pandemic. Topping his list is improving systems to detect and contain the next super-flu before it reaches the United States "” and overhauling the vaccine industry so that eventually, scientists could quickly brew enough for everyone within months of a pandemic's appearance.

That vaccine improvement will take years to implement "” and the details released Wednesday stress that early on, the public will be depending on scarce supplies of anti-flu drugs and stockpiled vaccines and old-fashioned ways of limiting viral spread.

Stockpiled drugs "are not the equivalent of preparedness,'' Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday as he unveiled the details.

Indeed, the plan stresses that if a pandemic begins, Americans should limit visits to doctors and hospitals unless absolutely necessary and hospitals should triage those seeking care so that suspected super-flu cases have limited contact with other patients, the plan says.

But critics battered Bush's plan for the federal government to stockpile enough of the anti-flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza to treat 44 million people and make states buy another 31 million treatment courses, mostly with their own money, to cover the rest of the anticipated need.

"States are extremely nervous about what's going to be required of them,'' Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told Leavitt.

And Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he doesn't trust the administration's assessment of the nation's health care needs and demanded that Leavitt provide more information about its response to the evolving bird flu.

"Could we have acted sooner to avoid the situation we are in now, in effect running for cover?'' he said. "We need a better way of finding out what the hell is going on.''
 
Dont you just love how the feds seek more power in crisis.

Yet an overun border is not worth restricitng??? How many diseases can be brought over the border unchecked???

blade
 
Originally posted by Scot
Linus Pauling would certainly support your post. But have you read the following :

The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy
Click to expand...

Anything from that site has no credibility for me. Stephen Barret (the guy who runs it) was caught in a blatant lie on one of the local radio shows here in my area. He's also on the "Scientific Board" of the Amercian Council of Science and Health which is an organization funded solely by the pharmaceutical and chemical companies and the AMA. Hmmm, it's obvious what he's going to say. Look who he works for.

An interesting opinion here (although I don't know anything about the guy who wrote it):
http://www.bolenreport.net/archives/default_t.htm
Click to expand...

Interesting article. More food for thought, which means I need another Moose Drool to wash it down.

Seriously, though, I have to wonder at both sides of the health issue. The louder each side yells the more I wonder how reliable their hype is. But I type here as one who, by the grace of God, has good health and thus stays out of the medical debates. Maybe I should pay more attention because some day when (not if) this old body starts deteriorating I might just want to know more about such things.

Thanks for bringing the site to my attention.
 
Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot
I heard the bird flu has been found in Iraq. Two fatalities so far.
Click to expand...

Do they know if it was animal to human, or human to human? The former has been happening already quite a bit but could never become pandemic-- the latter is something else.
 
Originally posted by Rick Larson
Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot
I heard the bird flu has been found in Iraq. Two fatalities so far.
Click to expand...

Do they know if it was animal to human, or human to human? The former has been happening already quite a bit but could never become pandemic-- the latter is something else.
Click to expand...

From what I have heard, the transmission in these two instances was bird to human. These are apparently the first known cases of bird flu in the Middle East.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
Run for the shelters - Bird Flu is here
Replies
0
Views
1K
govols
G
F
  • Locked
Bird
Replies
10
Views
3K
TheocraticMonarchist
T
T
  • Locked
Bird Lovers - Regional Bird Call Website?
Replies
8
Views
1K
PhilA
PhilA
ValleyofVision
  • Locked
The flu
Replies
29
Views
3K
Edward
Edward
R
  • Locked
Super Flu
Replies
1
Views
2K
turmeric
turmeric
Back
Top