Ayayay yayay, lord we love a good drama..
And the avian flu runaway train drama is front page material these days...
I am no stranger to sayings like 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'...'Better Safe than sorry'..'Failing to plan is planning to fail'... but people have gone super crazy over the bird flu all of the sudden...which, as scary as it will be if it turns into a pandemic, has been around for a few years now and no one gave a damn.. taw il nass!
Several glitches in the current rush to protect ourselves:
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Flu drug sales soar; specialists fear overuse Boston Globe
"Alarmed infectious disease specialists said excessive use of Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs could lead to the emergence of flu strains that do not respond to antivirals, making both avian and regular flu strains even more of a health threat. They also said they have seen evidence that patients and doctors are stockpiling the drug on their own, which could create a shortage for people actually stricken with the flu, especially if there is a global epidemic...
There is no vaccine against avian flu, although scientists are trying to develop one, and in recent weeks, Tamiflu has sold better than ever."
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Tamiflu is the anti-viral made by Roche..the Pharma company that is unwilling to share the patent on the drug so that it can be sold cheaply and made in greater numbers...Some companies are going to defy the patent and Roche might consider granting licences to other makers...also a bird flu strain in Vietnam has been discovered that is resistant to Tamiflu... .
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"An American doctor is warning that a drug that is thought to be a guard against the H5N1 avian flu is showing resistance to the deadly disease.
Doctor Frederick Hayden says there's new data that indicates Tamiflu isn't completely effective in treating humans affected by the bird flu." CFRA Talk Radio -
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"The U.S. Senate has already approved an amendment by Iowa's Democratic Senator Tom Harkin, adding $3.9 billion to a military appropriation for preparations for the expected outbreak. That money is earmarked for stockpiling medications to combat the virus, if it does occur, and also, reportedly for "immunity from lawsuits if a vaccination causes harm,” according to an article in the Washington insider publication, The Hill". FMNN -
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Last but not least amusing:
Avian Flu has been a health risk for quite some time now..and no one moved...in fact the warnings to prepare and stockpile were
sounded in 2004 , and before, by the WHO...Bush now says "wait a minute this is an important subject"...some suggest, in
a bid to show he really does have a handle on things after the whole Katrina scandal...suddenly it's bird flu fever all over the place...well better late than never I suppose (i am out of control with the aphorisms, so sorry), but at this rate it will take 10 years to make enough Tamiflu for 20% of the world's people... and in exchange for Bush supporting Roche's monopoly on Tamiflu, Roche will set up a Tamiflu factory in the US, which
won't start up till 2007..which will be crap news to those that get the dastardly deadly flu this year...so are we supposed to be scared or are we supposed to think ain't nuthin happenin till 2007..or later..or ever...
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Movie recommendations:
"Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are just friendly? "
"Most of them died instantly, but a few had time to go quietly nuts".
"We can't track down an unknown killer in two days."
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Homework:
"The world’s giant drug companies pursue profit above all else. Dinyar Godrej inspects an industry that’s more than a little sick."
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Be safe, be healthy, be happy..bye now.
"Doubt is the begining not the end of wisdom"
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