Bird flu is a scary and devastating disease. It has been decades since an influenza virus has had such misfortunate potential. With the virus sweeping through most of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, it is just a matter of time before it reaches every corner of the world. If the virus mutates, an even more deadly issue will be at hand. With such negative predictions, it is almost impossible not to imagine yourself or a love one at the hands of the disease. What would you do if this virus hit home?
The important thing to understand is the infection of bird flu is not necessarily a death sentence. Although a large number of deaths have occurred, almost half of those infected survived the disease. Therefore, with advanced medicine and proper care, a person may be able to live after bird flu.
What you do if someone you know is diagnosed will greatly depend on how well you know the person. Is it a friend? Acquaintance? Family member? Obviously, if it is a close friend or family member, you will want to be as supportive as possible. This will be a difficult time for them and any assistance you can provide will probably be greatly appreciated. On the other hand, if you are only dealing with an acquaintance, you may feel relieved and fortunate to have not suffered the same fate. While you may feel guilt at this thought, you can consider it a wake up call to bring the risk to your attention. You may also use this time to lend a helping hand, although you do not feel emotionally obligated to do so.
When someone you know becomes infected, you should also consider the source of the infection and the severity of the threat present. If a family member becomes ill while working on a family farm, you may ascertain infected agricultural animals are to blame and the threat must be alleviated. On the other hand, if no apparent cause is known, human to human contact may be a consideration. This is not only essential information for you to know, but also health professionals in your area. Currently human contact is not a transmission means; therefore, the onset of such would be of great concern.
The important thing to remember is to be there for your loved ones and feel blessed that you are available to help them as opposed to sharing their fate. You will, of course, want to be careful not to become infected during this time, if it can be avoided.
Swine Flu Bird Flu
Until now doctors have been using the Tamiflu vaccine for treating the cases of human bird flu. The vaccine proved its efficiency but now it seems that the virus is getting resistant to it. This was the conclusion of researchers of Oxford University after two Vietnamese patients died even though they received the Tamiflu vaccine.
Until now in South East Asia, 70 people died of the H5N1 virus infection. It seems that the victims got into close contact with infected birds and so they were contaminated. Until now there is no reason to believe there can begin a global pandemic. The only ones who worry a bit are the scientists who know that viruses mutate quickly and can gain the possibility of transmitting themselves from human to human.
It seems that those two cases suspected of resistance to Tamiflu died because a low dose of Tamiflu was given to them for unknown reasons.
Scientists were not surprised to hear that a possible virus resistance to Tamiflu has set, as they know that bacterium, viruses and any parasite can mutate and become resistant to any treatment.
In case resistance to treatment and spreading from one person to another are associated in the virus, a global pandemic can start. But scientists are sure that the virus can not achieve so easily the ability of jumping form one person to another.
As resistance to Tamiflu is possible, researchers recommend using the vaccine only in appropriate cases, in order to avoid virus resistance installment. As there is not available another effective vaccine against bird flu, doctors can not combine more vaccines to make a new one like in the case of HIV resistance.
Researchers try to find out as many information as they can about the virus in order to be prepared for the moment when the virus will strike again.
Studies made on Tamiflu in Vietnam did not concluded yet whether Tamiflu is effective if administered up to five days after infection. Until now scientists knew that the vaccine was effective if it was administered within 48 hours after infection was made. Another thing the study concluded was that the higher levels of virus in the human organism, the worse were the symptoms in that patient.
The governments are supporting the researchers and they consider that a stockpile should be made of Tamiflu in order to be prepared for a possible pandemic. They also disagree with the fact that the population wants to make a private stockpile of the vaccine as this could only lead to a misusage of the vaccine, leading to a virus resistance for the vaccine.
Both Sarah K. Jenkins & Groshan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Sarah K. Jenkins has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cruises, Mental Health and Fitness. Sarah is an acclaimed writer on medical matters, and has written extensively on the subjects of Attention Deficit Disorder, Bird Flu and Crohn's Disease. For more of her articles, go to http://www.imedicalvillage.com now.. Sarah K. Jenkins's top article generates over 60500 views. Bookmark Sarah K. Jenkins to your Favourites.
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