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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Del" data-source="post: 2781208" data-attributes="member: 29314">QuoteThe problem with the H5N1 flu scare isn't that it isn't real, and that we shouldn't be worried about it.  The problem is with the current state of the media and, in part, politics in the world.  Since those subjects are generally taboo and lead to Bad Places, I'll refrain from going into that here.Indeed. The pit-trap of Off Topic Conversation. Say no more.The biggest problem with H5N1 though isn't the virus itself.  As a general rule, infections that are highly virulent also tend to be fragile, and vice versa.  After all, you want to spread before the patient dies, not afterward.  H5N1 is also, like most influenzas, spread by fluids, not by air.  So really, once a human has been infected, quarantine of the infected individual combined with good hygenic safety on the part of the healthcare workers should be more than enough to block the spread of the disease.  Also, while I'm sure mutation of the virus to an airborne one is a worry, in all realism it's not particularly likely to happen.Don't forget the marvel of 747 global air traffic. This is one of the Horsemen that could make an '06-07 pandemic worse then previous deadly flu outbreaks.The real problem is the lack of resources to contain and treat the virus.Yap. Tamiflu doesn't grow like weeds.First off, in a place as big as Asia, where there's lots of avian-human exposure, it's extremely tough to monitor everything.  Not to mention rural farmers are scared that the governments will come and kill all their poultry, leaving them with nothing.  Even when it's been reported, the damage may be done.  And that has been seen in Vietnam, where multiple family members may contract the disease.  My understanding is that this is because of a common point of bird-human exposure rather than human-human contact, but that doesn't mean the latter is less important.One case before I think so far of human to human. However this case was extreme close contact between a mother and her sick daughter. But ya, this thing hasn't mutated yet.Secondly, there's a serious lack of antibiotics to treat the virus.  You may have heard of Tamiflu, also called Oseltamivir, which is an anti-viral which targets a viral protein (neuraminidase).  The current stockpile is hardly up to snuff, and there's no guarantee that in a mass outbreak situation, a resistant strain won't appear.  Additionally, big phama doesn't want to make the stuff, since it doesn't make them money.  So they need to be incentivised, which can happen in the "more developed" countries but not in the smaller ones.I heard Roche is makin' deals with several other pharma heavy hitters to get production moving for us all.I actually plan to hit up my GP soon for a prescription of Tamiflu. I know a pharmacist who is connected. Gotta pay out of my own pocket but that's better then in the USA where I believe you can't get it privately.Which brings me to an interesting idea that I don't particularly understand.  At least here in the US, the government pays lots of money to phamaceutical companies like Roche to get them to make drugs like Tamiflu, vaccines, and the like.  Why don't they use that money to start up their own lab/factory to make them?  Besides the obvious advantage big phama has with regards to experience.The USA I believe, after Many Things We Shant Discuss, is strapped for cash. Not the worst idea though.</blockquote>

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