This post is just to clear up some ideas I have heard people voice about flu, vaccines against flu and anti-viral medication.
Flu, (influenza) is a viral infection. The only way a virus will be killed is when the immune system develops antibodies to neutralize the virus. This means that it is pointless to take antibiotics, since they only kill bacteria, not viruses. Bacteria tend not to invade cells, they live in between the cells. Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and are able to cross into the cell and take over the reproduction of the cell. In order to kill a virus, either the immune system has to develop antibodies to that virus or you need a drug that halts the reproduction of the virus (which means it has to be able to get inside the cell to deal with the virus). Each virus has a different 'template' which means that only an antibody that contains the 'reverse' of that template can neutralize the virus.
People believe that antibiotics will kill flu virus - they will not. Viruses are not killed by antibiotics. There is a case for giving antibiotics to flu sufferers who are also at risk of a 'secondary' (opportunist) bacterial infection. These are generally people whose immune system is not working properly (HIV/Aids) or people without spleens, people with diabetes, asthma, COPD or other chronic diseases. Apart from these people, antibiotics play no role in the prevention or treatment of flu.
People believe that flu vaccines will stop them getting flu. This is not true. The WHO meet every year to decide which four viruses are most likely to be present in the flu season that particular winter. Some years they get it spectacularly wrong and none of the four types of viruses they thought might cause flu that year are actually present. Meaning that drug companies have produced a vaccine on the basis of an erroneous forecast and people will contract flu despite having had their flu shots that year. In fact there may be some evidence (though not thoroughly tested) that flu vaccines actually impair the ability of the body to deal with flu and can cause the onset of some auto-immune diseases. Flu vaccines can be accidentally contaminated with other substances (see my previous post re Baxter's) and my personal opinion is that I will never ever have another flu vaccine again, nor would I advise anyone I love or any of my patients to ever have a flu vaccine either.
Anti-viral medication. Apparently there are some drugs available that are able to help when you have contracted flu. Please note, these drugs are not preventive measures, they are to be taken at the onset of flu type symptoms. Since flu type symptoms in their early stages resemble the onset of a common cold (though tend to be faster in onset than a normal cold) I am not sure when I would advise anyone to start taking 'anti-viral flu medication'. These drugs are supposed to stop the virus from reproducing, but they will not prevent you from catching the virus in the first place, and they are therefore not a preventative measure.
The best way to prevent flu is to not be in contact with a person who has been infected. Since the incubation period (the time between being infected with a virus and the onset of symptoms) can be as long as 10 days, this is almost impossible to achieve. The most common way a flu virus spreads is by 'droplet' infection. The person affected sneezes and the virus is sneezed into the air. Unfortunately because of the way we have been brought up, we normally bring our hand to our nose when we sneeze, which means that the MOST common way to contract the virus is by hand to hand or hand to object contact. An infected person sneezes (and the virus ends up on their hands). Any contact with an object handled by that person, or contact with the hand of that person, can result in the person who has that contact, also picking up the virus.
The best way to prevent flu is :-
1. Avoid people with symptoms of colds and flu type symptoms
2. If you have to have contact with them, make sure you scrupulously wash your hands every time you have touched an object touched by the affected person.
3. Make sure they do not sneeze over you or any other objects which you then touch.
4. Keep your hands away from your face.
5. Masks used to cover mouth/nose only last about 15 mins. Once they are 'wet' by breath/saliva touching them, they are useless.
At the moment we do not know exactly how long the virus will survive on 'objects' since this varies with factors such as the fabric of the object and the ambient temperature.
A proper vaccine against the current outbreak of 'swine fever' will take at least three months to develop, and the production of any significant number of these vaccines will take longer.
I hope this post clears up some misconceptions people have about the nature of viruses, flu, bacteria and what we can do about them, and if it even prevents one person from contracting the flu, it will have done its job.
Thursday 30 April 2009
Sunday 26 April 2009
Viral Synchronicity?
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which are causally unrelated occurring together in a supposedly meaningful manner. In order to count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.
December -29-2008
Scientists state that they have isolated the genes that made the 1918 flu lethal.
The flu pandemic of 1918 - 1919 caused between 20-100 million deaths and infected one billion people, approximately half of the population of the world at that time.
It was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly Influenza A Virus strain of subtype H1N1. This was thought to have caused an overreaction of the body's immune system which explains its unusually severe nature and the concentrated age profile of its victims. The strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults meant that in these age groups there were far fewer deaths.
Scientists working on tissue samples of those who died during the 1918 pandemic and found that :
"For the most part, substituting single genes from the 1918 virus onto the template of a much more benign contemporary virus yielded agents that could only replicate in the upper respiratory tract. One exception, however, included a complex of three genes that, acting in concert with another key gene, allowed the virus to efficiently colonize lung cells and make RNA polymerase, a protein necessary for the virus to reproduce."
They went on to state:
"The 1918 virus replicates in the upper respiratory tract, but also in the lungs, causing primary pneumonia among its victims."
A full ninety years later there is an outbreak of another deadly Type A, subtype N1H1 virus that causes pneumonia without necessarily affecting the upper respiratory tract and that seems to mainly affect people with strong immune systems, and that only four months after we learnt how the original virus did this.
"This is an interesting virus. It's a brand new virus, not only to humans but to the world," said Dr Frank Plummer, scientific director of the Winnipeg lab, where samples from the current outbreak are being analyzed. He went on to state that it appears to have four different elements that have never been combined before and states "It's recombined [re-assorted ?] to create something totally new. How it did that, where it did it, when it did it, I don't think we know yet.
Luckily CDC officials have said the swine flu A/H1N1 virus is susceptible to the newer antivirals oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), but not the older ones, amantadine and rimantadine. Shame that, because the older ones are off patent and not nearly as expensive as the newer ones.
What is really worrying is that there have been escaped viruses or accidentally contaminated vaccines in the not too distant past.
Escaped virus - Some scientists say the 1977 Russian flu, the most recent global outbreak, began when a virus escaped from a laboratory.
Contaminated materials - Feb. 2009, Baxter International Inc. in Austria unintentionally contaminated materials with the bird flu virus, which were then used in laboratories in three neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease.
The incident was reported to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman said "This was infected with a bird flu virus. There were some people from the company who handled it"
The material was intended for use in laboratories, and none of the lab workers have fallen ill. The incident is raising concern over the safety of research using the H5N1 bird flu strain which haskilled more than three-fifths of the people known to have caught the virus worldwide.
The virus material was supposed to contain a seasonal flu virus and was contaminated after “human error,” said Christopher Bona, a spokesman for Baxter, in a telephone interview.
Baxter “moved very quickly to sanitize and protect employees,” Bona said. “Labs have been sanitized, potentially contaminated materials have been destroyed and employees were tested and considered not to be at risk.”
Baxter, the world’s largest maker of blood-disease treatments, is one of the companies working on a vaccine to be used in case of a flu pandemic so that should all reassure us when it comes to time to be vaccinated.
December -29-2008
Scientists state that they have isolated the genes that made the 1918 flu lethal.
The flu pandemic of 1918 - 1919 caused between 20-100 million deaths and infected one billion people, approximately half of the population of the world at that time.
It was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly Influenza A Virus strain of subtype H1N1. This was thought to have caused an overreaction of the body's immune system which explains its unusually severe nature and the concentrated age profile of its victims. The strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults meant that in these age groups there were far fewer deaths.
Scientists working on tissue samples of those who died during the 1918 pandemic and found that :
"For the most part, substituting single genes from the 1918 virus onto the template of a much more benign contemporary virus yielded agents that could only replicate in the upper respiratory tract. One exception, however, included a complex of three genes that, acting in concert with another key gene, allowed the virus to efficiently colonize lung cells and make RNA polymerase, a protein necessary for the virus to reproduce."
They went on to state:
"The 1918 virus replicates in the upper respiratory tract, but also in the lungs, causing primary pneumonia among its victims."
A full ninety years later there is an outbreak of another deadly Type A, subtype N1H1 virus that causes pneumonia without necessarily affecting the upper respiratory tract and that seems to mainly affect people with strong immune systems, and that only four months after we learnt how the original virus did this.
"This is an interesting virus. It's a brand new virus, not only to humans but to the world," said Dr Frank Plummer, scientific director of the Winnipeg lab, where samples from the current outbreak are being analyzed. He went on to state that it appears to have four different elements that have never been combined before and states "It's recombined [re-assorted ?] to create something totally new. How it did that, where it did it, when it did it, I don't think we know yet.
Luckily CDC officials have said the swine flu A/H1N1 virus is susceptible to the newer antivirals oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), but not the older ones, amantadine and rimantadine. Shame that, because the older ones are off patent and not nearly as expensive as the newer ones.
What is really worrying is that there have been escaped viruses or accidentally contaminated vaccines in the not too distant past.
Escaped virus - Some scientists say the 1977 Russian flu, the most recent global outbreak, began when a virus escaped from a laboratory.
Contaminated materials - Feb. 2009, Baxter International Inc. in Austria unintentionally contaminated materials with the bird flu virus, which were then used in laboratories in three neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease.
The incident was reported to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman said "This was infected with a bird flu virus. There were some people from the company who handled it"
The material was intended for use in laboratories, and none of the lab workers have fallen ill. The incident is raising concern over the safety of research using the H5N1 bird flu strain which haskilled more than three-fifths of the people known to have caught the virus worldwide.
The virus material was supposed to contain a seasonal flu virus and was contaminated after “human error,” said Christopher Bona, a spokesman for Baxter, in a telephone interview.
Baxter “moved very quickly to sanitize and protect employees,” Bona said. “Labs have been sanitized, potentially contaminated materials have been destroyed and employees were tested and considered not to be at risk.”
Baxter, the world’s largest maker of blood-disease treatments, is one of the companies working on a vaccine to be used in case of a flu pandemic so that should all reassure us when it comes to time to be vaccinated.
Saturday 25 April 2009
WHO Fears Pandemic Of Swine Fever
The World Health Organization is on High Alert, following an outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico and two soutern States of the United States of America. It is feared the disease may reach pandemic proportions.
For a disease to qualify as being of 'pandemic proportions' three conditions have to be met. The disease must be new to a population, the disease must be able to infect humans and cause serious disease and the agent must be able to spread easily and sustainably amongst humans. Furthermore, the disease must be widespread, affecting a whole continent or several continents.
Originally swine flu only affected pigs, and though it was economically disastrous for those involved in the rearing and breeding of pigs, essentially when the herd could be isolated and slaughtered and the infection was under control there were no repercusions for the world at large. People did die from the disease, but needed to have direct contact with a diseased pig.
Swine fever as such is nothing new, and there have been repeated outbreaks of it worldwide over the last two centuries. What makes this particular outbreak worrying are two new features of the disease.
The first feature is that it appears to be healthy young adults who are the main victims of this disease, whereas most flu epidemics cause more deaths amongst the very old and the very young. The second, and very worrying trait is that the eight people who have so far been diagnosed as having this strain in the US, have had no contact with pigs at all - i.e. the transmission can have only been from person to person, thereby fulfilling the third condition that must be met for a disease to be of potentially pandemic proportions.
The main problem facing the WHO and the world at large is that as people now travel easily, the virus will be able to spread rapidly to other parts of the world. Mexico is a very popular tourist destination and in the Netherlands they are already asking for all returning travellers from Mexico to report themselves and attend for medical checks.
Authorities in the capital Mexico City have responded with a sweeping shutdown of public places and events, urging people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks. Football fixtures have also been affected, matches will be played without spectators to limit the risk of transmission of the virus.
Not all pandemics are lethal, and it is far from clear whether the current swine flu infecting people could be the beginnings of a global outbreak. However, the World Health Organization is worried enough that it has alerted an expert panel that can recommend whether to raise the alert level for a global pandemic.
Apparently we are 'overdue' for a flu pandemic and several times warnings have been sounded that there is about to be a new pandemic. No-one at this stage knows whether this will indeed become a pandemic, but if it does, there is a grave problem with the preparation of the US for dealing with the situation.
Much of North America's pandemic planning is premised on the assumption a killer virus would emerge in Asia, where all previous pandemic flu viruses have surfaced, and wouldn't arrive there for at least three months. That would allow time to begin preparing a vaccine and detailed plans to inoculate doctors, nurses, police officers, air-traffic controllers, other essential personnel and high-risk groups.
But if Mexico proves to be ground-zero, that hoped-for head-start could be lost.
It is an ill wind that blows no good however, and shares in leading Pharmaceutical Companies have soared as a consequence of the news.
Friday 17 April 2009
1,500 Indian Farmers Commit Mass Suicide
Thus the headline in the UK newspaper The Independent. The farmers commited suicide because they were deeply in debt owing to crop failure. Apparently the water level in the state of Chattisgarh has dropped from 40 feet a few years ago, to 250 feet in some locations. Allegedly this has been caused by bad planning decisions relating to dams.
Bharatendu Prakash,from the Organic Farming Association of India told the Press Association: "Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
I originally read this with shock and horror but got to thinking about that later. The big question here is 'Why are these farmers so deeply in debt?' Even when crops fail there is usually seed for next year and though times are hard, how would farmers run up such 'huge' debts £400.00 (to me that does not seem much, but I do not live in India and is probably more than an entire one year salary in India)
I did some further reading and it appears that the farmers committing suicide had been promised record harvests if they used genetically modified seeds of cotton, that had a built in pesticide. The farmers have borrowed money to buy seeds from Monsanto, so that they too could have 'record crops'.
The UK Daily Mail reports about a farmer called Shankara.
Shankara, like millions of other Indian farmers, had been promised previously unheard of harvests and income if he switched from farming with traditional seeds to planting GM seeds instead.
Beguiled by the promise of future riches, he borrowed money in order to buy the GM seeds. (these seeds can cost as much as £1,000 for a one year supply) but when the harvests failed, he was left with spiraling debts -- and no income.
So Shankara became one of an estimated 125,000 farmers to take his own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops.
A farmer can usually survive one bad crop, because he can save seeds from the year before or maybe swap seeds with his neighbours, to plant for the next year, when hopefully the water situation improves or a well will have been drilled. However, those farmers that planted GM seeds have now found out that the 'intellectual property' of the seeds remains with Monsanto, and they have to pay for another year's licence in order to sew the seeds again the following year. And this has started a spiral of debt for each subsequent year.
So an 1,500 estimated (probably more) Indian farmers have committed suicide in the great genetically modified experiment that is now taking place in India. I dare say the Monsanto crowds are sleeping comfortably in their beds tonight.
Bharatendu Prakash,from the Organic Farming Association of India told the Press Association: "Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
I originally read this with shock and horror but got to thinking about that later. The big question here is 'Why are these farmers so deeply in debt?' Even when crops fail there is usually seed for next year and though times are hard, how would farmers run up such 'huge' debts £400.00 (to me that does not seem much, but I do not live in India and is probably more than an entire one year salary in India)
I did some further reading and it appears that the farmers committing suicide had been promised record harvests if they used genetically modified seeds of cotton, that had a built in pesticide. The farmers have borrowed money to buy seeds from Monsanto, so that they too could have 'record crops'.
The UK Daily Mail reports about a farmer called Shankara.
Shankara, like millions of other Indian farmers, had been promised previously unheard of harvests and income if he switched from farming with traditional seeds to planting GM seeds instead.
Beguiled by the promise of future riches, he borrowed money in order to buy the GM seeds. (these seeds can cost as much as £1,000 for a one year supply) but when the harvests failed, he was left with spiraling debts -- and no income.
So Shankara became one of an estimated 125,000 farmers to take his own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops.
A farmer can usually survive one bad crop, because he can save seeds from the year before or maybe swap seeds with his neighbours, to plant for the next year, when hopefully the water situation improves or a well will have been drilled. However, those farmers that planted GM seeds have now found out that the 'intellectual property' of the seeds remains with Monsanto, and they have to pay for another year's licence in order to sew the seeds again the following year. And this has started a spiral of debt for each subsequent year.
So an 1,500 estimated (probably more) Indian farmers have committed suicide in the great genetically modified experiment that is now taking place in India. I dare say the Monsanto crowds are sleeping comfortably in their beds tonight.
Monday 13 April 2009
Bye Bye Health Food Shops
We who controls food, controls mankind.
The Earth Summit Statistics meeting in 1992 revealed that farmland in the U.S. is over 85% micronutrient depleted - the situation with farmland in other continents was no better. This means that although that land can produce good-looking vegetables and fruits (aided by the use of large doses of pesticides) those vegetables/fruits contain no micronutients essential for human health. Small wonder then that vast numbers of people worldwide are taking vitamin and mineral supplements and herbal preparations.
This may soon come to an end. If by 31st December 2009 there has been no legal challenge to a little known UN Trade Commission known as the 'Codex Alimentarius' health food shops and pharmacies and other outlets will have to stop selling vitamins, minerals and any herbal preparations that claim to improve health. This is of course all done under the guise of consumer protection. In fact the 'top guy' for the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses, a Dr. Rolf Grossklaus has stated that 'nutrition is not relevant to health'. Dr. Grossklaus managed to get nutrients to be declared toxins in 1992.
The Vitamins and Mineral Guideline (VMG) is designed to permit only ultra-low doses of vitamins and minerals and to make clinically effective nutrients illegal. This will mean that those of us who buy vitamins and minerals at the moment will either have to buy multiple containers to reach the current doses we are taking, or the Health Food Shop we are buying our supplies from will go out of business. Guess who will still be producing the 'harmful' vitamins and minerals we are no longer allowed to buy without a prescription?
If you are concerned about your health, the health of your family and your children and grandchildren, I urge you to at least visit this website, and if you live in the USA, click the link that says Take Action - Sign the Citizens Petition. This is the last chance the USA has to get out of the supposedly 'binding' regulations made by Codex Alimentarius, for Europe and other parts of the world it seems it may already be too late.
The Earth Summit Statistics meeting in 1992 revealed that farmland in the U.S. is over 85% micronutrient depleted - the situation with farmland in other continents was no better. This means that although that land can produce good-looking vegetables and fruits (aided by the use of large doses of pesticides) those vegetables/fruits contain no micronutients essential for human health. Small wonder then that vast numbers of people worldwide are taking vitamin and mineral supplements and herbal preparations.
This may soon come to an end. If by 31st December 2009 there has been no legal challenge to a little known UN Trade Commission known as the 'Codex Alimentarius' health food shops and pharmacies and other outlets will have to stop selling vitamins, minerals and any herbal preparations that claim to improve health. This is of course all done under the guise of consumer protection. In fact the 'top guy' for the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses, a Dr. Rolf Grossklaus has stated that 'nutrition is not relevant to health'. Dr. Grossklaus managed to get nutrients to be declared toxins in 1992.
The Vitamins and Mineral Guideline (VMG) is designed to permit only ultra-low doses of vitamins and minerals and to make clinically effective nutrients illegal. This will mean that those of us who buy vitamins and minerals at the moment will either have to buy multiple containers to reach the current doses we are taking, or the Health Food Shop we are buying our supplies from will go out of business. Guess who will still be producing the 'harmful' vitamins and minerals we are no longer allowed to buy without a prescription?
If you are concerned about your health, the health of your family and your children and grandchildren, I urge you to at least visit this website, and if you live in the USA, click the link that says Take Action - Sign the Citizens Petition. This is the last chance the USA has to get out of the supposedly 'binding' regulations made by Codex Alimentarius, for Europe and other parts of the world it seems it may already be too late.
Saturday 11 April 2009
Do Not Carry Cash or Else...
I heard this little telephone tape on the internet, and thought it might be interesting.
A man was detained at an airport because he was carrying a lot of money. He had no weapons, no bomb making materials, no harmful substances, just a lot of money. He was questioned about where the money came from and what he was going to do with it. Luckily, he had one of those smart phones that with one press of a button starts recording, without anyone else knowing you have switched it on. You can see/hear the video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0SXuclz47Y
What really interested me is that the man is a supporter of the Republican Congressman Ron Paul, who has become persona non grata with the Republican Party for several reasons, such as requesting an audit of the Federal Reserve and a return of US policy to a policy of Isolation instead of policing the rest of the world. The man was carrying Ron Paul bumper stickers and leaflets for the Campaign for Liberty, but the police who questioned him did not actually know that. That was lucky for the detainee, as I believe the harassment would have been even worse if they had known.
Apparently some Police Departments have actually issued instructions to their staff that if a car sports a Ron Paul sticker it is likely that the owner of the car has 'terrorist leanings' -see more about that here. How scary that a man who was legitimately elected, and who is questioning some of the policies of his own government, can be so side-lined that his supporters may be harassed legitimately just for being his supporters.
It does not matter whether one agrees with Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty, any more than it matters if you agree with Barack Obama or not, surely the issue here is one of free speech, freedom of association and the right to carry any amount of money you like without the fear of being harassed. At the moment you have the right to carry a weapon, but not money?
A man was detained at an airport because he was carrying a lot of money. He had no weapons, no bomb making materials, no harmful substances, just a lot of money. He was questioned about where the money came from and what he was going to do with it. Luckily, he had one of those smart phones that with one press of a button starts recording, without anyone else knowing you have switched it on. You can see/hear the video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0SXuclz47Y
What really interested me is that the man is a supporter of the Republican Congressman Ron Paul, who has become persona non grata with the Republican Party for several reasons, such as requesting an audit of the Federal Reserve and a return of US policy to a policy of Isolation instead of policing the rest of the world. The man was carrying Ron Paul bumper stickers and leaflets for the Campaign for Liberty, but the police who questioned him did not actually know that. That was lucky for the detainee, as I believe the harassment would have been even worse if they had known.
Apparently some Police Departments have actually issued instructions to their staff that if a car sports a Ron Paul sticker it is likely that the owner of the car has 'terrorist leanings' -see more about that here. How scary that a man who was legitimately elected, and who is questioning some of the policies of his own government, can be so side-lined that his supporters may be harassed legitimately just for being his supporters.
It does not matter whether one agrees with Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty, any more than it matters if you agree with Barack Obama or not, surely the issue here is one of free speech, freedom of association and the right to carry any amount of money you like without the fear of being harassed. At the moment you have the right to carry a weapon, but not money?
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