Re: Flu scare tactics: Here we go already...

[Guest guest]

OH MY GD!

This is like a bad sci-fi movie! It's almost surreal! I can't

beleive this is happening! Evil! Just pure evil!

[Guest guest]

I thought my mom was first in line....lol

in Oh

> They do it almost every year............. the whole " shortage "

thing, I guess it works.

> (my MIL is always FIRST in line to get hers)

> Chelly

> Re: Flu scare tactics: Here we go already...

>

>

> OH MY GD!

>

> This is like a bad sci-fi movie! It's almost surreal! I can't

> beleive this is happening! Evil! Just pure evil!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

And if there is not enough, then people will accept flu vaccines with

thimerosal right? Rather than go away empty handed.

Flu scare tactics: Here we go already...

> Ohhhh... this makes me sick! Especially on the heels of the delayed

shipments due to the tainted vaccines. This will encourage people to get

out there and get their shots before they're gone (and the... rats, they'll

have to drag out the Flumist again to use it up, right?) Nothing like

creating public hysteria to move the goods...

>

> Kay

> ***********************

>

> U.S. Prepares for Possible Flu Outbreak

>

> http://comcast.net/News/HEALTHWELLN...33c1057d97.html

>

>

>

> By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

>

> WASHINGTON - The United States may have to close schools, restrict travel

and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide

outbreak, according to federal plans for the next pandemic, obtained

Wednesday by The Associated Press.

>

> It will take months to brew a vaccine that works against the kind of

super-flu that causes a pandemic, although government preparations include

research to speed that production.

>

> The federal plans have been long-awaited by flu specialists, who say it's

only a matter of time before the next pandemic strikes and the nation is

woefully unprepared.

>

> There have been three flu pandemics in the last century, the worst in

1918, when more than half a million Americans and 20 million people

worldwide died.

>

> Concern is rising that the next pandemic could be triggered by the

recurring bird flu in Asia, if it mutates in a way that lets it spread

easily among people.

>

> " We're all holding our breath, " Dr. Gerberding, head of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview Wednesday.

>

> About 36,000 Americans die from regular flu every winter. Pandemics strike

when the easily mutable influenza virus shifts to a strain that people have

never experienced before.

>

> It's impossible to predict the next pandemic's toll, but a bad one could

kill up to 207,000 Americans, says the Pandemic Influenza Response and

Preparedness Plan.

>

> Millions of sick patients could swarm doctors' offices and hospitals, says

the plan, which stresses that states and hospitals must figure out now how

they would free up hospital beds and perform triage.

>

> There could also be an economic and social wallop from disruption of

transportation, commerce, even routine public safety, warns the plan, to be

released Thursday by the Health and Human Services Department.

>

> Among its suggested preparations to limit the spread of infection and care

for the ill, the plan stresses major federal research to create " seed

strains " of worrisome flu types as potential vaccine candidates. Such work

might shave a few months off the typical six to eight months it now takes to

brew a new flu vaccine, said Dr. Fauci, the National Institutes of

Health's infectious disease chief.

>

> The plan is a first draft, open for public comment through October. Some

big questions remain, including how to ration scarce vaccines and anti-flu

drugs during such a crisis. Doctors and public safety workers may be just as

important to treat early as frail patients, the HHS plan notes.

>

> " This is a very sensitive issue, " said Dr. Schaffner of Vanderbilt

University, who advises the federal government on flu vaccine issues.

" Should it be like the Titanic _ women and children first _ or should it be

police and firefighters first? You can see the dilemmas. "

>

> Other preparations are under way:

>

> _The CDC is increasing surveillance to better spot dangerous flu strains

as soon as they emerge anywhere in the world.

>

> _First on the list of potential pandemic vaccine candidates is the bird

flu, which has killed 27 people in Asia this year and prompted destruction

of 100 million poultry. Although this H5N1 flu has struck periodically for a

few years now, " we've never seen so many birds infected with this virus at

one point in time, " Gerberding said Wednesday.

>

> The NIH is funding production of a few thousand doses of experimental H5N1

vaccine; safety testing is set to begin in November.

>

> _Four drugs can treat the flu if given soon after symptoms begin, and

decrease chances of catching it. One, Tamiflu, is considered the top choice

for a pandemic, particularly as it seems effective against bird flu, but

supplies are limited. HHS has stockpiled enough to treat 1 million people,

with more on the way, said Dr. Bruce Gellin, the National Vaccine Program's

director.

>

> Depending on where a pandemic begins and how virulent it seems, the first

protections probably will include travel restrictions, schools closures,

restrictions on public gatherings and even quarantines to limit the spread

of infection, Gerberding said.

>

> " Good, old-fashioned isolation and quarantine have a special role to play

in any pandemic, " she said. " One of the things we have to do now, before

we're in the middle of this situation, is do our very best to make sure

people understand what would be the first steps, why they'd be necessary and

what they can do to minimize the disruption. "

>

>

[Guest guest]

What is the status of thimerosal containing vs. thimerosal free flu vaccines

for this season? Does anyone know? What percent of the flu vaccine will

contain thimerosal vs. not contain thimerosal?

Flu scare tactics: Here we go already...

> Ohhhh... this makes me sick! Especially on the heels of the delayed

shipments due to the tainted vaccines. This will encourage people to get

out there and get their shots before they're gone (and the... rats, they'll

have to drag out the Flumist again to use it up, right?) Nothing like

creating public hysteria to move the goods...

>

> Kay

> ***********************

>

> U.S. Prepares for Possible Flu Outbreak

>

> http://comcast.net/News/HEALTHWELLN...33c1057d97.html

>

>

>

> By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

>

> WASHINGTON - The United States may have to close schools, restrict travel

and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide

outbreak, according to federal plans for the next pandemic, obtained

Wednesday by The Associated Press.

>

> It will take months to brew a vaccine that works against the kind of

super-flu that causes a pandemic, although government preparations include

research to speed that production.

>

> The federal plans have been long-awaited by flu specialists, who say it's

only a matter of time before the next pandemic strikes and the nation is

woefully unprepared.

>

> There have been three flu pandemics in the last century, the worst in

1918, when more than half a million Americans and 20 million people

worldwide died.

>

> Concern is rising that the next pandemic could be triggered by the

recurring bird flu in Asia, if it mutates in a way that lets it spread

easily among people.

>

> " We're all holding our breath, " Dr. Gerberding, head of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview Wednesday.

>

> About 36,000 Americans die from regular flu every winter. Pandemics strike

when the easily mutable influenza virus shifts to a strain that people have

never experienced before.

>

> It's impossible to predict the next pandemic's toll, but a bad one could

kill up to 207,000 Americans, says the Pandemic Influenza Response and

Preparedness Plan.

>

> Millions of sick patients could swarm doctors' offices and hospitals, says

the plan, which stresses that states and hospitals must figure out now how

they would free up hospital beds and perform triage.

>

> There could also be an economic and social wallop from disruption of

transportation, commerce, even routine public safety, warns the plan, to be

released Thursday by the Health and Human Services Department.

>

> Among its suggested preparations to limit the spread of infection and care

for the ill, the plan stresses major federal research to create " seed

strains " of worrisome flu types as potential vaccine candidates. Such work

might shave a few months off the typical six to eight months it now takes to

brew a new flu vaccine, said Dr. Fauci, the National Institutes of

Health's infectious disease chief.

>

> The plan is a first draft, open for public comment through October. Some

big questions remain, including how to ration scarce vaccines and anti-flu

drugs during such a crisis. Doctors and public safety workers may be just as

important to treat early as frail patients, the HHS plan notes.

>

> " This is a very sensitive issue, " said Dr. Schaffner of Vanderbilt

University, who advises the federal government on flu vaccine issues.

" Should it be like the Titanic _ women and children first _ or should it be

police and firefighters first? You can see the dilemmas. "

>

> Other preparations are under way:

>

> _The CDC is increasing surveillance to better spot dangerous flu strains

as soon as they emerge anywhere in the world.

>

> _First on the list of potential pandemic vaccine candidates is the bird

flu, which has killed 27 people in Asia this year and prompted destruction

of 100 million poultry. Although this H5N1 flu has struck periodically for a

few years now, " we've never seen so many birds infected with this virus at

one point in time, " Gerberding said Wednesday.

>

> The NIH is funding production of a few thousand doses of experimental H5N1

vaccine; safety testing is set to begin in November.

>

> _Four drugs can treat the flu if given soon after symptoms begin, and

decrease chances of catching it. One, Tamiflu, is considered the top choice

for a pandemic, particularly as it seems effective against bird flu, but

supplies are limited. HHS has stockpiled enough to treat 1 million people,

with more on the way, said Dr. Bruce Gellin, the National Vaccine Program's

director.

>

> Depending on where a pandemic begins and how virulent it seems, the first

protections probably will include travel restrictions, schools closures,

restrictions on public gatherings and even quarantines to limit the spread

of infection, Gerberding said.

>

> " Good, old-fashioned isolation and quarantine have a special role to play

in any pandemic, " she said. " One of the things we have to do now, before

we're in the middle of this situation, is do our very best to make sure

people understand what would be the first steps, why they'd be necessary and

what they can do to minimize the disruption. "

>

>