No effective vaccine for humans until first cases found vs. Call to vaccinate a

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Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:38:51 -0700 (PDT)

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No effective vaccine for humans until first cases found vs.

And yet: Call to vaccinate a million UK children against bird flu

 

 

 

 

" No effective vaccine for humans until first cases found 14 Oct 2005

As the experts were quick to point out yesterday, now that avian flu

has arrived in Europe it is only a matter of time before bird flocks

in Britain contract the virus. " - Citizens For Legitimate Government

 

 

2nd article:

" And yet: Call to vaccinate a million UK children against bird flu 14

Oct 2005 Health chiefs say more than a million children in Britain

must be vaccinated against [with] flu as fears grow that a deadly

avian form of the disease will arrive here within weeks. "

 

 

 

 

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=161 & id=2086262005

 

No effective vaccine for humans until first cases found

 

PAUL GLAZER

 

AS THE experts were quick to point out yesterday, now that avian flu

has arrived in Europe it is only a matter of time before bird flocks

in Britain contract the virus.

 

But concern about the H5N1 virus, as it is known, has nothing to do

with the fact that it is sweeping through chicken and duck populations

around the world.

 

Rather, it is the fact that 64 out of 117 people in Asia have died

after being infected by the virus.

 

These victims had been directly exposed to diseased birds. Mercifully,

so far there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

 

Anticipating that this may only be a matter of time, the World Health

Organisation has nevertheless already warned that a pandemic on the

scale of the 1918-19 flu, which killed between 50 million and 100

million people, is now one of the most serious threats faced by mankind.

 

There are two ways to combat an outbreak: drugs and a vaccine. In

Britain, stockpiles of anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu are being

built up as part of the NHS's Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan. But

a row has broken out between researchers and the government over lack

of funding for developing a vaccine. Researchers claim they need money

to improve on a vaccine trialled in the United States by the French

pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, which confers immunity only in

high doses.

 

But given the fast-mutating nature of flu, ministers rightly insist

that only when a human outbreak begins can a precisely-targeted

vaccine be developed.

 

_____________________

 

 

" And yet: Call to vaccinate a million UK children against bird flu 14

Oct 2005 Health chiefs say more than a million children in Britain

must be vaccinated against [with] flu as fears grow that a deadly

avian form of the disease will arrive here within weeks. " - Citizens

For Legitimate Government

 

Call to vaccinate a million UK children against bird flu

 

IAN SWANSON

 

HEALTH chiefs say more than a million children in Britain must be

vaccinated against flu as fears grow that a deadly avian form of the

disease will arrive here within weeks.

 

Cases of avian flu, which have devastated bird flocks in south-east

Asia, have now been confirmed in Turkey and Romania.

 

A vaccine against avian flu is still about 12 months away, according

to experts.

 

But the Department of Health said it was essential normal winter flu

jabs were given to children with asthma or diabetes and to other

high-risk groups including the over-65s and people with chronic

illnesses. Around 1.1 million children in Britain suffer from asthma

and about 20,000 from diabetes.

 

Although the only human deaths from bird flu so far have been among

people who had direct contact with infected birds, scientists fear the

virus will mutate and could then spread from humans to humans.

 

There have been 117 confirmed cases of bird flu among humans in South

East Asia, leading to 60 deaths.

 

The " nightmare scenario " is that someone already suffering from

ordinary flu could also to become infected with bird flu and act as a

" mixing vessel " in which the virus could adapt and spread more quickly.

 

There has been speculation such a development could lead to a pandemic

and up to 50 million people worldwide could die.

 

Last month the Chief Medical Officer for England, Liam Donaldson, said

it was a " biological inevitability " that an expected flu pandemic

would seriously affect the health of people in this country.

 

He said contingency plans were looking at 50,000 deaths in the UK from

the pandemic.

 

Around 14 million doses of flu vaccine are available on the NHS for

older people and those with chronic conditions, but officials are

anxious to improve on last year's 71 per cent uptake among vulnerable

groups.

 

David Harper, chief scientist at the Department of Health, said if

avian flu did arrive in Britain officials would consider vaccinating

poultry and farm workers against flu.

 

Dr Debby Reynolds, the UK's chief veterinary officer, sought to calm

fears by insisting there had been no reports of a human influenza

outbreak in Turkey.

 

But she said: " It shows there is a risk to the UK and this is a

developing situation, which we are monitoring closely. "

 

Samples of the infected birds from the Asian part of Turkey were taken

to the Veterinary Laboratory Agency (VLA) in Weybridge on Wednesday

morning and tested positive for the H5N1 virus yesterday. They came

from a turkey farm in Balikesir, in north west Anatolia, where 1700

birds died as a result of the virus when it was first detected earlier

this month.

 

A further 7600 domestic birds were destroyed and five hectares of land

nearby were disinfected.

 

Tests on diseased birds in Romania proved positive.

 

Philip the European Commission's health spokesman, urged people

not to be " overly concerned " and said the authorities in Turkey and

Romania were working hard to stop the disease spreading. He said:

 

" So long as we can stamp out the disease rapidly we hope we can get on

top of this situation quite quickly. "

 

But he said precautions were necessary. " We need to ensure we have

good surveillance. We also need to reinforce our border controls

against any possible illegal imports of live birds and report to the

authorities if we find any abnormal bird deaths in the countryside. "