MERGED: Swine flu (A H1N1 Virus)

[Dorothea]

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oh really? how did you know that?.. do you have a reliable source?...according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... within 4-5 days of illness

Hehehe, Tamiflu and Relenza were not born yesterday. LOL

In short, kanang mga tambala wala na gipakatawo kagahapon, wala pa nang swine flu, existing meds na na sila. You can look up all the standard literature for those two drugs.

sis vienzel, naa ba daw ko'y reliable source? ahehehe!

[fruit salad]

sakto. these two anti-viral drugs have been in existence since forever. good news is, they counteract the swine flu just like it does with any other common flu. and the better news is, the 90 confirmed cases of swine flu in the US are mild and that most patients recover within days of being diagnosed.

[peewee_toot]

^^good news na bro. but sad to say nga naa na juy namatay.

[manabu_kun]

aw anha na lng diay ta ask ani ni mam dorothea kay mura doktora ni dah.. kabalo gud bisan wla source2x wahehe

[Dorothea]

aw anha na lng diay ta ask ani ni mam dorothea kay mura doktora ni dah.. kabalo gud bisan wla source2x wahehe

Hehehe, dili ko doktora oist. Pero nalingaw lang ko sa imong pangutana about 'reliable source'. You might not know it, but it's funny.

I'm hoping we never have to face a scenario nga mura'g I Am Legend.

[manabu_kun]

awwws... unsa ba, bitaw mas makabalo jud basta magwork ka sa medical field, pero being a doctor doesn't mean that u know all the facts... a research was able to arrive at sumting based on gathered facts or data

[omad]

Now that the pandemic alert have been raised one more notch to no. 5, the burning question now is:

Is the Philippines ready for this?

Do we even have a pandemic preparedness plan?

If yes, are we capable of implementing it on a wide-scale basis? say 90 million large?

If not, what now?

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WHO notches up swine flu pandemic alert

Global outbreak considered imminent; vaccine efforts will be ramped up


WHO Director General Margaret Chan declared the phase 5 alert after consulting with flu experts from around the world. The decision could lead the global body to recommend additional measures to combat the outbreak, including for vaccine manufacturers to switch production from seasonal flu vaccines to a pandemic vaccine.

"All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans," Chan told reporters in Geneva. "It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic."

A phase 5 alert means there is sustained transmission among people in at least two countries. Once the virus shows effective transmission in two different regions of the world, a full pandemic outbreak — phase 6 — would be declared, meaning a global epidemic of a new and deadly disease.



"It is important to take this very seriously," Chan told a news conference watched around the globe on Wednesday. But for the average person, the term "pandemic" doesn't mean they're suddenly at greater risk.


Nearly a week after the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, was first identified in California and Texas, about 100 cases have now been confirmed in the U.S. across 11 states. The first U.S. death from the outbreak was a Mexico City toddler who traveled to Texas with family and died Monday night at a Houston hospital. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted the child would not be the last U.S. death from swine flu.


In addition to the 160 deaths, the virus is believed to have sickened 2,498 people across Mexico. But only 1,311 suspected swine flu patients remained hospitalized, and a closer look at daily admissions and deaths at Mexico’s public hospitals suggests the outbreak may have peaked during three grim days last week when thousands of people complained of flu symptoms.

Almost all cases outside of Mexico have had only light symptoms, and only a handful of cases have needed hospitalization. Officials warned more deaths could be expected as surveillance of the illness increases.

Pharmaceutical companies should ramp up manufacturing, Chan said. Two antiviral drugs — Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline and Tamiflu, made by Roche AG — have been shown to work against the H1N1 strain.


Flu viruses are notorious for rapid mutation and unpredictable behavior, she warned. But she also offered words of reassurance.


“The world is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history,” Chan said.


“For the first time in history we can track the pandemic in real time.”

[plum88]

almost global pandemic alert...tsk tsk

[semahj]

awtz mag gas mask nlang ta tanan.. fara sure..jeje

[Dorothea]

awwws... unsa ba, bitaw mas makabalo jud basta magwork ka sa medical field, pero being a doctor doesn't mean that u know all the facts... a research was able to arrive at sumting based on gathered facts or data

Hatagi daw ko sa link sa CDC beh nga nag ingon within 4-5 days. In order to know how these drugs work, you have to know at least how these viruses work. Kanang swine flu, or H1N1, is a new strain, that is now threatening to cause a global pandemic because of what we call an 'antigenic drift' (which is usually just minor mutation), but sometimes there occurs a major mutation/change in the 2 glycoproteins sa virus, 1) H = hemagglutinin, 2) N = neuraminidase. Mao nang gitawag nilang H1N1, kay totally new strain na siya. Never before seen, mao nang wala pa'y vaccine, wala pa'y built-up immunity. A major change occurs in H and N of the virus every 40 or so years, that's where we are today.

Now, kanang Tamiflu ug Relenza, they are called 'neuraminidase inhibitors'. To understand how they work, you need to know how the flu virus works, the incubation period, its mutation, onset of symptoms etc etc. The key word here is 'incubation', and that is related to the 24-48 hr window of effectivity of these drugs. Now, the reason why I thought that 'reliable source' quip from you was funny is because these drugs have been on the market for a while now. Mao ni gagamiton every flu season, standard na ni sila. If you want reliable, go straight to the source, google the websites of the manufacturers of these meds, I suspect you'll find some useful info there, and a lot of 'research data' as well.

Incidentally, ning saka ang stocks sa mga ga himo aning mga tambala. Pila ka million kaha ang stockpiles sa US, and if this becomes a global epidemic, aw selling like hotcakes gyud sila.

PS. I could be wrong. I am not a doctor after all. Share lang nako nimo this li'l tidbit.