The Sky Is Falling!

submitted by rachael

Oct 6 2005 — 2:00am

According to this article, someone you know is going to die if the dire prediction for the bird flu epidemic comes true. Is this a “Here we go again?” Should we get out the duct tape and plastic we have on hand in case of a bio-hazard. Which begs the question, what if the dire predictions of an earth-shattering nuclear explosion come true? What should we really be fearful of, and what should we do about it?

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4 Reader Comments

taylor Oct 6 2005
12:26 pm

I just got over the bird flu. I caught it from some lady I work with. It really made me sick and I had to sleep a lot. But then I got better. Now I’m fine.

doug Oct 6 2005
2:34 pm

Isn’t it amazing that millions die of malaria each year, a disease that is completely preventable and no one says a thing because the people live in Africa. But 60 people die of a flu over a 3 year period and everyone is freaking out. Let’s maybe address actual threats. It would only kill the old, weak and children anyhow. I can’t think if a better way to save Social Security.

Not2Sure Oct 6 2005
4:40 pm

There are no common vaccines for H5N1. There are some experimental vaccines and in the US there are about 2 million doses. So about 1% of the population could be immunized if it even worked. And we all know what 1% of the population that would be.

Amantadine and rimantadine are not efficacious against H5N1. That leaves only a couple other antivirals like seltamavir and zanamavir as possible treament options.

Therefore it has the possibiltiy of being a pandemic. Malaria does not have the same thread model.

jeanfid Oct 6 2005
5:24 pm

I’ve been reading about the possibility of this becoming a pandemic since the beginning of the year, and it has spread rather than been isolated since then. It gets stronger or rather more easily transmitted between people as it changes. And isn’t it how this is transmitted that makes the virus so dangerous? So far most people have been infected from contact with infected birds, or with their leavings (yuck), but there was a family in Vietnam that appears to have transmitted it from person to person. Once this starts, it’s only a matter of time before it’s spread rapidly.

I dunno if the sky is falling yet, but Rachael please cancel that South China sea cruise, and don’t pet any Vietnamese chickens for the next few months, ok?