September 25, 2005
H5N1 what I have learned this week
The story that seemed to kind of hang under the radar this week is the
Bird Flu has reached Indonesia and bird culls are taking place there. I decided to see just what I could find out about H5N1 and flu vaccines and treatments in general. H5N1 is expected to follow the same path other flu does. Starting in chickens and ducks and migrating to swine and humans although direct jumps to humans are possible. I was able to find no one saying this is all a bunch of hooey. So while IÂ’m not panicked and donÂ’t think anyone else should there are a few issues that need attention here.
IÂ’ve collected a big pile of links and will post them below the break so you too can be informed and make your own judgements. Because when you rely on the government or the drug companies, Well you get the idea. Howie also has his commentary below.
The US leads in investment for H5N1 and other flu vaccine research. However the US trails badly in flu vaccine and anti-virus medication production. Shortages abounded last year. At work we were all given a date for our flu shots which the company gladly pays for but a couple days before it was cancelled due to shortage. Those shortages still exist and the US is depending on France and other European countries for our supplies of Vaccine and Tamiflu. In other words we suck.
At first I wanted to you now blame the government but there is also some blame for drug companies. See vaccine production is not a big money maker. Vaccine is expensive and time consuming to make and returns are not very good. My Gov. Rob let 1,000,000 doses expire waiting on FDA approval rather than send them to South Africa. So number one the US has a strategic interest here. Just as with steel or computer technology or oil we donÂ’t want to find ourselves begging for it when we need it. Not only are we begging for this stuff because the demand far outstrips supply, when another supplier sends us some the FDA drags itÂ’s feet on approving it. The system is broke in my opinion and leaves us with an unacceptable risk level. So while H5N1 may or may not be the virus that gets us itÂ’s a pretty fair bet that a new flu epidemic will occur in the next century. So I challenge the drug companies. You solve this and you will be remembered for a lot more than leading the world in making an old manÂ’s phallus stick up. See panic and stubbornness is not required and does no good. Preparation and innovation is what is called for here.
Some good links for those who are intersted.
FRENCH TRIAL
MORE FRENCH STUFF
WE BUY 1,000,000 DOSES LIKE THAT EVEN MAKES A DENT.
TAMIFLU
Vaccine from the Economist.
CDC link more good info.
Posted by: Howie at
11:46 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 502 words, total size 3 kb.
1
Perhaps the fact that the US doesn't have enough bird flu vaccine is proof of some evil Chimpy McHallibacon/Global Jooish Conspiracy™! Since poor people are barred from medical care by armed Nazi's keeping them from seeing doctors, and only the richest of the rich, and registered Republicans to boot, can afford health care, it's only natural that this is a plan to kill all the black/poor/gay/bi/transgenered people that the CIA weather control machine-created hurricanes failed to take care of. I wonder if the bird flu was created by Joooos to kill the aliens that Minister Farrakan of the Religion of Peace™ says are here to save people who give him money?
Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at September 25, 2005 08:38 PM (0yYS2)
2
Do you think it would help any to insulate the vaccine makers from class-action litigation, or provide some other safe harbor that would permit then not to have to factor in litigation costs to their manufacturing estimates?
Posted by: Bill Quick at September 26, 2005 02:29 AM (IjtGq)
3
I check this link everyday www.recombinomics.com/News/0924052/H5N1_Jakarta_Zoo_12.html and can only wonder why this isnt in the news like SARS was. Should H5N1 go to phase 6 it will be a nightmare.
Posted by: Cami at September 26, 2005 07:48 AM (oEKp+)
4
Yall will have to forgive me I'm not only a computer geek I'm a science geek too.
The more I look at this the more interesting it gets.
We have a kind of catch 22 going on here with current production techniques.
Produce all you need and if the flu season is mild you loose your ass and commit a type of capitalist suicide.
Dont produce enough and you have a big flu season you get a capitalist DOHH!!! I could really sell a ton of this stuff if I only had more.
So therefore the bottleneck is the current production technology. No one in in the west ever dreamed of producing smallpox virus at the scale the Russians achieved for their boi-warfare program. But after the iron curtain fell there it was.
So I being a big fat geek think it's not only possible but probable there is a better way. Once this is achieved where vaccine production cam be ramped up on demand it should be sustainable. New flu virus comes along all the time. So the basic demand will always be there. Then when a bad one comes along we could just make more quickly. Sort of an apple to oranges I know but you never know till you try.
No one is better at the just in time better faster cheaper that the good old USA this is a problem tailor made for us and maybe some Russian help.
If no I should say when flu virus production advances past the current methods it will be no sweat. Until then I feel we should at least maintain some domestic production using the current methods so as not to be at the mercy of foreign suppliers. If you want somthing done right many times you have to do it yourself.
I think private industry and gov research can and will solve this problem in a sustainable capitalist fashion in the next 20 years or so possibly faster. Cpaitalist may not get rich like with Viagra but there is a public braggin right here as well as a sustainable demand for a good product. Goevernments can and are doing what they can but the key is innovation and the demand, not more government support and shortages.
Posted by: Howie at September 26, 2005 08:26 AM (D3+20)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
Comments are disabled.
Post is locked.
21kb generated in CPU 0.038, elapsed 0.3274 seconds.
118 queries taking 0.2969 seconds, 238 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
