It's been quite some time since I've been here. I've moved cities and changed jobs, so it's taken some time to get settled. Anyway, I'm hoping to be more active over the next little while.
This pesky influenza virus that people seem to be talking about all of the time has kept me busy as well. We're finally seeing some downswings over the past two weeks, both locally here in Toronto and across North America , and hopefully, after the expected second phase of H1N1 later on in the winter and more people obtain immunity, this pandemic will slowly die down. Unfortunately, our yearly visit from plain ol' seasonal influenza is still to come, and it will be very interesting to compare mortality rates from the two viruses, just as a marker of the effectiveness of our collective panic, especially since our treatment options for plain ol' influenza are very different than big bad pandemic influenza.
Since I'm tired of pandemic strain H1N1, I'll go back to our original fear-monger, H5N1. Remember him? He's the one that everybody was worried about for years, poking his head out in various parts of the Asian land-mass, killing a few people, then going back to spend his time with chickens and other birds. This paper (see ref below), explores that exact concept in a group of poultry farmers in Vietnam, the highest-risk group of all high-risk groups for infection. In 2005, at the height of H5N1 paranoia, Vietnamese public health officials sampled the blood of chickens and/or ducks in all the farms in an endemic region near Ho Chi Minh City. Any farm with any H5N1 had its fowl culled, and, after some time, the farmers were all tested for antibodies to H5n1. Easy enough.
They found, confirming findings from other parts of the world, that fowl-to-human transmission of H5N1 is very, very rare, in that only 3 of the 500 people tested had any evidence of immunity, and those only had very low-levels, which may represent cross-reactivity to another influenza virus. We know that humans aren't easily infected with this virus, in its current form, and it would take some fairly drastic antigenic shifting for us to be affected. Nothing new, or surprising, from this study, but just more evidence that the currently circulating H5N1 virus does not easily transmit to humans, even with significant and direct exposure to the virus.
So, wash your hands, get your flu shots, live your life, and don't let the media freak you out about pandemics any time soon.
Schultsz, C., Van Dung, N., Hai, L., Quang Ha, D., Peiris, J., Lim, W., Garcia, J., Dac Tho, N., Thi Hoang Lan, N., Huu Tho, H., Xuan Thao, P., van Doorn, H., Vinh Chau, N., Farrar, J., & de Jong, M. (2009). Prevalence of Antibodies against Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus among Cullers and Poultry Workers in Ho Chi Minh City, 2005 PLoS ONE, 4 (11) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007948
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ReplyDeleteIt took almost one year for my first real outbreak but it was the hardest thing in the world to get along with. I felt so unwanted and dirty. I tried many formulas, suggestions, methods to get rid of it permanently. Booked appointment with many doctors, professionals, even religiously until I started getting away spiritually and still it won't go. The worst is my outbreaks occurs within short period and take as long as even weeks to go away. I was at last placed on antiviral treatment which is a good treatment but for how long? I prayed every four times a day for God to cure me miraculously or direct me to cure because I know there is. During outbreaks I thought it's the end of the world but it's not, with time I will become normal again. I started trying fruits and herbs, take herbal produced, and with time became very interested in herbs. I read blogs, websites, and comments on herbs and built a stronger hope. I saw comments and decided to try Dr Utu African Traditional Herbal meds. I know of one mr Brown who was HIV and now brags he was cured of HIV with Dr Utu traditional meds but never give it a thought because I believed HIV already has a cure and never think it through or make a research. And for herpes my doctor told me that there is no known cure. When I saw testimonies of his Herpes cure on sites. I copied his contact drutuherbalcure@gmail.com. I showed it to brown who confirmed it was Dr Utu contact. I contacted him immediately and he also prepared and sent me herbal herpes meds through DHL. Right after getting this traditional meds I followed the prescription cautiously and withing days I started noticing rapid change and I know within me it's the cure. I used it for up to two weeks and when my test result was out not only did this herbal meds cure me but boost my immune and I feel real and free. Dr Utu African Traditional meds have successfully cured Herpes, Warts, HIV, Cancers, Kidney Stone, Asthma, most importantly this traditional meds boost immune and have no after effect.