Avian Flu Hype
Avian Flu Hype
When I turn on the TV and watch the news the one segment that makes me turn the channel is anything regarding the avian flu pandemic. I get so depressed that I turn to something that will make me happy. Am I hiding from it? Yes! But do I care about it? Of course! If you are like me and have the weight of the world on your shoulders then this might help relieve some of your woes. Even though President Bush has called for plans to combat this outbreak ‘when’ it happens some other experts aren’t as worried as the President is. Why? Well, here are their reasons.
This flu they say is similar to the 1918 Spanish flu that kill more than 20 million people in that time period. They say that this will be just as devastating as before. But others are not as worried because of some simple facts. One is that the avian flu (which is a bird flu) has not crossed over to humans yet. The only connection that they have is that a person who worked around the birds with the flu developed antibodies from it. Also medicine has come a very long ways since then. Back in 1918 people were mostly dieing from secondary infections like pneumonia. Today we have knowledge of these things and know how to combat basic bacterial infections. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO) this is only a Phase 3 pandemic alert. Phase 3 is defined as: A virus new to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one person to another. Also as Americans we don’t have direct interaction with Asian birds so for us to get it here in the states it would require the foul or a human carrier to be here. Our government I would hope knows this and would do something to stop it from reaching us. And lastly, a computer simulated study showed that by simply stockpiling doses of the antiviral medication Tamiflu and maintaining local vigilance, the flu would be contained in the event of an outbreak. This gives us hope.
All in all I commend the President for what he is doing even if in the end it might seem like overkill. I’d rather be safe than sorry. But also I must remember that in the end, its Christ’s will that will decide our fate. What we must do is pray for God’s protection and that his will be done.
When I turn on the TV and watch the news the one segment that makes me turn the channel is anything regarding the avian flu pandemic. I get so depressed that I turn to something that will make me happy. Am I hiding from it? Yes! But do I care about it? Of course! If you are like me and have the weight of the world on your shoulders then this might help relieve some of your woes. Even though President Bush has called for plans to combat this outbreak ‘when’ it happens some other experts aren’t as worried as the President is. Why? Well, here are their reasons.
This flu they say is similar to the 1918 Spanish flu that kill more than 20 million people in that time period. They say that this will be just as devastating as before. But others are not as worried because of some simple facts. One is that the avian flu (which is a bird flu) has not crossed over to humans yet. The only connection that they have is that a person who worked around the birds with the flu developed antibodies from it. Also medicine has come a very long ways since then. Back in 1918 people were mostly dieing from secondary infections like pneumonia. Today we have knowledge of these things and know how to combat basic bacterial infections. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO) this is only a Phase 3 pandemic alert. Phase 3 is defined as: A virus new to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one person to another. Also as Americans we don’t have direct interaction with Asian birds so for us to get it here in the states it would require the foul or a human carrier to be here. Our government I would hope knows this and would do something to stop it from reaching us. And lastly, a computer simulated study showed that by simply stockpiling doses of the antiviral medication Tamiflu and maintaining local vigilance, the flu would be contained in the event of an outbreak. This gives us hope.
All in all I commend the President for what he is doing even if in the end it might seem like overkill. I’d rather be safe than sorry. But also I must remember that in the end, its Christ’s will that will decide our fate. What we must do is pray for God’s protection and that his will be done.
posted by Dan at
10:48 AM
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