Introduction To Site:
Most readers will have no personal recollection of the
Spanish flu, which killed about 50 million people during
World War I. We are accustomed to the annual seasonal
flu, which we may regard as more or less serious
depending upon our personal health, age, and other
factors. Many of us have even had our flu shots for this
year, which is considered a wise decision by many
healthcare professionals. This will help us resist this
year’s round of typical seasonal flu.
But
experts are concerned about the possibility that
another, more deadly, flu may emerge. Serious efforts
are underway in Asia to contain the spread of H5N1, or
avian flu. This has infected and killed tens of people
to date. This relatively low number of deaths belies its
potential danger, however. Experts recognize that this
particular flu strain could find a way to mutate so it
would be able to spread easily from person to person. If
this occurs, the danger lies in these factors:
Humans have no immunity to this bird flu.
H5N1 is particularly deadly, killing over half of
infected persons – even healthy individuals -- in a
short time.
Historically, identification of a newly mutated viral
strain takes months. If H5N1 becomes a pandemic flu, an
effective vaccine would likely not be available before
pandemic flu reaches epic proportions.
Experts generally agree that current efforts by vaccine
manufacturers to shore up vaccine production fall
seriously short of the demands that a pandemic would
cause.
