Bird Flu Treatment
Over the last decade, bird flu has become a major medical concern, on a global scale, although its effects haven't yet been extremely destructive towards the human population. The risk of a pandemic outburst (one that is estimated to have a death toll of several million lives) is still out there, for which reason international health institutions and governments have been urged to find a treatment for the bird flu as quickly as possible. Some important advances have been made in this regard, however there are still a lot of unanswered questions and problems that are quite worrying.
The main reason of concern is the fact that the bird flu virus is constantly and quickly mutating into improved versions of itself, making it almost impossible to create an effective vaccine. The same scenario applies to bird flu treatment, as with the prevention vaccine: several drugs that were effective in treating the first versions of the virus are now completely ineffective. These are not worth going into detail, but we'll focus on the drugs that DO work and have proved to be effective with nearly all bird flu viruses, especially the most powerful one: H5N1.
Oseltamivir (branded as Tamiflu) and zanamivir (branded as Relenza) are two such drugs that offer a good chance of surviving the bird flu, if administered early on, within the first 2 days of the disease. Even after this relative deadline, chances are that the drugs will increase your chance of surviving the flu, but if the virus already entered its more advanced stages (such as triggering the acute respiratory syndrome and pneumonia) they might simply not be enough to get past the disease.
A problem with these drugs is that they are quite hard to mass produce, so in case of a bird flu pandemic, it's estimated that it will take approximately 10 years to cover 20% of the global population with them, by which time the disease would have disastrous effects. That's why zanamivir and oseltamivir are only considered temporary solutions to the bird flu problem until a more efficient way of dealing with the disease is found.
It should also be noted that the bird flu pneumonias are different than the usual ones, which can be treated with antibiotics. H5N1 pneumonias are highly resistant to antibiotics, but a continued treatment with such drugs is still recommended during the disease. The reason for this is that the pneumonias often trigger other infections to the lungs, which CAN be treated with antibiotics. But these infections are secondary and treatment should obviously focus on curing the main effects of the H5N1 virus.
To conclude, it's very important to understand that the flu's treatment depends heavily on the evolution of the different viruses contained by it. Even the above-mentioned drugs, that are effective with today's virus versions might prove ineffective in the future, as the viruses develop new resistances. Since the situation is relatively stable at the moment, in what regards the outburst of a bird flu pandemic, scientists will try to find a way to prevent the disease and stop it from spreading rather than getting ready to treat it in the case of a global epidemic.
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Bird Flu FAQ
Flu pandemics have a relatively predictable rate of occurring, statistics showing that they appear around 3 times per century. Their intensity depends on the power of the virus, as well as the speed with which humanity combats it. The last such pandemic, the bird flu (also known as avian influenza) has not yet fully developed, greatly due to the fact that hasty measures have been taken in order to lower its effects. The more informed we are, the higher the chance of stopping the bird flu before it expands to an uncontrollable rate. For this matter, we have compiled a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the bird flu, hopefully doing our small part in informing you about it.
Bird Flu Overview
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 5-6 years, the words "bird flu" will strike you as familiar. Ever since the first dangerous cases of bird flu appeared in Southern Asia, the subject has been intensely covered and different speculations and theories have been made as to how dangerous the disease could be for humans, what needs to be done to stop it and how to treat it once contracted by a human being. The following article will present the bird flu from this point of view, trying to be as objective as possible, demystifying it where it's the case.
Bird Flu Symptoms
A lot of people wonder why such a big deal has been made about the bird flu, even though it's still a disease that's incomparable in damage to others such as AIDS or cancer. In 10 years, ever since the first cases of bird flu were discovered, only approximately 100 cases were diagnosed on humans, from which a high number were treated with success. Fortunately for us, we discovered the disease in time and started taking the required decisions to stop it from spreading for now, but with the constant (and fast) mutation of the bird flu virus into more adaptable forms and with the first documented cases of human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus, we can never be sure when we're fully safe from a world scale pandemic. That's why we need to be prepared and know the disease's symptoms on humans, in order to treat it as quickly as possible.
Bird Flu And H5N1
Although the disease in itself has been known of for quite a while, bird flu has only recently come to our attention, with the remote, yet extremely dangerous, cases of "species swapping" that the disease showed in the last decade. Usually, a particular type of flu only affects the creature it adapts to, so the virus from a bird would have no affect on a different animal, but there's a small chance that the disease will jump and adapt to a new species, such as it has been the case in several occasions with bird flu jumping and adapting on a human being.
Precautions Against Contracting Bird Flu
We're all aware of the spreading Avian Influenza, or bird flu. Did you know there are some precautions you can take to avoid contracting it? There really isn't an immunization drug you can take to prevent bird flu. There were a few, but the virus developed a resistance to them. Take these precautionary measures to avoid the bird flu:
Six Reasons To Travel Despite The Threat Of Avian Bird Flu
Over the past few years, the media and governments have gone really overboard in covering the avian or "bird" flu. It seems not a month goes by where we don't hear about a tainted bird found in one country or another. If you are considering a vacation or a business trip, you may have concerns about the bird flu. Don't let those concerns ruin a trip or make them cancel a trip. Go ahead and take your trip and let these tips make you feel better about it:
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