Posted on 01/21/2006 6:17:41 PM PST by blam
Experts sceptical as thousands rush to buy anti-bird flu kits
By Adam Lusher
(Filed: 22/01/2006)
Scientists describe them as "a total waste of time and money" but that does not appear to have dissuaded thousands of Britons from rushing to stockpile biohazard suits and surgical masks to protect against bird flu.
Suppliers claim that they have been inundated since the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus spread through Turkey.
An Anti-bird flu suit is modelled in Redditch
They are offering everything from 14p surgical masks to £493 "ultimate family packs", complete with hooded chemical and biological boiler suits, matching protective goggles and scores of high-powered face masks. It is even possible to purchase a £468 "powered suit", with hood, visor, and integral battery-powered filtered air pack.
But John Oxford, the professor of virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine in London, questioned the wisdom of some buyers.
He said: "There will be sensible precautions if this virus arrives, like hand washing and avoiding rush hour trains, but running out in a high-powered mask is a total waste of time and money. You would look a complete idiot. The idea should be to educate people, not alarm them."
However, Nick Powell, the managing director of UK Survive, which sells anti-bird flu kits, said: "People have decided it is better to have these products in their cupboard unnecessarily than to need them and not have them.
"Sales have been staggering," he said. "Our website has been overloaded twice, which has never happened, not even when we were selling anti-terrorism kits after July 7."
Fears of bird flu in Britain mounted last week as the number of infected humans in Turkey rose to 21. If the virus became capable of spreading easily from human to human, it could cause a pandemic, which the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has said could conceivably kill 750,000 in Britain.
Mr Powell said sales leapt within minutes of bird flu being mentioned on news bulletins. "I have watched the number visiting the website go from 30 to over 500 within 10 minutes of the News at 10."
One of the items in heaviest demand was a German-made child's mask pre-ordered by more than 2,000 parents.
Mr Powell said the four "single-use bio suits" in the "ultimate family pack" would offer eight hours protection, but added: "You would have to be careful about how you took them off and disposed of them. They should be incinerated."
The packs also contain 400 latex gloves, 200ml of alcohol-based hand cleaner as used in hospitals, and 200 "electrostatically charged" fabric masks, each offering 99 per cent protection against harmful droplets for a day.
Mr Powell said: "We have been selling to individuals from all walks of life. Corporations have been buying on average 3,000 masks for staff. We have been asked for quotes by universities, and doctors' surgeries have been buying masks in bulk. Anything we sell is what the World Health Organisation recommends for health workers coming into contact with the virus."
But Prof Hugh Pennington, the president of the Society for General Microbiology, questioned how useful the equipment would be for people in everyday life. "In certain circumstances, like a crowded train, there is a case for a mask, but I would be sceptical about how much good it would do," he said.
"People tried wearing masks in the 1918 flu outbreak. It might do some good, but there isn't the evidence to say more than that - an ordinary mask is probably as good as anything fancy. I don't think the practicalities match the benefits. Are you really going to wear your mask in the pub?"
Ping.
Send one to Tim Russert.
I need to get in on this scam so I can make my share of the $$$$$.
People will buy anything in a panic ... its great. Just look at the crap people buy at the supermarket when a huge snow storm is about to hit.
I think I'll contact the Dry cleaning plastic bag company and order a few hundred thousand and call them "Anti-Bird flu suits". They'll sell like Hot Cakes ... Oh boy we'er in the money now!
Mass hysteria is an ugly thing.
Yup. Anti-radiation suits as the incident with the Iranians becomes more tense.
I could probably put together a real good (covers everything) doomsday 'package' but, most couldn't afford it
Oops. Forgot murder.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.