[EternalHope]

Therefore, both pandemic vaccine and H5N1 anti-viral data indicate significantly more work is required and the existing treatments will do little to blunt a raging pandemic.

So much for yesterday's news about a successful vaccine.

As H5N1 approaches Europe and the summering migratory birds in northern China and southern Russia prepare to head south to recombine with endemic H5N1 in areas like southeast Asia and probably China and India, there is considerable cause for concern.

It still does not seem to spread easily from human to human. I wonder if something about H5N1 makes that fundamentally difficult?

Otherwise, it could be a really rough ride.

[Oorang]

Yesterday I had such high hopes for the vaccine. Oh well, I can always have hope for tomorrow.

[Kelly_2000]

"It still does not seem to spread easily from human to human. I wonder if something about H5N1 makes that fundamentally difficult?"

H5N1 is zoonotic, this is the normal etiological lifecycle of an avian strain please bear in mind that H5N1 is an AVIAN strain all avian type A influenza strains must first undergo a reassortment event most likely with a porcine o human B or C type influenza variant. At a molecular level where molecular transactions determine zoonotic compatibility the human species lacks among many things the sialyllactose receptors required for attachment of the viruses to epithelial cells. The porcine hosts acts as an "optimizer" for the virus to acquire the genetic and antigenic specificity that is required to infect a human host. If this occurs then you have an efficient human to human transmission mechanism (biological)

This is as basic as I can make the description the molecular transaction are HUGELY complex.

"Otherwise, it could be a really rough ride."

It's a ticking bomb, the calm before the storm, this period is known as the "herald wave" and does not mean that we are safe even now.