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

Refer to Kelly_2000 Post #1291...

If you create a vaccine based on the antigenic characteristics of H5N1 then you have a viable vaccine. Antigenic shift or drift will not diminish the efficacy of the vaccine. the vaccine give the immune system a "head start"....

She seems to think the new vaccine will work, even if the virus has changed.

Is there a difference of opinion here?

Daily Bird Flu News Updates:
The Scotsman - 8th August 2005
Optimism over new avian flu vaccine
US - The US government is optimistic about a new vaccine to protect against an outbreak of potentially deadly avian flu, and distribution could start as soon as mid-September, a senior federal health official said. The government is ready to move ahead with ordering significantly more than the two million doses it acquired from French vaccine maker Sanofi-Pasteur before testing began earlier this year to jump-start the US vaccine stockpile in case the tests were successful, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.

Reuters - 8th August 2005
No humans infected in Russian bird flu outbreak
RUSSIA - No humans have been infected in a bird flu outbreak in Russia and the situation remained stable, the country's consumers rights watchdog said on Monday. The highly potent H5N1 strain, confirmed in the Siberian region of Novosibirsk, has swept parts of Asia and killed more than 50 people since 2003. Outbreaks in Russia and, later, in neighbouring Kazakhstan have been reported since mid-July.

eng.gazeta.kz - 8th August 2005
EU to introduce ban on poultry from Russia and Kazakhstan
RUSSIA - The European Union is going to introduce a ban on the import of poultry from Russia and Kazakhstan by the end of this week, KZ-today reports with reference to ITAR-TASS. The Russian information agency has been advised by a high-ranking European Commission official that this way the European Union wants to protect itself from a potential bird flu threat. The World Health Organization fears that the virus may mutate and become dangerous for humans.

As ususal read the full articles at: The Poultry Site! http://www.thepoultrysite.com/LatestNews/?AREA=LatestNews&Display=6187

Pig-borne disease found in 2nd area in southern China, officials say
CHINA - Authorities confirmed a second case of a pig-borne illness in southern China's Guangdong province on Monday, while four officials were reportedly fired for mistakes in containing the spread of the infection in another area, where it claimed 39 lives.

Chinese authorities have also arrested a couple in the Sichuan province city of Chongqing who were caught with 1,700 kilograms of pork from sick pigs, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday. It did not say if the pigs were believed to have the same illness.

The latest victim, a man who has slaughtered pigs from Guangdong province's Yangjiang town, was in hospital in serious condition, Hong Kong health authorities said after they were briefed by mainland counterparts...(excerpt)
http://www.thepigsite.com/LatestNews/Default.asp?AREA=LatestNews&Display=9852

Interesting post here:
http://discuss.agonist.org/yabbse/index.php?board=6;action=display;threadid=21870;start=150

Text of the post:

There was a prospective study done which showed that N-acetyl cysteine or NAC prevented people exposed to an H1N1 flu bug from getting sick, even though they later possessed antibodies to this bug. (The H1N1 strain in question was just the common flu bug that year.) In other words, the NAC users apparently fought off the virus without becoming ill. Only 25% of those with antibodies to the H1N1 bug, and who were in the NAC group, had had flu symptoms. In the placebo group, if you looked at people with H1N1 antibodies, 79% had been ill. The participants in the NAC group took 600mg twice daily.

I think NAC changes certain amino acid levels in some way which helps the immune system fight off viruses, but I don't think it acts directly on T-cell or other immune cell signals (cytokines). I can't be sure, though.

I buy my stuff from vitacost.com, it's about $13 for 120 600mg capsules of NAC. For my family (me, husband, and 2 kids) that's 20 days' worth of preventive use. Someone over on flu clinic pointed out that long-term use may diminish copper and zinc absorption, so supplementing with these if you use NAC for long periods would be a good idea.

This is the link to the study the poster mentioned:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9230243&dopt=Citation

Hey, it sold Sunday newspapers in New York, and that's all that really matters with the news.