U.S. flu strategy under attack from critics
under attack from critics who said it offered too little, too late.
Critics said the U.S. government was slow to act. "It should have happened five years ago," said Dr. Allan Rosenfield, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York.
SPREADING
The H5N1 avian flu has infected 122 people and killed 62 in four countries -- Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. It has become entrenched in poultry flocks across much of Asia and into Europe, and experts say there will be no stopping it.
The fear is that H5N1 will mutate into a form that can easily infect and pass between people, causing a pandemic, a global epidemic that could kill millions or even tens of millions.
The U.S. plan focuses on watching for this to happen, in the hope that quick action can contain a human outbreak early on. It includes $56 million in drugs and vaccines for use by the U.S. Agency for International Development in helping contain an outbreak outside the United States.
There is an experimental H5N1 vaccine, which may help a little against any new strain. The regular flu vaccine offers no protection against H5N1 flu.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/health/influenza
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051102/hl_nm/birdflu_usa_dc_16;_ylt=AiI.z_8PWl4ERChxuzGkS1CEBMoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
It was reported today that this plan will take years to implement. Why am I not surprised?