Posted on 01/28/2006 1:29:23 PM PST by Termite_Commander
Yes, I agree with you about the writer's style.
It may be he's trying to be blunt and alarmist in hopes it will catch people's attention. Of course, that might just turn other people off.
Or maybe he just enjoys human suffering...
Who knows?
No sh~t Sherlock. The attitude doesn’t make you look smarter. My question was reasonable.
"It would be virtually impossible for H5N1, the deadliest influenza strain ever seen, to mutate into a highly benign strain."
AFAIK, no one can predict the results of a mutation that makes human transmission easy. For all we know, we have little immunities to a virus like this because it isn’t easily transmitted. If we’ve never been exposed, we’ve never had to evolve past it. And whatever mutation would make it more contagious would make it look like something that our immune systems are prepared for. That’s of course just a wild guess, but AFAIK so’s the claim that the new mutated form of the virus would be deadly.
"If we're all a bunch of panic-mongering fools, and the warnings are utter nonsense, why do you trouble yourself coming in to shoot them all down? Since we're kooks, don't waste your time on us. "
You’re right, how dare I suggest that this thing might not mutate into something deadly and that there are social, political and psychological reasons pumping up our concern. What a troll I am be for intruding on your thread. Using your reasoning, maybe you shouldn’t waste your time on me. Maybe I’ll be intimidated by your condescending attitude and stop suggesting such things.
Someone freepmailed me asking about the recent study on elderberries and bird flu. Here's a link in case anyon else is interested:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1565907/posts
Study shows Israeli elderberry extract effective against avian flu
BTW, I admire your politeness in the face of rudeness.
Malaria Kills Millions of People a Year,Lime tick disease Kills Millions, HIV-AIDS Kills Millions every year, SARS Kills Millions every year, Abortion Kills Millions every year, Old age Kills Millions every year, MAD COW disease Kills Millions, PBB contamination will Kill Millions, Anthrax will Kill Millions, Asbestos will Kill Millions, Mercury poisoning will Kill Millions, Cancer Kills Millions every year, Small Pox will Kill Millions, Millions will die from starvation, Millions will die from Alcohol related accidents, Millions & Millions & Millions will die of the Bird Flew !!!....................................oop's "FLU"
Thanks for the warnings. I'll go hide under my bed where it's safe.
Although Old Age might still be a problem...
And starvation.
TC according to Dr. Edwin Kilbourne it is likely we already have some resistance:
The fear "is very much overdone, in my opinion," said Dr. Edwin Kilbourne, an emeritus professor of immunology at New York Medical College, who has treated flu patients since the 1957 pandemic and has studied the 1918 flu. The bird flu, he said, is distantly related to earlier flus, and humans have already been exposed to them, providing some resistance.
Dr. Kilbourne and other experts also noted that when viruses become more transmissible, they almost always become less lethal. Viruses that let their hosts stay alive and pass the disease on to others, he explained, have a better chance of spreading than do strains that kill off their hosts quickly.
Moreover, he said, while much has been made of comparisons between the current avian flu and the 1918 strain, the factors that helped increase the flu's virulence in 1918 - the crowding together of millions of World War I troops in ships, barracks, trenches and hospitals - generally do not exist today for humans.
Dr. Kilbourne emphasized that medical care had improved greatly since 1918. Although some flu victims then turned blue overnight and drowned from blood, with fluid leaking into their lungs, many more died of what are now believed to be bacterial infections, which can be treated with antibiotics.
Although the death toll from that flu was high, the actual death rate was less than 5 percent.
In addition, more people now live in cities, where they have probably caught more flus, giving them immunity to later ones. "In 1918, you had a lot of farm boys getting their first contact with city folks who'd had these things," Dr. Kilbourne said.
No recognized authority on H5N1 considers that living people have any useful resistance to H5N1, except possibly for recent survivors.
There is a difference of opinion out there as to whether people born in 1918 or before and still alive might still have resistance to that flu.
The good immunology professor apparently feels that this new flu is stealing some of his thunder (and research dollars?), and so diminishes it.
Dr. Kilbourne and other experts also noted that when viruses become more transmissible, they almost always become less lethal.
Yes, little consolation to the 5 or 6% who still die.
the crowding together of millions of World War I troops in ships, barracks, trenches and hospitals - generally do not exist today for humans.
That's correct -- conditions today include much more densely crowded conditions in large western cities, especially office buildings and public transportation and sports stadiums and other venues. Maybe troops aren't more crowded, but so what? Then again, an aircraft carrier seems like a pretty optimal breeding laboratory (for the bug!) and is mobile as well.
many more died of what are now believed to be bacterial infections, which can be treated with antibiotics.
They can be treated successfully in 6 - 8 hours? Maybe if they are already hooked up to an IV. What if there are a thousand patients ahead of you? What if the first 15 patients who arrive at the hospital get the only available ventilators? (they would).
Although the death toll from that flu was high, the actual death rate was less than 5 percent.
I don't consider loss of 5% of an entire population to be insignificant.
What infinitesimal percent of the U.S. population was lost on 9/11 and how much of a stir did that cause?
Good reply. Fair enough.
Having been "densely crowded" on a training ship, I can speak from experience that there are NO Western cities crowded in such a manner today.
"No recognized authority on H5N1 considers that living people have any useful resistance to H5N1, except possibly for recent survivors."
Judith Anne posted (or freepmailed me, can't remember which) a recipe she uses to make an elderberry tonic with fresh berries. I bought dried berries and adjusted the recipe ("wung it") and made my own. We've been taking it and so far this winter - no appreciable sickness. It's reputed to be a good preventive as well as shorten the length of some viral illnesses.
If the bird flu becomes as easily transmissable as regular garden variety flus, it won't need barracks or trenches for people to catch it, nor filthy conditions. People catch flu just fine every year as it is. No need to squat 2 inches from someone in filth to catch flu. Just breathe in what they breathed out in a store, or touch a doorknob or pen someone touched, and then one's face.
Hi, I worded that unclearly; my mistake.
This is a recent thread on harvesting elderberry and preparing for tincture. Many other threads on the subject - use search.
You can even get involved in the "Sambucol-Wars" if you want -- is it a good thing or a bad thing to boost/suppress the immune system before/during the avian flu/cytokine storm?
http://www.curevents.com/vb/showthread.php?t=35281&highlight=elderberry
That's just rose-colored speculation, right? In any event, it hasn't much mitigated the effect on those thus far infected.
OK. Now you've done it! I won't be able to get off *this* website for days! Holy Moley, there's a lot of information! What fun!
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