Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bird flu 'resistant to main drug'
CNN (Reuters) ^ | 9/30/2005

Posted on 09/30/2005 9:26:51 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever

Experts in Hong Kong said on Friday that the human H5N1 strain which surfaced in northern Vietnam this year had proved to be resistant to Tamiflu, a powerful antiviral drug which goes by the generic name, oseltamivir.

They urged drug manufacturers to make more effective versions of Relenza, another antiviral that is also known to be effective in battling the much feared H5N1. Relenza is inhaled.

"There are now resistant H5N1 strains appearing, and we can't totally rely on one drug (Tamiflu)," William Chui, honorary associate professor with the department of pharmacology at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, told Reuters.

Chui was referring to the Tamiflu-resistant strain of H5N1 in Vietnam. Chui also said general viral resistance to Tamiflu was growing in Japan, where doctors habitually prescribe the drug to fight the common influenza.

"Manufacturers should think about producing an injectable form of Relenza because resistance to Tamiflu has been seen in Japan and Vietnam. Also with injections, high doses can be given where necessary and onset time is a lot faster," Chui said.

Drugs that are administered intravenously can be better absorbed in patients who have stomach and acidity problems, another expert said.

"We don't have to worry about absorption, injections take drugs right in. But if the patient takes them orally, maybe some amounts won't be absorbed or some may be destroyed by stomach acids," said pharmacist Raymond Mak at Queen Mary Hospital.

In places such as China, drug resistance exceeded 70 percent, suggesting that drugs like amantadine and rimantadine will probably no longer be effective for treatment or as a preventive in a pandemic outbreak of flu, the reports said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: avianflu; birdflu; china; h5n1; health; hellonearth; pandemic; tamiflu
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last
To: Servant of the 9

Spare people? Real classy.

You do realize that 150 million people is about half our population?


21 posted on 09/30/2005 10:16:20 AM PDT by kenth (Only twenty thousand marched against the U.S. in D.C. today, but it smelled like half a million.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: softwarecreator
Actually, the world has way more than 150 million people to spare.
In fact, the US has more than 150 million people to spare.
Actually, this could be a good thing.

What if one of the disposable human beings were someone you loved and cared about ... would it still be a good thing?

Yes, if it was me, it would still be a good thing.
There are things in this world bigger than me and mine or you and yours.
National Defense and population control ar two of them.

So9

22 posted on 09/30/2005 10:19:05 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist
Anybody know what the mortality rate is?

50%

23 posted on 09/30/2005 10:20:45 AM PDT by green iguana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: kenth
Spare people? Real classy.
You do realize that 150 million people is about half our population?

Yep.

It would be a start.

I would like to see our population under 100 million.

That was the population when the frontier was closed in the 19th century.
The country was oficially full and we should have stopped all immigration and done everything possible to keep our population from overgrowing the country like mold in New Orleans.

So9

24 posted on 09/30/2005 10:23:25 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: edcoil

They will still come across our open borders.


25 posted on 09/30/2005 10:23:57 AM PDT by proudofthesouth (Boycotting movies since 1988)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist
Anybody know what the mortaility rate is?

Of the total confirmed cases, it is running over 50%. If it breaks out in an easily contagious human to human mode, nobody knows what it will be. Speculation is, authorities "hope" it will drop to only 5-10% when (not "if") it breaks out into a pandemic. But nobody really knows what it will be until then.

One thing we do know now - it is extremely lethal when people catch it. Most people so far seem to have caught it directly from birds. However, some have caught it from other people with whom they have close contact, such as family members.

Check the following thread for updates:

Avian Flu Surveillance Project

26 posted on 09/30/2005 10:24:37 AM PDT by Gritty ("Eradicating smallpox was wrong. It was important in balancing ecostystems-John Davis, Earth First!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Pessimist

The "government" can't protect the citizens from everything. Some things are just gonna happen, and if someone wants protection, they have to do it themselves. No doubt, the gov't can do something, and from what I have read people are working on the problem. But the gov't isn't Godlike and some natural disasters are beyond human agency to prevent or eliminate. This is one of them. Throughout history there have been epidemics that have killed large numbers of people, and this will no doubt happen in the future as well.

Now, if pigs and chickens and ducks and geese and people stopped living in close dirty quarters in China, the flu wouldn't happen at all. But is that likely to stop happening soon?


27 posted on 09/30/2005 10:25:17 AM PDT by little jeremiah (A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, are incompatible with freedom. P. Henry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: little jeremiah
if pigs and chickens and ducks and geese and people stopped living in close dirty quarters in China

Asia, not just China. And we can't nuke 'em all...

28 posted on 09/30/2005 10:27:30 AM PDT by green iguana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: green iguana
Anybody know what the mortality rate is?

50%

They are talking about half the population getting it and 100,000 dying, that is hardly 50%. It is less than 0.1%.

The 150 million mortality figure is out of a world population of over 4 Billion.

So9

29 posted on 09/30/2005 10:28:11 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the 9
There are things in this world bigger than me and mine or you and yours.

hhhmmmm ... well, if you feel that strongly about it and it's for the common good, you can always "martyr" yourself now and help beat the odds of it spreading.  Should we put you on a "suicide watch"?  =)

30 posted on 09/30/2005 10:28:13 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the 9
What if one of the disposable human beings were someone you loved and cared about ... would it still be a good thing?

Yes, if it was me, it would still be a good thing.

Astounding.

You have one scary attitude.

31 posted on 09/30/2005 10:30:16 AM PDT by Gritty ("Eradicating smallpox was wrong. It was important in balancing ecostystems-John Davis, Earth First!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: little jeremiah
But the gov't isn't Godlike and some natural disasters are beyond human agency to prevent or eliminate

Try telling that to the libbies.

32 posted on 09/30/2005 10:30:42 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: softwarecreator
There are things in this world bigger than me and mine or you and yours.

hhhmmmm ... well, if you feel that strongly about it and it's for the common good, you can always "martyr" yourself now and help beat the odds of it spreading. Should we put you on a "suicide watch"? =)

I have one child, adopted.
That is doing my part.

What has your family ever done except hope to breed like lice?

So9

33 posted on 09/30/2005 10:30:43 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the 9
that is hardly 50%. It is less than 0.1%

See post 26 (if you haven't already...) It is 50% for the flu as it now exists, which is chiefly transmitted from fowl to humans.

34 posted on 09/30/2005 10:31:59 AM PDT by green iguana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Gritty
You have one scary attitude.

That's what I said.  Anyone who feels that way has my undying gratitude if they would "marytr" themselves so one of my children's odds of surviving would instantly go up.

35 posted on 09/30/2005 10:32:46 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Gritty
"Eradicating smallpox was wrong. It was important in balancing ecostystems" -John Davis, Earth First!

Pay attention to the people you quote.

So9

36 posted on 09/30/2005 10:33:29 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the 9
What has your family ever done except hope to breed like lice?

I guess this would be the time for me to "count to 100" before responding to your post.  Otherwise, I'd get banned.

37 posted on 09/30/2005 10:35:21 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: softwarecreator
That's what I said. Anyone who feels that way has my undying gratitude if they would "marytr" themselves so one of my children's odds of surviving would instantly go up.

You seem to have a poor grasp of statistics as well as logic.

So9

38 posted on 09/30/2005 10:35:23 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Trust Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Servant of the 9
Pay attention to the people you quote.

I quoted Davis because what he says is so weird and frightening that everybody needs to see it. It sounds like you agree with him. I certainly hope very few others do.

Here's another really weird quote from an Earth First devotee named Dave Forman (see my tagline)...

39 posted on 09/30/2005 10:39:23 AM PDT by Gritty ("Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth" - Dave Forman, Earth First!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Rutles4Ever

So, National Healthcare in Japan is contributing to viral resistance that puts the planet at risk? Hmmmmm...but I thought that national care was supposed to be sooooo much better than a private system! /sar.


40 posted on 09/30/2005 10:45:21 AM PDT by Wiseghy (Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. – Ralph Waldo Emerson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-85 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson