closet squirrel
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They said on the news this morning that the girl died from menengitis.
Avian flu updates page 3
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O2BNOK
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http://thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=7591
Vietnam doctor warns about H5N1 virus threat
A Vietnamese doctor says the current H5N1 strain, which likely has had some changes compared to past forms, could easily become more infectious to humans, thus, triggering a possible global pandemic.
There is a dangerous possibility that the virus could mutate into something more deadly, but then again, the virus could also mutate into a less-threatening form of the type A flu, says Dr. Trinh Quan Huan, chief of Vietnam’s Preventative Health Department, to Thanh Nien.
Currently, health experts say recent researches have yet to define the exact level of mutation of H5N1 as well as its threat, but one thing is clear, early public warning and preventative methods are necessary if a human pandemic should arise.
Q: Some healthy people and hospital staff have contracted H5N1 - are these cases of human to human transmission?
A: Most healthy people who contracted H5N1 had close contact with poultry. Meanwhile, medical personnel who tested positive for bird flu, but are healthy is, in reality, an unstable result. Sometimes, patient tests at different moments of time can produce different results.
So we can reason that there is a bird flu transmission from patients to medical personnel, but that is only a mechanical transmission due to the close and direct contact among patients and healthy people.
But, the phenomenon produces no evidence to conclude that the virus has mutated to a form that transmits from people to people.
If the virus had mutated into that form, the number of bird flu patients would have been much more than now.
Q: Then what should we do so that medical tests for bird flu show concrete results, not unstable ones?
A: We are tightly cooperating with the World Health Organization and domestic scientists to further study the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus.
At present, a delegation of experts from Japan, U.S. and Hong Kong is researching bird flu in Vietnam. Also, from now on, all samples of bird flu will be sent to three laboratories in Vietnam, Japan and the U.S. Comparing these three test results will produce more concrete results.
WHO considers Vietnam one of the most open countries studying the virus.
Q: What is the latest research progress of the H5N1 vaccination at Vietnam’s Central Epidemiology Institute?
A: The H5N1 vaccine is being tested on monkeys right now. Our local scientists are cooperating with Japan to research the much-awaited vaccine. What we need now is to produce a safe and effective type of vaccine for humans.
But, this is a tough task, and the vaccine we are producing now cannot possibly be tested on people.
Side bar: During the third bird flu outbreak from December 2004 to now, Vietnam has had 60 patients infected with the H5N1 virus. Eighteen of those patients have died.
In the past months of hot weather, the spread of bird flu has been sparse.
It is forecasted that Vietnam may face a high risk of bird flu outbreak in the upcoming winter this year and early next year, reported the Health Ministry.
(Reported by Lien Chau – Translated by Minh Phat)
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 01 July, 2005, 11:56:05 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News
Vietnam doctor warns about H5N1 virus threat
A Vietnamese doctor says the current H5N1 strain, which likely has had some changes compared to past forms, could easily become more infectious to humans, thus, triggering a possible global pandemic.
There is a dangerous possibility that the virus could mutate into something more deadly, but then again, the virus could also mutate into a less-threatening form of the type A flu, says Dr. Trinh Quan Huan, chief of Vietnam’s Preventative Health Department, to Thanh Nien.
Currently, health experts say recent researches have yet to define the exact level of mutation of H5N1 as well as its threat, but one thing is clear, early public warning and preventative methods are necessary if a human pandemic should arise.
Q: Some healthy people and hospital staff have contracted H5N1 - are these cases of human to human transmission?
A: Most healthy people who contracted H5N1 had close contact with poultry. Meanwhile, medical personnel who tested positive for bird flu, but are healthy is, in reality, an unstable result. Sometimes, patient tests at different moments of time can produce different results.
So we can reason that there is a bird flu transmission from patients to medical personnel, but that is only a mechanical transmission due to the close and direct contact among patients and healthy people.
But, the phenomenon produces no evidence to conclude that the virus has mutated to a form that transmits from people to people.
If the virus had mutated into that form, the number of bird flu patients would have been much more than now.
Q: Then what should we do so that medical tests for bird flu show concrete results, not unstable ones?
A: We are tightly cooperating with the World Health Organization and domestic scientists to further study the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus.
At present, a delegation of experts from Japan, U.S. and Hong Kong is researching bird flu in Vietnam. Also, from now on, all samples of bird flu will be sent to three laboratories in Vietnam, Japan and the U.S. Comparing these three test results will produce more concrete results.
WHO considers Vietnam one of the most open countries studying the virus.
Q: What is the latest research progress of the H5N1 vaccination at Vietnam’s Central Epidemiology Institute?
A: The H5N1 vaccine is being tested on monkeys right now. Our local scientists are cooperating with Japan to research the much-awaited vaccine. What we need now is to produce a safe and effective type of vaccine for humans.
But, this is a tough task, and the vaccine we are producing now cannot possibly be tested on people.
Side bar: During the third bird flu outbreak from December 2004 to now, Vietnam has had 60 patients infected with the H5N1 virus. Eighteen of those patients have died.
In the past months of hot weather, the spread of bird flu has been sparse.
It is forecasted that Vietnam may face a high risk of bird flu outbreak in the upcoming winter this year and early next year, reported the Health Ministry.
(Reported by Lien Chau – Translated by Minh Phat)
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 01 July, 2005, 11:56:05 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News