Monday, April 10, 2006
Avian Flu Information
DenverDoc will be on the radio for CMDA nationally for an hour starting at 1, talking about Avian Flu. (it is on Crosstalk VCY America, the only Colorado outlet is in Grand Junction.) I'll try to add to this Blog if any interesting points come out. I found some interesting websites that give information about the new flu, actions that individuals can take, the WHO's website, etc. If the H5N1 strain of Avian flu does learn to jump from human to human, it could cause big problems. There is no way to predict if it will happen, or even what the odds are that it will happen.
In the pathology department, we'll be keeping our eyes on the testing methods. You guys out there on the front lines will need to keep your eyes open for new vaccines, changes in patients that come in to your office, etc. I suspect that, similar to the Anthrax scare and cipro, you will see at least some patients coming in demanding some Tamiflu.
We lost 40 million people in 1918 (500K in the US alone) in 1918. Subsequent pandemics (1957 and 1968) were not as bad, with 2M and 1M deaths respectively worldwide. It's a dangerous world out there.
The checklist of things individuals can do is useful although incomplete. A lot of the things are exactly the same as those that might have helped in Katrina or any other natural disaster. Some examples:
--keep several days worth of emergency food and water available, preferably things that don't need cooking in case utilities go down.
--think about some kind of emergency heat that is safe; flu tends to be a winter disease.
--make sure you keep ahead on prescription and nonprescription medications
--wash hands frequently (yeah, us docs need to do this too.)
There could be widespread social disruption. Restaurants, banks, postoffices, etc. could be closed. Work may be difficult. Schools might be closed; kids are a big source for flu epidemics.
In the pathology department, we'll be keeping our eyes on the testing methods. You guys out there on the front lines will need to keep your eyes open for new vaccines, changes in patients that come in to your office, etc. I suspect that, similar to the Anthrax scare and cipro, you will see at least some patients coming in demanding some Tamiflu.
We lost 40 million people in 1918 (500K in the US alone) in 1918. Subsequent pandemics (1957 and 1968) were not as bad, with 2M and 1M deaths respectively worldwide. It's a dangerous world out there.
The checklist of things individuals can do is useful although incomplete. A lot of the things are exactly the same as those that might have helped in Katrina or any other natural disaster. Some examples:
--keep several days worth of emergency food and water available, preferably things that don't need cooking in case utilities go down.
--think about some kind of emergency heat that is safe; flu tends to be a winter disease.
--make sure you keep ahead on prescription and nonprescription medications
--wash hands frequently (yeah, us docs need to do this too.)
There could be widespread social disruption. Restaurants, banks, postoffices, etc. could be closed. Work may be difficult. Schools might be closed; kids are a big source for flu epidemics.
