More than half of world's citizens think there will be a global flu epidemic in the next two years. Two-thirds think it will seriously disrupt their lives as well as foment social unrest. But two-thirds also say they aren't prepared. One-third of people surveyed say nobody in their society has been appointed to plan for a pandemic; another one-quarter couldn't or wouldn't answer the question.
Communities are looking at this like deer at headlights say experts they are very skittish. They don't know which way to go. They are hoping the car is not going to hit them.
Pandemic influenza is the latest imponderable facing global citizens, a form of unwanted globalization that threatens the life and health of even the smallest countries in the most literal way.
Several surveys show that a small but growing number of people are convinced -- as many epidemiologists have been for a while -- that a global flu outbreak is inevitable. The uncertainty about whether it will be the
H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has spread from Asia into Europe, or some other strain is not stopping them from getting ready.
But how ready they are -- and the readiness of the world as a whole -- is difficult to assess. We are now seeing some countries put together long-term budgets for pandemic planning -- line items for two or three years -- in seven figures per year," says Dr Don Roberts, Pandemic expert.
Current models, based on seasonal influenza and the three 20th-century flu pandemics, suggest that a new and highly contagious virus strain would spread across the United States in about five weeks. It would affect communities for six to eight weeks before receding. There would probably be at least two waves, separated by months.
At least a third of the population is likely to become ill in each wave, with peak absenteeism somewhat higher, about 40 percent of the workforce. Depending on the strain's virulence, 900,000 to 10 million people might be hospitalized, and 200,000 to 2 million might die.
Given this scenario, the experts say, countries should expect that a pandemic will kill some people, temporarily cripple societies, sow confusion and fear. It would make communication difficult, threaten supply chains, and probably interrupt production of goods and delivery of services.
With no vaccine to provide succor in terms of bird flu prevention, there is only powerful weapon against the H5N1 strain of the
influenza virus - Tamiflu - A powerful drug that contains Oseltamivir, that has to be used in the early stages of the avian influenza infection to really work effectively. In fact the bird flu symptoms are very similar to common flu and in humans, detection is complicated as early symptoms of influenza are sometimes hard to identify as being caused by the H5N1 virus, there is high incidence of other respiratory diseases in affected countries, as well as technical difficulties in confirming the diagnosis, according to the WHO.
The WHO has drawn up a game plan, including the widespread use of Swiss drug maker Roche's
antiviral drug Tamiflu, to try to stamp out an outbreak if it starts spreading easily among humans.
"To increase the likelihood that early intervention using an international stockpile of antiviral agents will be successful, surveillance in affected countries needs to improve, particularly the capacity to detect clusters of cases closely related in time and place," the agency said.
The WHO said it was maintaining the level of its pandemic alert at phase 3 out of six, meaning a new virus subtype is causing human infections but does not spread easily.
The agency noted that there had several cases in mammals including domestic cats, but reiterated that the species barrier was substantial. However, greater vigilance for any signs that cats are becoming more widely infected was "essential to prevent a bird flu pandemic.
However what can really save any person among the global citizens is to buy and stockpile Tamiflu. Only that can help any person survive a bird flu pandemic. But Tamiflu is difficult to obtain and very costly. It is only at the online pharmacies that
cheap Tamiflu is available for sale in adequate quantities. It is better to buy now than wait for later – After all Tamiflu is the most powerful and indispensable weapon against Bird Flu.
For more information's visit:
http://www.checkflu.com/
