Full Coverages>China>Bird Flu>Backgrounder
   
 

Worried about bird flu? Wash your hands
(cri)
Updated: 2005-10-26 16:13

Little can be done to prevent an outbreak of bird flu if it comes in the next year or so before vaccine production can get started, health experts caution, but they say common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves.

Number one is hand-washing, they say -- a surprisingly effective way to prevent all sorts of diseases, including ordinary influenza and the H5N1 virus that everyone now fears may jump into humans and cause a catastrophic pandemic.

Number two -- do not try to buy your own personal supplies of Tamiflu, one of two drugs shown to work against avian influenza.

And number three, stay home if you do get sick.

Old-fashioned hygiene works very well, experts agreed.

"You wash your hands and you cut the transmission of a bunch of diseases," said Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths of Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts.

This is because any type of influenza is mostly passed hand to mouth. People sneeze and wipe their noses, then touch a microwave button. Or particles from a cough land on a tabletop, only to be picked up on someone else's finger.

While viruses can be suspended in the air in droplets, doctors agree they are much more commonly spread on the hands. Alcohol-based gel or foam hand sanitizers also work well to destroy viruses and bacteria.

Once someone is infected, two drugs are effective -- Roche and Gilead Sciences' Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline's inhaled powder Relenza. Countries are stockpiling them now.

But Dr. D.A. Henderson, who helped lead the effort that wiped out smallpox and who founded the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh, said it would be a mistake for individuals to try to buy the drugs now.

NOT A PANACEA

"I think Tamiflu is being regarded now as the panacea of all panaceas," Henderson said in a telephone interview.

Henderson and other experts say while Tamiflu might help cope with an outbreak of H5N1, it is not going to offer outright protection.

For one thing, stocks are limited and it will take years for Roche to ramp up production -- even if, as is being discussed now, it licenses generic versions to be made by other companies.

Plus, the more widely any drug is used, the more likely the virus or bacteria it targets is to develop what is known as resistance, meaning the drug becomes less effective.

Both Tamiflu and Relenza treat a flu infection, making it less serious and perhaps making the illness last fewer days. But they must be taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms to do any good.

They can also prevent infection with garden-variety flu if taken, for example, by a family member caring for a sick relative. No one knows if they will do the same with H5N1.

"If you were to take it as a preventative you'd have to take it for probably weeks, a pill a day, 75 milligrams a day is what they recommend," Henderson said.

And the average person is not going to know when, precisely, to begin taking the drug. Many infections look like flu, said pediatrician and immunologist Dr. Anne Moscona of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

"If you have Tamiflu at home and you take it for a cold or give it for a respiratory virus that is not influenza, we will be unable to use these drugs when we encounter a lethal strain of flu," Moscona said in a telephone interview.

If people do get sick, they must be careful to stay home from work and not spread viruses.

"Not exposing yourself to others is the best thing you can do for public health," said Dr. Chris Woods of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.

But if people are forced to go out while ill, wearing a face mask would be a responsible thing to do, although it is unlikely to protect against infection.

"People have asked, 'Should we wear masks?'," Henderson said. Studies show that people usually breathe in so forcefully when they wear a mask that they end up sucking in unfiltered air from around the sides, he said.

 
  Story Tools  
   
 
     
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲av丰满熟妇在线播放| 四虎影视成人精品| 99久久国产综合精品五月天| 成年午夜视频免费观看视频 | 一级做a爰全过程免费视频| 日本理论片2828理论片| 亚洲av永久无码| 欧美激情一区二区三区在线| 伊人久久大香线蕉综合AV| 精品无码久久久久久国产| 国产不卡免费视频| 麻豆国产高清在线播放| 国产欧美精品区一区二区三区| 3344永久在线观看视频免费首页| 夜夜爱夜夜做夜夜爽| √8天堂资源地址中文在线| 成人毛片18女人毛片免费视频未 | 精品国产v无码大片在线看| 国产一国产一区秋霞在线观看| 黄色网址在线免费观看| 国产盗摄XXXX视频XXXX| 4480yy私人影院亚洲| 国语对白刺激做受xxxxx在线| hdmaturetube熟女xx视频韩国| 小雪老师又嫩又紧的| 中文字幕av一区| 手机国产乱子伦精品视频| 久久久久久亚洲精品无码| 日韩免费三级电影| 久久精品无码精品免费专区| 果冻传媒91制片厂| 亚洲一区精品无码| 欧美人与动zozo| 亚洲国产天堂久久综合| 欧美成人看片一区二区三区| 亚洲日本一区二区一本一道| 欧美精品va在线观看| 亚洲精品二三区伊人久久| 激情伊人五月天久久综合| 人人妻人人狠人人爽| 狠狠色综合7777久夜色撩人|