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无码久久| 内射白浆一区二区在线观看| 69xxxx日本| 女人让男人桶30分钟在线视频| 久久久99视频| 韩国一区二区视频| 国产精品特黄毛片| av在线亚洲欧洲日产一区二区| 成全视频在线观看免费看 | 夜色福利久久久久久777777| 一级黄色a毛片| 无码一区二区三区AV免费| 久久精品五月天| 极品丝袜乱系列大全集目录| 啦啦啦中文在线观看| 18videosex日本vesvvnn| 天天摸天天摸色综合舒服网| 一级毛片视频播放| 成年人视频免费在线观看| 亚洲国产日韩a在线播放| 激情成人综合网| 免费在线观看黄网| 韩国在线观看一区二区三区 | 欧美日韩人妻精品一区二区三区| 亚洲视频在线一区二区三区| 笨蛋英子未删1至925下载| 午夜影视免费完整高清在线观看网站 | 一个人看的在线免费视频| 成人性生交大片免费看好| 久久久www免费人成精品| 日本三级韩国三级三级a级播放| 久久夜色精品国产欧美乱| 日韩成年人视频| 九色综合九色综合色鬼| 果冻传媒李琼母亲| 亚洲av永久无码精品秋霞电影影院 | 亚洲国产成人资源在线软件| 欧美日韩亚洲国产综合| 亚洲成人黄色在线观看| 欧美日韩一区二区三区麻豆| 亚洲国产精品毛片AV不卡在线|