Scientists find human barrier that limits spread of bird flu

Scientists find human barrier that limits spread of bird flu

"Disease would have to mutate several times to trigger pandemic, they say."
"An international team of researchers, led by University of Wisconsin-Madison flu expert Yoshihiro Kawaoka, has identified the biological roadblock that prevents the avian influenza virus, H5N1, from transmitting easily between people."

www.jsonline.com...
www.news.wisc.edu...

Here is some good news for a change... Are nanomasks returnable?

[edit on 23-3-2006 by mecheng]

It's kind of funny to me that a) nobody wants to discuss this and b) I haven't heard anything from the media about this study. Sometimes It almost seems like people prefer bad news over good.

I for one think it is good news although I also think it premature. Because we have 2 lethal strains we are dealing with it may cloud people's judgement to make preparations even small ones because they will have a perhaps false sense of security thinking that this virus will never affect us now.

It does however, shed light on the why so few people have become infected with the virus and that is promising. But I don't think this virus has finished mutation. All it would need is to find the binding receptor for the upper respiratory tract and off we go.

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about this H5N1 and her response based on the news she had been listening to was that our gov was fully prepared and that this would more than likely effect 3rd world countries.
I thought this to be the most ignorant comment but didn't interject. It's interesting to get other's take on what they think this virus will or will not do.

The respiratory pathways - and obstructions - have been known for some time.

IMO - this "study" was released as counterspin to shift attention from the announcement that H5N1 just mutated to create a new variant - and 2 distinct pathways that can lead to human-to-human transmission. See 2 strains of H5N1?

Also - the 'respiratory study' totally ignores water and contaminated meat as significant H5N1 vectors, and the gut as a point of entry for the virus. Quite another kettle of fish. As it were.


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[edit on 24-3-2006 by soficrow]

Originally posted by soficrow
The respiratory pathways - and obstructions - have been known for some time.

I’d love to hear you back that up (with one or two links, sofi, not the usual 2,000).

Originally posted by soficrow
Also - the 'respiratory study' totally ignores water and contaminated meat as significant H5N1 vectors, and the gut as a point of entry for the virus. Quite another kettle of fish. As it were.

Perhaps another kettle of fish, but not the point at all. This article discusses why human-to-human transmission has been very difficult so far. Water and contaminated meat are not vectors for human-to-human transmission, are they? Thus, they are not relevant to this article.

Furthermore, for most people, it is a lot easier to stay out of the water and not eat chicken than it is to not come in contact with other humans, agreed? Thus, in my under-educated opinion, it would appear that contaminated water and meat, with little to no human-to-human transmission, are just not going to be effective at causing a pandemic.

And that, in case you missed it, is what this article is all about.

Given the media in which it was first released (Nature, I believe), it is highly unlikely that this was released as “counterspin.” Any marketer (and I have a degree in it, so trust me) will tell you that Nature is not going to do much in terms of generate buzz or spin for you. If you want to influence the masses, you have to go to the mass media. That didn’t happen until several days later.

Furthermore, your use of the following:

Originally posted by soficrow
“study”

to try to subconsciously discredit a STUDY for which you obviously have no way of rationally discrediting is VULGAR, OBVIOUS, and EMBARRASING.

We all know you have an agenda you push here, sofi. That’s fine. But it is REALLY irritating when you chime in constantly and redirect threads to your own. This is a frequent tactic you use. Do you do it to get extra points?

Then, you feign expert-status on a topic by constantly referring to your “research.” Newsflash, you aren’t a doctor. You never will be a doctor. And yet, you constantly argue silly points with people who know much more than you do about almost any medical topic in general. Have some respect for the amount of time and effort it took them to learn a difficult craft.

Like your fun wars with BSL4 (whatever his name is). You don’t listen to what he says. Then, you Zerg Rush us all with 150 articles and a 5 page response to something that he didn’t say. And, you are usually wrong about the point anyway. Why? Becuase you didn't go to medical school, and don't have the background, the training, and the understanding that a doctor does. You kill threads that way, and it sucks for the people who start them. Please don't do it here.

For others, this isn’t even my thread. It would have been, had I been a day faster, though, and I feel a little protective here. This is some potentially very good news for us all, and I think this is a very important thread. Given the number of threads out there meant to terrify us about H5N1, it’s nice to get some good news for a change.

I’d like to welcome everybody to chime in. Isn’t anybody else excited about this news? Or are we all just too fascinated with the thought of being wiped out in a pandemic that we can’t wrap our minds around some good news? Let’s hear it folks (and I’d love to hear from our doctors out there…)

But, please, if you want to bash the study, back it up with something. And please don’t change the topic.

Originally posted by mecheng
It's kind of funny to me that a) nobody wants to discuss this and b) I haven't heard anything from the media about this study. Sometimes It almost seems like people prefer bad news over good.

thats so dead on. i just thought the same damn thing. people are so pessimistic and it seems they love it. maybe becuz most people's lives are so boring they want chaos to happen.
well, could they leave me out of it? im alright...