quote:

While I've read the shots confer only 29% protection to old geezers, that is better, far, than none--I vote for getting one as soon as possible.

I believe in that recent study they also noted that even if the shot does not prevent you from getting a particular flu, if you have had the shot the symtoms are milder and the recovery time is shorter.

quote:

Originally posted by BullDoug:
[QUOTE]While I've read the shots confer only 29% protection to old geezers, that is better, far, than none--I vote for getting one as soon as possible.

Well this old geezer used Sean's link and found a place in her neighborhood and got her flu shot yesterday.

Sean--

They gave us insurance forms to fill out while standing in line. My flu shot was covered with no copay. Medicare is also paying. There was only one company (was it BX/BS or Aetna or Cigna? I forget now) whose members had to pay out of pocket in the line I was standing in.

Winkin Noddin,
     Now that you mention it, any health insurance plan should be eager to pay for flu shots because the shots will keep down the costs of hospitalizations caused by flu.
Sean

 
I normally get my flu shot at Walgreens, but this year they've got a "Due to a national delay in the distribution of flu vaccine, Walgreens has canceled all flu shot clinics scheduled to take place after November 6." disclaimer up.

However, my Home Depot has a Flu Shot clinic for employees scheduled for 11/16, so I'll be there.

*CJ

     Another story tells us the H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated in Viet Nam to a form that resists antiviral drugs and is more infectious to mammals. That sounds menacing; I'll look around for confirmation.
Sean

     Chiron, the company that couldn't deliver flu vaccine last year because of bacterial contamination of their product and, this year, is making late deliveries, is being taken over. The purchaser, Inartis--a Swiss company--already owning 42% of Chiron, now will own it all.
     Daniel Vasella, Novartis' CEO has promised to bring its acquisition up to the highest standards. This move is an early indication that the large drug manufacturers will be capitalizing on the global effort to combat the anticipated pandemic. (Our department of Health and Human Services awarded Chiron a $62.5 million contract to develop a vaccine for bird flu H5N1.)
Sean

     A table, dated Dec. 14, 2005, showing cumulative cases and deaths, world wide, since Jan. 2003 has been published by the World Health Organization. Of 71 cases total, about half are dead.
Sean

Bird flu fatally resistant to drug

December 23, 2005
HANOI: Bird flu had shown itself resistant to anti-viral drug Tamiflu in the case of two Vietnamese fatalities, a doctor said yesterday, describing it as a worrying development in the fight against the virus
-cut-
Menno de Jong, who works at the Institute of Tropical Diseases in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, said Tamiflu had been ineffective in fighting the virus in two girls.

"Our two patients became resistant despite a full dose of treatment. Both died and in one patient there are some suggestions the therapeutic failure and ultimately her death may have been caused by the development of resistance," he said.

Source

     Two cases of bird flu in humans, the first ones outside of Asis, have been reported in Ankara, Turkey. Two youngsters, brother and sister, are the victims. Sad to say, the boy has died.
     This news is disturbing because Turkey is on the migration path of birds from Asia. Of late it has been thought migrating birds may not comprise a threat.
Sean

     H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in the two Turkish children mentioned in the previous post. Both of them are dead. Additionally, two other cases of H5N1 have been confirmed in Turkey. All patients had been in contact with chickens and, presumably, were infected by the birds, not by humans.
     The total of all confirmed human H5N1 infections was 146 on January 7, 2006. 76 of those patients died. Known cases are tabulated here
Sean

     According to an AP report the bird flu cases in Turkey now number fifteen. All are thought to have come from contact with infected poultry and most of the patients are children.
     The WHO has not yet confirmed these cases.
Sean

     This link takes you to the Jan. 10 report from the WHO on 15 H5N1 bird flu cases in Turkey. Note that the World Health Organization is reporting the results from Turkish laboratories, the diagnoses have not yet been confirmed by reference labs.
Sean

Weaker Bird Flu in Turkey Challenges Doctors' Theories


ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 10 - Two young brothers, ages 4 and 5, who have tested positive for the dreaded H5N1 avian virus, were being closely watched at Kecioren Hospital here today, although neither has exhibited any symptoms of the disease.

Doctors are unsure whether they are seeing for the first time human bird flu in its earliest stages, or if they are newly discovering that infection with the dreaded H5N1 virus does not always lead to illness.

In any case, the highly unusual cluster of five cases detected here in Turkey's capital over the last three days - all traceable to contact with sick birds - is challenging some of the doctors' assumptions about bird flu and giving them new insights into how it spreads and causes disease.

Since none of the five have died, it is raising the possibility that human bird flu is not as deadly as currently thought, and that many mild cases may have gone unreported.

MORE

     This story is somewhat iffy but I feel obliged to report it. If true, the cases of bird flu in humans total 20 now.
Sean

     The deadly form of bird flu has been reported on a large Nigerian poultry farm by the World Organization for Animal Health. The entire flock has been slaughtered and the carcasses disposed of properly. No human cases have been reported and it is not completely certain that the flu strain is the same one that has been so lethal elsewhere.
     Official concern is high because the impoverished countries in Africa are not well equipped to deal with epidemics.
Sean

     What may be Iraq's third fatal case of bird flu was a 14-year old boy who died last Sunday. His infection apparently came from birds. I wonder if our troops are in a position to be exposed?
     This table shows the cumulative, confirmed, world-wide incidence of H5N1 infections in humans on 02/09/06.
Sean

     Add Germany, Austria and Iran to the list of countries where H5N1 flu has been detected but not confirmed as yet. In each instance the carriers have been wild swans; thus far no human infections have been reported.
Sean

     H5N1 flu in birds has been confirmed in France and Egypt and is rampant in the poultry of India. Wild ducks apparently are carrying the disease without getting very sick themselves. I think that means bird flu can be expected to arrive eventually where ever ducks can fly.
     The cumulative number of human cases reached 169 with 91 fatalities on Feb 13/06. On Jan 7/06, 146 cases had been confirmed and deaths totaled 76.
Sean

     A Mr. Lao, age 32, in China died of H5N1 flu on March 1 after being in in close contact with chickens. His was the 94th confirmed fatality.
Sean

     If verified, three fatalities in Azerbaijan bring the number of deaths caused by HFN1 Avian Flu Virus up to 100. WHO says the diagnoses are probably correct but remain to be confirmed by a reference laboratory.
Sean

As of 03/21/06 the WHO has confirmed 103 deaths from bird flu.
Sean

     On 04/03/06 WHO confirmed 107 avian flu fatalities. The last two victims lived in Egypt, where two other cases are still being treated.
Sean.

     The 108th death from bird flu was a 12 year-old Cambodian boy who died on April 4. The WHO has confirmed the cause of death.

     Human-to-human H5A1 flu infection is still rare and will probably remain so until mutation alters the H5 (hemagglutinin) moiety of the virus.
Sean

     An 18 year-old Egyptian girl died of H5N1 flu today. That brings cumulative mortality up to 109.
Sean