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LIFE is a priceless treasure. Whatever is the
outcome, it is yours for the making. So most of us value life and as
such we try everything in our power to shield ourselves and our
loved ones from harm, trouble, disease and pain.
When the World Health
Organization (WHO) met with us the other day, it is primarily to
help in the information campaign on the lurking danger of a possible
“Influenza Pandemic.” As of this time everybody should be
familiar with the word influenza (that is “Flu” in medical
parlance). Not everyone though is familiar with the word pandemic.
Pandemic comes from a Greek word
which means pan (all) + demos (people). Pandemic refers to an
outbreak of an infectious disease that spreads across a large region
(like a continent), or even worldwide. WHO is just concerned about a
future possible pandemic which includes: Ebola virus, HIV infection,
SARS and lately the most frightening of them all is the Avian flu
pandemic, most popularly known as bird flu.
With the emergence of new avian
flu outbreaks (UK recently), the risk of an “Influenza Pandemic”
is much a reality and should be dealt with utmost priority. In order
for a disease to be classified as of a pandemic magnitude the
following criteria should be met:
a. The emergence of a disease new
to the population
b. The agent infects humans,
causing serious illness
c. The agent spreads easily and
sustainably among humans
In February 2004, avian influenza
virus was detected in birds in Vietnam, increasing fears of the
emergence of new variant strains. The first documented human
infection with avian influenza (H5N1) occurred in 1997 in Hong Kong.
H5N1 virus caused severe respiratory symptoms in 18 people, 6 of
whom died. Rapid destruction within three days of Hong Kong’s
entire poultry population estimated at around 1.5 million birds,
dramatically reduce further dissemination of this lethal disease to
humans, averting a possible pandemic.
In October 2005, the deadly
strain of the avian flu (H5N1) was found in Turkey and findings were
that there was a direct relationship with those viruses found in
Russia, Mongolia, China, Romania, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, and the
United Kingdom. The good news is that by the end of October, only 67
people had died as a result of H5N1, which was atypical of previous
influenza pandemic (that is millions of deaths).
Wild birds from other countries
which can be a source of this virus can be infected without showing
signs of having one, that is they remain as carriers of the deadly
virus. The danger here is that they can pass this virus to domestic
poultry flocks and can be a threat to us humans once they mutate.
Viruses constantly change, they mimic everything in their
surroundings (antigenic drift) and our medical technology no matter
how advance, still could not produce a vaccine that can be updated
for every mutation or change in this virus. That is why we humans
can be helpless and millions of people can die even before we can
make out our own armor or shield, in the form of a vaccine or
antiviral antibiotics.
As of now, the virus H5N1 still
cannot cause sustained and efficient human-to-human transmission.
That is, in order for a regular influenza virus to establish an
infection they must attach to receptors in the throat and lungs, but
the Avian influenza virus (H5N1) can only attach to receptors
located deep in the lungs of humans, requiring close, prolonged
contact with infected patients and thus limiting person-to-person
transmission.
The main concern of the World
Health Organization is to warn the world of this evolving threat,
because no one can really accurately predict whether the bird-flu
virus can trigger a pandemic. If ever it does cause a pandemic, no
one, not even the WHO can tell when, how long the pandemic will
last, how virulent or lethal the virus will be and how many lives it
may take away. As a global public health institution, WHO has a
responsibility to alert the international community when it appears
that the world is moving closer to a pandemic. And this is the right
time!
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