Avian Flu Diary

Excellent, Michael.. thank you.

2012-05-19T15:33:06.024-04:00

Excellent, Michael.. thank you.

Anonymous, I've written about research into V...

2012-05-02T06:30:37.187-04:00

Anonymous,

I've written about research into Vitamin D on several occasions, and while there is evidence to suggest that it may be of benefit against viral illnesses (see http://tinyurl.com/6lorraj) the scientific jury is still out.

Despite their shortcomings (see http://tinyurl.com/bm47pgh), Flu vaccines remain our best pharmacological option in the prevention of influenza.

"More research is obviously needed, but this ...

2012-05-01T19:59:57.326-04:00

"More research is obviously needed, but this is more evidence that the real danger lies with contracting the flu, not with taking the vaccine to prevent it."

No, the real dagnger lies with being not enough in the sun without suncreen and as a consequence not having enough vitamin D in one's bloodstream.

Low levels of vitamin D an narcolepsy are linked, low levels of vitamin D and Parkinsons are linked, low levels of vitamin D during the winter and flu-like symptoms in spring are linked. Could be continued.

The whole auto battery charger functining grid exp...

2012-04-28T22:06:30.752-04:00

The whole auto battery charger functining grid expense thing...Couldnt you just charge a battery off an engine?...

Not an easy topic to explain, very nicely done. J...

2012-04-16T15:31:08.660-04:00

Not an easy topic to explain, very nicely done.
JJackson

Thanks alot for posting this, i have parkinson'...

2012-04-06T19:32:42.649-04:00

Thanks alot for posting this, i have parkinson's and the meds make me extremely dehydrated, searched everywhere for a simple home solution for when it gets extra extreme. Thanks so much, very helpful!

many thanks anne

2012-03-22T07:57:21.644-04:00

many thanks
anne

thank you, michael, it's very interesting.. :-...

2012-03-15T03:27:40.838-04:00

thank you, michael, it's very interesting.. :-)
anne

Hear, hear

2012-03-11T00:24:34.154-05:00

Hear, hear

Great summary of what's been happening with th...

2012-03-07T21:29:29.540-05:00

Great summary of what's been happening with this story. Wasn't aware of the ABC coverage. Will have to look that up.

The health dept. updates have been particularly im...

2012-03-07T15:01:22.738-05:00

The health dept. updates have been particularly impressive for yesterday's serial updates which each ended:

"There have been no new cases reported as of [time update posted]."

It builds some confidence-in-advance that if new cases do occur, they will say so.

Very helpful. Thanks. - Johan, Pretoria, South Afr...

2012-03-07T11:31:55.029-05:00

Very helpful. Thanks.
- Johan, Pretoria, South Africa

Thanks Anonymous, I agree the CCHD has done a goo...

2012-03-07T09:42:14.222-05:00

Thanks Anonymous,

I agree the CCHD has done a good job updating this story, and personally, I don't see anything here that suggests a larger public health crisis.

Unfortunately, rumors and speculation abound on the internet.

Many, it seems, would rather look for `zebras' when they should be looking for horses.

As someone who lives right up the road from where ...

2012-03-07T09:02:24.478-05:00

As someone who lives right up the road from where this happened I can tell you this:

The first death was of an 88ish year old woman back in early Feb. The next two were from her children, both in their 60's. A 4th family member is currently hospitalized.

So 3 deaths, yes, originall 4 were reported, the Dept of health apologized for the mis-information and sent out a correction, and has been keeping those of us in the county well informed.

Of course everyone is panicing the way people are trained to do. But look at the logic here.
The first death was of an elderly woman, let's just assume for the sake of argument her immune system was compromised due to her advanced age. Therefor it wouldn't have tripped any alarms.
The next two to get sick were in their sixties. While not elderly, not exactly spring chickens either. We have no idea of their state of health to begin with. The illnesses would have had to have STARTED at least late January if not before, and as of this time have been isolated to only those of that particular household.

Yes, I am making assumptions there. But given the information known at this time they are well informed assumptions from very well informed sources. My wife works at Calvert Memorial Hospital, and they are very active on keeping abreast of the situation. She is also very involved in the school system as a volunteer with our daughters as students, and they are working very closely with the Department of Health to keep track of possible spread also to keep the children safe.

As of yet, there is nothing to indicate any cause for worry. My bet will be on something environmental within the house itself.

Dear Mike, You might want to check out Deborah Ma...

2012-03-06T01:35:39.934-05:00

Dear Mike,

You might want to check out Deborah MacKenzie's response to a comment on her article. http://bit.ly/yisbBs

The commenter asked MacKenzie to explain her September 2011 statement that Fouchier had said ferret-to-ferret transmission was lethal, in the context of her March 2012 statement that "Nothing in his [Feb 29 ASM] talk contradicts the story I heard in Malta."

MacKenzie answered: "...the contradiction you observe is correct - in retrospect. According to my notes, Fouchier said in Malta that the virus spread to ferrets in nearby cages, and remained as lethal as wild H5N1. That is true, even though it now appears the virulence wasn’t apparent until the virus was tested in other ferrets’ tracheas. As you observe, I wrote that it was the nearby ferrets which died. I had no way of knowing it wasn’t: Fouchier did not present those details in Malta, nor did he or colleagues mention it in conversations later. Research that has not yet appeared in a journal is often presented at meetings without much detail – the Rotterdam group thought it important to get the basic observation out as soon as possible, as it shows what a threat H5N1 may be. This led me to write that sentence in a way that turned out to be inaccurate, as more details emerged, which I dislike – but the important observation, that virulent H5N1 can become airborne between mammals, is still correct."

Very decent of MacKenzie to acknowledge an error and try to explain how it came about. I wish more reporters, experts, researchers, editors, peer reviewers, public health officials, and others would do the same!

"Because it doesn’t require an inbound ast...

2012-03-05T17:56:31.115-05:00
"Because it doesn’t require an inbound asteroid to put a serious crimp in your whole day".

I LOVE how you keep everyone in perspective!

This DA14 asteroid is really a small one. Accordin...

2012-03-05T11:35:37.649-05:00
This DA14 asteroid is really a small one. According NASA JPL NEO Project, its diameter is only 0.044 KM (see also: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2012da14.html )

Even an object of this kind would have an impact with our earth, the damages should be considered negligible, at least if it will impact not above a city.

An asteroid of a such diameter may have hit Siberia at the beginning of XX century with an huge exposion in the sky but with no casualties.

While I'm not going to indulge in a debate ove...

2012-02-27T13:34:00.272-05:00
While I'm not going to indulge in a debate over it, the whole Squalene in the Anthrax Vaccine story was debunked years ago by the IOM (Instituted of Medicine)

The Anthrax Vaccine: Is It Safe? Does It Work? (2002)

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309083095&page=96

Or you can go to Factcheck.org and get the story

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/inoculation-misinformation/

And from the AVIP

http://www.vaccines.mil/default.aspx?cnt=resource/qaAll&dID=21&cID=319

Squalene was used in the anthrax vaccine given to ...

2012-02-27T12:46:34.936-05:00
Squalene was used in the anthrax vaccine given to the Gulf War Soldiers. Where did you get your misinformation?

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Mike. My thoughts an...

2012-02-26T20:04:00.056-05:00
Sorry to hear about your Dad, Mike. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Thanks Don & Nedra, and everyone else who has ...

2012-02-26T08:13:05.430-05:00
Thanks Don & Nedra, and everyone else who has sent well wishes.

Dad rallied a bit and perked up during my visit, and was lucid most of the time, so it was very good visit for both of us.

Mike, I'm so sorry to hear about this difficu...

2012-02-26T02:05:45.632-05:00
Mike,

I'm so sorry to hear about this difficult time in your and your family's life. It sounds like your dad is in as good a situation as he could be, given the circumstances. He's very lucky to have you and your sister watching out for his best interests. Sending you a big hug.

Nedra

I am sure that, even in a morphine mist, your dad ...

2012-02-25T11:23:55.136-05:00
I am sure that, even in a morphine mist, your dad will appreciate that you came to say goodbye. My thoughts are with you.

Re: Peter Palese and Michael Osterholm articles - ...

2012-02-24T23:20:11.429-05:00
Re: Peter Palese and Michael Osterholm articles - I give up. The debunkers, profit hungry news organizations, and deniers of many stripes just love being able to make all of science look foolish. Someone needs to wake up to fact that you just cannot write such articles any longer without anticipating how the information can be spun and twisted to cause great harm. If the authors had thought of this they might have noted in the article what their article does and does not mean in plain language. No amount of explanation can now take back the harm done by spinning that bird flu is not so dangerous - so no worries folks!

This is extraordinarily high-quality journalism.

2012-02-20T11:42:12.333-05:00
This is extraordinarily high-quality journalism.