The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a device, called Cell-Dyn Ruby, which uses laser optics and provides diagrams showing changes in white and red blood cells and platelets.
Thousands of infections could be prevented each year in older people and hospital stays reduced following findings from two studies which show that imbalances in the immune systems of people aged over 65 make them more prone to illnesses like flu or ba
A ban on the sale of fresh chicken meat is the not answer to preventing outbreaks of campylobacteriosis says food microbiologist Associate Professor John Brooks.He says the media focus on the comparatively high incidence of campylobacteria outb
Unwashed hands in England's hospitals are contributing to the spread of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and will continue unless healthcare professionals are taught to assess risk, reveals new research.Evidence to support this
A global early warning system for animal diseases transmissible to humans (zoonoses) was formally launched this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WH
Roll Back Malaria Partners are supporting mass distribution of malaria bednets to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from malaria in many endemic countries. More than 18 million fr
German health authorities have reported to WHO an imported case of Lassa fever, confirmed by laboratory tests at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.The patient, res
The Ministry of Public Health in Thailand has confirmed a case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza. The patient, a 17-year-old man from Thap Khlo district of Phichit province in the north, developed symptoms on 15 July, was hospitalize
A series of simple public health policies would be able to effectively contain the spread of smallpox if it were released into a population, according to research published in PNAS. Computer models developed by scientists at
A teenage boy has become the first victim in over seven months to die of bird flu in Thailand.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the 17-year-old from Phetchabun province, who died on
Date: Monday, 20-Nov-2006
Experts in Britain believe the government should have stockpiled more than one antiviral drug in order to tackle a bird flu pandemic and say Britain has been left vulnerable because the stockpile of anti virus drugs is deficient.They also say an independent flu specialist needs to be elected to act as a special adviser to the government.
The Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, comprised of Britain's leading scientists, have produced a report which is the result of a working group convened to consider the threat of bird flu in the UK.
They are concerned the H5N1 avian virus, which could well develop into a pandemic should the strain mutate, might also develop a resistance to the drug Tamiflu which has been stockpiled by governments around the world as a first line of defence against bird flu.
The scientists recommend in the report that the government should also stockpile GlaxoSmithKline's antiviral drug Relenza an inhaled antiviral Relenza, alongside Tamiflu, which is taken in tablet form, to provide an important second line of defence in the event of a pandemic.
John Skehel, chairman of the working group, says that strains of the virus which are resistant to Tamiflu have already appeared when the drug has been used against seasonal influenza and in a small number of patients infected with H5N1, which is why the group is recommending a joint stockpile of the two drugs.
Britain has already stockpiled about 14.6 million treatment courses of Tamiflu at a cost of around 200 million pounds, enough to cover one quarter of the population.
Tamiflu is not expected to prevent a future pandemic, but scientists believe it could lessen its effects and possibly slow down the spread of a pandemic until a specific vaccine is developed.
The report points out that it would not be possible to manufacture enough influenza vaccines globally in a pandemic but limited supplies could be stretched if combined with compounds known as "adjuvants" which increase vaccine effectiveness.
The report also recommends that the Government should consider "population priming" where, even without an exact match in virus strain, it may be possible to provide broad immunity by vaccinating with a pre-pandemic influenza vaccine.
H5N1 remains predominately a disease of birds and to date almost all cases have been through direct contact with diseased birds.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), since 2003 there have been 258 cases in people and 153 deaths; but this year has seen 75 deaths from the H5N1 virus, compared with 42 last year.
The on-going worry is that the virus could mutate into a strain that could become highly infectious in humans and spark a pandemic capable of killing millions.
The Royal Society, while it has praise for Britain's contingency plans to tackle a possible flu pandemic, says the government does not use the advice of independent scientists in formulating its policies.
The Society believes an influenza specialist could contribute expertise in formulating policy and act as a model for how Britain responds to other future emergencies in order to insure that scientific knowledge is kept up to date.
The group say it had difficulty penetrating the barrier of confidentiality that surrounds the industry and its relationship with the Department of Health.
The report calls for academic researchers and leading pharmaceutical companies to work on improving vaccines which will be fundamental weapons in the battle against a pandemic.