CNN is hyping the fact human to human transmission of a lethal bird flu has occurred. This is not new. It bears watching, but the CNN hype is wrong and really unfortunate. People become attenuated when one cries 'wolf' too often. Instead of educating people the news media starts with hype, 'we're all going to die', then moves to the scandal, the WHO mishandled the threat, even though the only hype came from the news media. If anyone's interested or concerned, I am more than well versed on bird flu and flu vaccinations. Here's the published paper that sent the CNN science reporters into a tizzy: First probable person to person transmission of new bird flu virus in China
You're just part of the conspiracy! It's a cover up! We're all going to die! Well.....eventually, I suppose.
I'm still waiting for that Big Pharma check, too, Buggers! All the work I do to promote fear mongering and injecting vaccine toxins into people, they owe me.
Actually, HPAI H7N9 is not your mother's 2009 H1N1. That's a really high fatality rate and this is a brand new strain. But like HPAI H5N1 (aka the other Bird Flu), it's still in the smoldering phase. If either of the two strains (or anything like them) become the predominant circulating strain, it will be anything but boring.
So, when it's a single isolated case like this, how can there be any proof that it was truly human to human. Having worked as a medical interpreter for many years, I know (and I'm sure you know too, Ginger) that only judges get lied to more often than doctors and nurses. If one were to go just off of medical histories taken directly from patients, one would believe that alcohol and cigarettes have almost zero market in the U.S. What's the HPAI part mean? I know what the H7 and N9 are about. Those have to do with the virus's get-in / get-out keys. Roughly. I'm assuming the AI is Avian Influenza.
The science of epidemiology is quite advanced. In this case: So based on the exposure history and the very close genetic similarity of the strains, the most probable transmission was human to human transmission. I should point out that with HPAI H5N1 the few documented cases of person to person transmission were all among blood related family members skipping non-blood related spouses, so it has been hypothesized that there is possibly an inherited genetic susceptibility involved. HPAI - highly pathogenic avian influenza — as opposed to LPAI - lowly pathogenic avian influenza. In addition to the H and N categorization you'll also see 'v' for variant, and a year and city the new strain was first identified. And if you are following the genetic drift of a strain you will see 'clades' discussed, essentially a new genetic branch. You have the hemagglutinins and neuraminidases right, they function to attach the virus to a target cell and cleave the attachment when the time comes to leave. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuraminidase http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_hemagglutinin While the medical history requires a lot of skill to interpret, it is still a key part of the H & P (history and physical). It's much harder to diagnose without the history, I call that 'veterinary medicine' when I have to do it. Epidemiology relies heavily on history, but now with genetic science the field has advanced dramatically. I should add one more thing, (I know I'm boring people but the subject fascinates me ), because the potential is so great for a new outbreak of a highly pathogenic influenza to evolve into a deadly pandemic, new strains of flu with high fatality rates are followed very closely by the WHO as well as by countries with the capability to invest the resources like the US and even China. These strains are closely monitored.
