Human To Human Transmission Of Bird Flu Reported

[jake-the-peg]

Anybody else find this as scary as I do?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23594392

[Baldric]

Have just seen this on Twitter, scary

[Sqad]

Well, I would not use the word "scary" but it does give rise to some concern and diligent monitoring of the situation.

Good time now for the WHO to get cracking on working out a vaccine for the H7N9 strain.

[Old_Geezer]

Not the first time a disease has jumped species. Won't be the last.

[doctordb]

No, i don't find it scary.

weren't we all supposed to die of it years ago or was that sars?

[sandyRoe]

If a virus similar to the Spanish Flu reappeared would it take the same toll?

[Sqad]

sandy.......I don't think so, the "backroom boys" would have a vaccine within 3 months.

[jim360]

I don't think it would take the same toll, but it wouldn't be pretty either. Depends on how fast it is picked up. But a lot has happened in medical science in the last 90-odd years, so treatments and quarantine procedures would be more effective. On the other hand the disease could spread almost across the world in hours rather than days, so...

Hopefully we will never find out what will happen.

[aelmpvw]

don't know sandy but in the modern world it would certainly spread faster

[jake-the-peg]

Serious missing of the point going on here

It's not the jumping of the species that's an issue it's that up to now you were only at risk if you worked directly with birds.

This has now infected one human from another.

Spanish flu was a bird flu

I'm very taken by Sqad's faith in the rapid response of the 'backroom boys' but it doesn't seem to reflect reality.

There is no single vaccine for flu - that's why you have a new one each year - the reason is that it's the second fastest mutating virus known - outbreaks in one hemisphere one season become the basis for vaccines in the other next.

Aids of course is the fastest known mutating virus - and we all know how long it's taken 'the back room boys' to find a vaccine for that!

This is also somewhat different from SARS - that had a mortality rate of about 10% H5N1 - people reacted rather too quickly to that! Still serious though

Bird flu has a mortality rate of 50-60% - right now this case doesn't look as if it's been highly infectious though but it's a big step forward to being a major threat

[slaney]

No - I'm not all that worried now that I've read the original paper.
This was a "possible transmission" between father and daughter - 43 close contacts (including a son-in-law who helped care for the father) were tested and were negative for avian H7N9 antibodies suggesting that " the transmissibility was limited and non-sustainable".

[jomifl]

The solution to the threat lies in the question. If you can get a disease from human contact then stop contacting humans. It has always been that simple, even primitive societies cottoned on to that.
So I am very unscared.