"SCOTLAND has less than half the quantity of antiviral drugs it would require in the event of a human flu pandemic. A total of 615,000 doses of Tamiflu have so far been stockpiled to help treat victims in the event of a deadly new strain of flu emerging, and reduce the chances of the disease being spread.
That is less than half of the recommended amount needed to treat the one in four of the population who would be expected to fall victim to the virus.
The Scottish Executive has stated it is on course to acquire the necessary stocks, a total of 1.3 million doses, by September. But the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned a pandemic could spread rapidly around the world in a matter of months.
Last week, the deadly avian flu strain known as H5N1 was detected in Britain for the first time, in a dead swan found in the coastal village of Cellardyke in Fife.
While the virus has not yet mutated into a form which can spread easily between humans, many scientists believe it will. Experts say that a flu pandemic is now overdue, with the last one occurring nearly 40 years ago. Nobody can predict exactly when or how it will happen."
We're all doomed. We don't have enough anti-viral drugs. (Never mind that an effective vaccine for the mutated form of flu cannot by definition be available before the flu virus has mutated.) Even though the virus has not yet mutated, scientists believe it will.
Let's paint as black a picture as we can. It might sell more newspapers.
1 comment:
... and who says Tamiflu will be effective against any new flu strain? No one!! The mutation could render Tamiflu useless. It all seems like a complete waste of money to me.
Regards
John
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