The Flu Strikes - Now Both of Us Are Down For Xmas Holidays!

I should have understood fully when Janice became ill with the flu three days ago, the odds were that I wouldn't luck out again like 2 years earlier when I dodged it. While I commiserated with her many groans and barely able to catch a breath from the hacking, wheezing cough, I still thought it'd miss me. How foolish!

Yesterday, midway through the Packers-Bucs game my throat and chest-lungs began to feel as if some maniac had rubbed them raw with sand paper. A few minutes later, I had to bolt into the nearest toilet unleashing a torrent that might have been the product of a CIA rectal re-hydration torture session.  After barely making it to the end of the game I had to collapse in bed. Dehydrated and coughing in non-stop spasms that wracked my rib cage.

It's gotten progressively worse since and it appears I will have to take some recovery time  - so no blog posts for a few days. (Right now I am still on the last dose of meds  - Nyquil, Claritin and aspirin- I took at 3 a.m, - soon to wear off.)

The worst part is the difficulty breathing. An act we all take so much for granted, as simple as drawing a breath, exhaling,  is now compromised by a microscopic virus. The problem - as info shows - is some of us are susceptible to a strain of Avian flu that seems to be among the renegades now running loose and which the CDC and vaccine makers didn't  plan for.. (We had our shots 3 months ago, but since then we've learned the vaccine only covers 33% of the possible strains. We're still informed that the flu we do get will likely be "milder". If that's the case I wouldn't like to experience what I have without the shot!)

Anyway, as per the Avian component effects (not same as H7N9 Bird flu - which is far worse), what happens is that fluid fills your lungs and you almost feel like you're drowning. When you lie down and try to sleep all you hear is the wheezing of mucus deep inside the bronchi each time you exhale. Then, at some point the violent cough reaction is triggered by the tickling sensation deep in the lungs,  and your head and chest feel as if they will explode from the pressure. Even taking large doses of cough medicine only help up to a point.

Then, this is interspersed with nausea and diarrhea and I was barely able to finish a bland breakfast this morning of baked potato and scrambled eggs.

So, my compadres, I hope to be writing more posts at the back end of this flu which I hope will be gone sooner rather than later.

As for Xmas dinner, it appears it is now likely to be hot dogs, baked potato and maybe a can of chicken noodle soup thrown in.

Take care and take precautions! In the meantime, enjoy the posts which are already put up - many of which haven't been read as much as some others, e.g. my refusal to do the ice bucket challenge (890 reads), and Meryl Davis' peculiar facial characteristics (7,900 reads and counting - go figure!)

See also:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/31/health/flu-epidemic/


and:

http://www.naturalnews.com/047890_flu_vaccines_CDC_apology_medical_fraud.html#

Could the Shutdown Make This The Worst Flu Season Ever?

Let's understand that the flu is no joke, and no sport. Getting it can means weeks of suffering  and often wishing you were dead. That's about how I felt after getting the Hong Kong Flu in December, 1968 with the effects lasting for months. It's also close to how my wife felt after getting the H3N2 variety of flu last December. Nonetheless, we reason that it still makes sense to get flu shots - if only because they can at least lessen the effects, symptoms. So this year we got ours at our primary doc's office a week ago. It was the new '4 in 1' vaccine that is supposed to protect against 4 varieties.

We also make sure to get flu shots because the evidence now shows that getting the full bore flu can produce an inflammatory response that weakens already damaged blood vessels making the person more susceptible to a heart attack.  So why take the chance?

It appears that we may have well acted wisely - especially this year- as government and CDC (Center for Disease Control) resources are hobbled and subverted by the Tea Party instigated government attempted hostage -taking and shutdown.  How so? According to former CDC Director David Satcher, for any flu outbreak to occur while two-thirds of the staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on furlough could be disastrous.

In an editorial for Bloomberg News, Satcher wrote, "there is a very real potential for unnecessary pain, suffering and death when the work of public-health officials is curtailed.”

This is serious, but we already know that given the priorities of effect arising from the ongoing shutdown, the welfare of  ordinary Americans lies at the bottom of the list. Trumping it are ongoing development of military weapons systems (e.g. the F-35 bomber), which private defense contractors are not about to let go of come hell or high water. Thus, it's no surprise to see how Satcher has laid out just how the diminished capacity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor disease directly translates into reduced protection for the American people. These include:

- Weakened surveillance for detecting and responding to infectious diseases: Nine of the 10 Global Disease Detection Centers have significantly reduced monitoring for diseases such as Ebola and new pathogens such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (Corona virus) and H7N9, which could threaten the U.S.

- CDC doesn’t have the personnel to monitor, track and provide guidance about seasonal flu activity, even as the season is beginning. Tens of thousands die in the worst flu seasons, what will the death toll be like when little or no monitoring is available? What if the Corona virus strikes at the same time and inadequate personnel are available to make a differential diagnosis from serious influenza? What if the Bird flu strikes?

- Although state public-health investigators can detect disease outbreaks, the CDC’s ability to conduct cross-state collaboration and lab work for linking these outbreaks is critical (see e.g. the film 'Contagion) and hence capacity for state assistance is severely diminished.

- The CDC isn’t able to conduct routine inspections of high-security labs to ensure that they are taking appropriate precautions when handling deadly agents such as anthrax, smallpox, monkeypox and Ebola.  Several incidents concerning lax security have already been reported. What if lack of adequate oversight permits one of the harbored 'beasties' to escape confinement?

- Staffing at the Emergency Operation Center is minimal. In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, the CDC will have difficulty in responding quickly and efficiently to any public-health challenge.  Think of something like an F5 tornado striking Oklahoma or Missouri, or massive flooding in New Jersey from another super storm. Do we really want this?

True, the shutdown may not generate any massive additional illness or compounded catastrophe from lack of resources. But such an outcome may be based  on pure dumb luck, not on rationally appropriated resources, personnel.  As Dr. Satcher puts it:

"Surely we can agree that it is irresponsible to base our disease detection and response strategy on luck.”

Well, rational people may well agree, but this, alas, doesn't include the pro-Dixie Tea Bagger contingent - who have no use for a federal government, and would have their states secede if they could.

Evidence Found Bird Flu Is Evolving: Will There Be A Pandemic Within 6 Months?

Electron micrograph of H5N1 influenza virus particles. 

The report appearing in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal -Sentinel was brief but had the impact of a blow to the solar plexus. Word, for word, it reported:

"Genetic analysis of the H5 N1 avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic.

The collaborative study, conducted by a group led by Masato Tashiro of the Influenza Virus Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo, appears in the current edition of the journal Eurosurveillance. The group examined the genetic sequences of H7N9 isolates from four of the pathogen's human victims as well as samples derived from birds and the environs of a Shanghai market.

"The human isolates, but not the avian and environmental ones, have a protein mutation that allows for efficient growth in human cells and that also allows them to grow at a temperature that corresponds to the upper respiratory tract of humans, which is lower than you find in birds," Kawaoka, a leading expert on avian influenza, said in a news release from UW-Madison.

The findings, drawn from genetic sequences deposited by Chinese researchers into an international database, provide some of the first molecular clues about a worrisome new strain of bird flu, the first human cases of which were reported on March 31 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, the new virus has sickened at least 33 people, killing nine. Although it is too early to predict its potential to cause a pandemic, signs that the virus is adapting to mammalian and, in particular, human hosts are unmistakable, says Kawaoka.

-------

The preceding ought to be enough to get any normal human's nerves on edge. Also, if unleashed in an outbreak against an essentially 'naked" (from immunity) populace, the results would be devastating. In 2003, world-renowned virologist Robert G. Webster published an article titled:  "The world is teetering on the edge of a pandemic that could kill a large fraction of the human population" in American Scientist. He called for adequate resources to fight what he sees as a major world threat to possibly billions of lives. 

On September 29, 2005, David Nabarro, the newly appointed Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, warned the world that an outbreak of avian influenza could kill anywhere between 5 million and 150 million people. The reported mortality rate of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a human is high; WHO data indicate 60% of cases classified as H5N1 resulted in death.

My take, given the H5N1 would (from cases analyzed thus far) incept a "cytokine storm" - similar to what the H1N1 Spanish Flu did, is that at least 500 million would perish, and possibly as many as 1 billion. I believe the reason the CDC is now barely a step from emergency mode (their website info now is partially 'redded out' with reference to old info and the emphasis is now on 'real time information) is because they are fully aware of the fact the Avian flu in its H5N1 human-to human manifestation could wipe out up to one seventh of the global populace.

Richard Besser, former CDC doc and now medical correspondent with ABC News, sounded downright nervous in his report last night from China, talking about a "race against the clock".

Back to the phenomenon of the cytokine storm: Research on genetically restored Spanish flu discloses that death likely arrived via a cytokine storm. In the current Avian flu cases,  one boy documented with H5N1 experienced diarrhea followed rapidly by a coma without developing respiratory or flu-like symptom. This shows that one can perish that suddenly, and with no evident breathing problems. There have been studies of the levels of cytokines in humans infected by the H5N1 flu virus. Of particular concern is elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, a protein associated with tissue destruction at sites of infection and increased production of other cytokines. Flu virus-induced increases in the level of cytokines is also associated with flu symptoms, including fever, chills, vomiting and headache.

The inflammatory cascade triggered by H5N1 has been called a 'cytokine storm' by some, because of what seems to be a positive feedback process of damage to the body resulting from immune system stimulation. H5N1 induces higher levels of cytokines than the more common flu virus types.

The latest CDC Notice is given as follows:

The highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) epizootic (animal outbreak) in Asia, Europe, the Near East, and Africa is not expected to diminish significantly in the short term. It is likely that H5N1 virus infections among domestic poultry have become endemic in certain areas and that sporadic human infections resulting from direct contact with infected poultry and/or wild birds will continue to occur. So far, the spread of H5N1 virus from person-to-person has been very rare, limited and unsustained. However, this epizootic continues to pose an important public health threat.

There is little pre-existing natural immunity to H5N1 virus infection in the human population. If H5N1 viruses gain the ability for efficient and sustained transmission among humans, an influenza pandemic could result, with potentially high rates of illness and death worldwide. No evidence for genetic reassortment between human and avian influenza A virus genes has been found to date, and there is no evidence of any significant changes to circulating H5N1 virus strains to suggest greater transmissibility to or among humans.

Genetic sequencing of avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses from human cases in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia shows resistance to the antiviral medications amantadine and rimantadine, two of the medications commonly used for treatment of influenza. This leaves two remaining antiviral medications (oseltamivir and zanamivir) that should still be effective against currently circulating strains of H5N1 viruses. A small number of oseltamivir resistant H5N1 virus infections of humans have been reported. Efforts to produce pre-pandemic vaccine candidates for humans that would be effective against avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses are ongoing. However, no H5N1 vaccines are currently available for human use.

Research suggests that currently circulating strains of H5N1 viruses are becoming more capable of causing disease (pathogenic) in animals than were earlier H5N1 viruses. One study found that ducks infected with H5N1 virus are now shedding more virus for longer periods without showing symptoms of illness. This finding has implications for the role of ducks in transmitting disease to other birds and possibly to humans as well. Additionally, other findings have documented H5N1 virus infection among pigs in China and Vietnam; H5N1 virus infection of cats (experimental infection of housecats in the Netherlands, isolation of H5N1 virus from domestic cats in Germany and Thailand, and detection of H5N1 viral RNA in domestic cats in Iraq and Austria); H5N1 virus infection of dogs (isolation of H5N1 virus from a domestic dog in Thailand); and isolation of H5N1 viruses from tigers and leopards at zoos in Thailand). In addition, H5N1 virus infection in a wild stone marten (a weasel-like mammal) was reported in Germany and in a wild civet cat in Vietnam. Avian influenza A (H5N1) virus strains that emerged in Asia in 2003 continue to evolve and may adapt so that other mammals may be susceptible to it as well.

Highly pathogenic H5N1 in people can include:


Symptoms:

• Fever and cough

• Acute respiratory distress

• Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing

• Abdominal pain

• Diarrhea

Complications:

• Pneumonia

• Respiratory failure

• Shock

  * Altered mental state


• Seizures


• Failure of multiple organs (e.g. kidney failure)


• Death


The other bit of news (from flu.gov) is  that Thailand has begun a phase 1 clinical trial to test an H5N1 avian, or bird, influenza vaccine in a needle-free, nasal spray form. This trial is a result of international collaboration with health agencies around the world, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). This is the first step in testing the new vaccine in humans. The study and data analysis is expected to be complete by May 2013.


People need to also grasp that even if an initial vaccine is successful, such virulent influenza outbreaks often come in waves. In the case of the Spanish flu there was a first relatively mild wave, then a much more deadly form (that incepted more cytokine storms).  The flu virus also mutates so that a vaccine that may work for the initial H5N1 onslaught may not work for a later one.  For a fairly good depiction of what could transpire, see the movie: 'Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America'.  We are talking of so many dead that corpses have to be collected daily in the streets by garbage trucks, driven to landfills, stacked like cordwood and buried or set afire. We're also talking of massive dislocation of supply lines, supermarket shelves bare, and even the possibility of water, electricity output affected.  As for hospitals....the floods of patients in every city and town will overwhelm them and their resources within days!

Having seen what my own wife suffered - barely able to breathe at times-  with the H3N2 flu last December (written about in my Dec. 25 blog post) I don't want to see anything any worse! We may need to pare down the world's burgeoning populace- but not this way!