Preparing for an Outbreak of Serious Disease
Unlearned lessons of history
It might surprise you to hear me quoting a leftist Utopian like
Karl Marx, but no truer words about the unlearned lessons of the
past were ever uttered than his
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”
And at no time has Marx’s message been more apparent (or
important) than right now. Here on planet Earth, we’re in the
midst of more outbreaks of new viruses and infectious diseases
than in any other period in recent memory – yet we seem to be
woefully under-prepared and downplaying the possibility of an
epidemic at every turn. As you no doubt read in a Daily Dose you
received just the other day, only 9 out of 50 U.S. states are
even HALFWAY PREPARED for an outbreak of serious disease,
regardless of whether it arrives via bombs or birds.
But disease waits for no man, and while we piddle around in a
perpetual state of denial and non-readiness, afflictions like
SARS, monkey pox, Ebola, mad cow disease, and most recently, the
East Asian “bird flu” continue to make headlines around the
world. Didn’t we learn anything from the 1918 flu pandemic that
killed more than 20 million people worldwide?
It’s this latest strain of avian influenza that’s perhaps the
scariest, too. According to a recent Newswise.com article, some
infectious disease experts from the University of Buffalo are
warning that because of the simultaneous co-existence of this
new bird flu and an especially vicious form of human influenza
in Asia, the world stage may indeed be set for a disease
disaster of biblical proportions.
Why? For two reasons. First, because 2 viruses of a similar
makeup (both influenzas) co-habitating in the same person can
actually mutate with each other, giving rise to completely new,
even stronger strains of “superviruses” that could prove
exceptionally treatment-resistant. These dual-infected people
would in effect be transformed into walking disease labs!
And second, because this new avian flu that’s proving to be
deadly to humans (body count so far: 16) is also likely to be
able to infect pigs and other livestock. When these “host”
animals are sold to other regions and nations, the disease and
its potential carriers get more widespread and even more
difficult to contain. That’s not to mention the fact that the
flu’s original hosts, birds, can cover hundreds – even thousands
- of miles in a very short time span. Talk about a winged
migration (of death).
And that’s where the lesson of history comes in. A recent report
authored by U.S. and British scientists has all but concluded
that the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918 was caused by a
virus that jumped to humans FROM BIRDS. Are we doomed to repeat
this ugly bit of history here in the 21st century?
Because with a vaccine at least half a year away (and there’s no
guarantee it’ll even work – see below), it sure looks like our
containment and treatment capabilities are a farce
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The little vaccine that couldn’t
Last fall (and so far this winter, too), millions of Americans
flocked to hospitals, clinics, and temporary immunization
stations to be injected with the influenza vaccine in
preparation for this year’s tidal wave of flu cases. But guess
what?
The vaccine’s a dud!
This, according to a study of hospital workers in Colorado (a
state hit hard and early with flu cases last year) conducted by
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. As reported by Reuters,
the research authors concluded that the vaccine had “no or low
effectiveness” against this year’s flu. In fact, the study’s two
groups (one vaccinated and the other not vaccinated) differed in
rates of infection by a paltry 2%.
No, the vaccine didn’t eradicate the flu – not by a long shot.
But at least one thing WAS eradicated by this ersatz cure: One
particular drug company’s overstock of a nasally administered
flu vaccine that flopped with consumers because it was too
expensive (and not covered by a lot of insurance plans). That’s
right: Our government brokered a deal with this pharmaceutical
giant allowing states to buy 3 million or so unsold doses of
this inhaled medicine at a discounted (but still profitable, I’m
sure) price
This, despite the fact that the medication DOES NOT CONTAIN the
vaccine component for the A/Fujian strain of flu most prevalent
this year! Can you say: “Bailout?”
Yeah, we’re prepared – for both a farce and a tragedy.
Never forgetting my lessons,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
