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medpundit |
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Tuesday, November 30, 2004BIRD flu is far more lethal than the SARS virus that struck Asia last year and could unleash a pandemic that could kill up to 50 million people, the World Health Organisation said yesterday. ...While SARS had a mortality rate of about 15 per cent, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu kills up to a third of the people it infects. H5N1 is now able to latch itself on to more hosts, Mr Omi said. The virus has killed 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam this year. If it were extremely contagious and lethal, wouldn't it have killed more people in Thailand and Vietnam? But then, the threat isn't what the virus does now, it's what it might do in the future, which is difficult to predict. But, if it does mutate into a highly contagious, lethal virus, a simple salt water nose spray may help slow the spread: Inhaling a simple saltwater spray could help prevent the spread of disease-causing germs, a small study suggests. ....Edwards's team suspects the spray treatment increases surface tension in the fluid lining our airways, producing larger droplets that are less likely to stay airborne. They acknowledged the study included few high-producers and further research is needed on the topic. Nevertheless, the team said the findings may help to control an influenza pandemic.. And it wouldn't be expensive! posted by Sydney on 11/30/2004 07:02:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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