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A Bird in The Head
For now, only those who handle fowl in Asia appear at high risk for avian flu.
(Sakchai Lalit/ap)
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Taking an antiviral drug in the absence of a real threat risks reducing its effectiveness.
Tamiflu is an expensive drug that has approximately a three-year shelf life. Since bird flu most likely won't mutate to a form that can routinely infect humans over the next few years, chances are that if you stockpile Tamiflu, you will either misuse it or be compelled to throw it away when it is out of date.
Plus, without a doctor's instructions, how would you know when to take it? When there's a rumor of a sick parrot in a cage at the airport? When a human gets avian flu in Madagascar? The first time someone sneezes when you're near the poultry counter of your local market?
How can I protect myself in general against airborne viruses ?
Hand washing helps. Be conscious of how often you shake hands or casually kiss someone at a party. A sneeze or a cough can propel a virus 10 to 12 feet. Cigarette smoke also spreads respiratory viruses, so smokers (and smokers' friends) have to be very careful when they are sick to not blow smoke in a crowded room.
Isolating sick people is the best protection against the spread of flu. Unfortunately, a patient may be spreading the virus for several days before becoming clinically ill. Close contacts of people who are ill with a virus should anticipate the possibility of getting sick, and they should limit their interactions with others, especially in the "window period" between their likely exposure to the virus and the time when symptoms usually emerge.
What are the chances of bird flu getting me ?
Right now, almost nonexistent for anyone who does not have direct contact with birds in Asia.
The concern about the disease is based on the fact that the H5N1 pathogenic avian influenza is a very aggressive killer of birds. As it spreads in birds, the growing amount of virus may increase the chance that it will mutate to a form that routinely infects humans.
In the meantime, it is important to realize that not a single bird in the United States has been found to have this flu strain. Also, most of America's poultry is not killed in the open, where H5N1 can easily spread.
Bird feeders are safe; pigeons are safe; and if you encounter a dead bird, do not assume that it died of bird flu. If you are worried to that extent, it is a sign that fear is becoming virulent, rather than that H5N1 is spreading.
I am so bombarded with bird flu warnings in the media that I feel I should do something. What should I do ?
