Why is this not discussed in the same breath as the statement, "vaccines work against bird flu"?
The current shockingly irresponsible behavior of all entities in this country whose task is protecting the public's health from an H5N1 pandemic, can only be understood in the context of the COVID pandemic, where under both the Trump and Biden administrations, public health was and is subsumed under politics and under the wishes of financially powerful people, at every juncture. At least that's the only way I can make sense of what is happening, since it's so blindingly obvious that we are providing the virus with every opportunity to evolve into human transmissibility.
What I think is sad is that the Covid experience shows that when the red tape is gone and there is motivation, we CAN get effective vaccines and therapeutics. So why wait?
This is the kind of thing I appreciate this blog for - telling it like you see it as a clinician. There's so much spin these days about both medicine and public health it makes one dizzy.
I also questioned the validity (usefulness) of oseltamivir yr's ago the paucity of benefit c.f. it's side effects. I had not seen the strickenly high number of those to prevent 'an' infection when given as prophylaxis.
Completely true. See also baloxavir, a newer influenza antiviral - not clearly better. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa107
The same is true for influenza vaccines: their effectiveness is *at best* a bit above 60% (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm)
Why is this not discussed in the same breath as the statement, "vaccines work against bird flu"?
The current shockingly irresponsible behavior of all entities in this country whose task is protecting the public's health from an H5N1 pandemic, can only be understood in the context of the COVID pandemic, where under both the Trump and Biden administrations, public health was and is subsumed under politics and under the wishes of financially powerful people, at every juncture. At least that's the only way I can make sense of what is happening, since it's so blindingly obvious that we are providing the virus with every opportunity to evolve into human transmissibility.
Maybe luck will save us.
What I think is sad is that the Covid experience shows that when the red tape is gone and there is motivation, we CAN get effective vaccines and therapeutics. So why wait?
In all fairness, they’ve also been underfunded* for far too long.
*A reminder that Republicans have vowed to defund/eliminate the NIH & CDC if/when they retake the WH & Congress.
This is the kind of thing I appreciate this blog for - telling it like you see it as a clinician. There's so much spin these days about both medicine and public health it makes one dizzy.
Thanks!
Dr. Faust, Mark Twain is the source of the quote.
I also questioned the validity (usefulness) of oseltamivir yr's ago the paucity of benefit c.f. it's side effects. I had not seen the strickenly high number of those to prevent 'an' infection when given as prophylaxis.
Thanks
Right?!! What’s crazy is that the number needed to benefit for preventing pneumonia or death is possibly infinity. 🤦♂️