Bird flu is still a hot subject at the World Health Organization meetings, due to the fact that is still considered a threat for humanity.
Scientists believe that the H5N1 virus could mutate and then transmit from human to human causing a global pandemic, for which humanity is not yet prepared.
We have not developed a drug or a vaccine that might kill this evil virus, and so we are exposed to it. Lately there have been debates about the usefulness of the annual flu vaccines. Some scientists declare that if you get annually a flu vaccine, you are making yourself more susceptible to the flu in subsequent years, by weakening your immune system, instead of enforcing it.
Dr. Haim Danenberg of Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem says that one who did not get annual flu shots is possible to poses a better immune system then the annually vaccinated ones.
Some even say that flu vaccines create a pattern of dependence and once you begin taking them you will need to take them every year because your immune system gets weaker every year.
Phyllis Balch, an author of herbs and health does not recommend flu shots and suggests that the solution of getting rid of flu is by strengthening the immune system.
Every year a new strain of virus develops and we can not be sure that the flu shot we took will match for this new virus too, and the antibody response will only be protective if we are luckily enough to get infected with the right virus.
A study from Netherlands made on elderly people concluded that flu shots only give you one percent lower chance of getting the flu after all, so we ask ourselves why doctors and governments make all this propaganda for flu shots if they are only1% helpful.
In the case of bird flu things might not be like this, because if a virus strain is isolated and used to manufacture a bird flu vaccine, it may turn out to be more effective than 1%. Studies have not concluded yet.
It seems that flu shots contain toxic substances too, like mercury which is connected with the Alzheimer disease and could contribute to a mercury poisoning.
There is a law that indemnifies vaccine manufacturers from the harm caused by their products in case of a viral pandemic, even if the vaccine kills people.
You could find more about this law at:
[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.01873:]
So, the vaccine producers are protected in case of a mass murder, and they even get money for it (they sell their vaccine to health authorities). This proves that vaccines are not safe and that is why the vaccine companies have assured their legal protection.
Before getting a shot, people should first find out mere about the side effects given by the vaccines and to reconsider whether they want to risk taking it or try a different solution like the real anti-viral medicines.
The bird flu vaccine is a completely different vaccine than the standard flu shot. This bird flu vaccine will only protect against the bird flu and not any other strains of flu. There is not even a real bird flu vaccine available that we the public are able to get yet. It will be some time before we can get a bird flu vaccine.
The only known bird flu vaccine is still in the experimental stages and they do not even know yet how effective it will be, it may not work at all. We hear about the bird flu every day and about how many people it is going to kill throughout the world but to keep things in perspective it is important that you realize that very few people have actually caught the bird flu and even fewer have actually died from it and this is all without the help of a bird flu vaccine.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza is a disease which affects the birds, especially the poultry, in different extents. The bird flu is produced by subtypes of influenza A virus and it sheds in the wild birds which transmit the virus to the poultry. The H5N1 subtype is considered to be the most pathogenic virus from all the subtypes of influenza A virus.
Chicken, ducks and turkeys get infected if they get in contact with discharges from infected birds, infected water, and infected vehicles. The eggs can also contaminate the incubator if they are from infected hens.
The birds which survive the infection can spread the virus for another period of at least 10 days through secretions, discharges and feathers.
The virus can easily spread in the area if a contaminated bird is left to roam freely; if it drinks water from the place other birds drink, this way contaminating the water. Cars can spread the virus also from one place to another if they are not disinfected properly. Shoes, cages and clothing are also a way of spreading the virus.
Humans can get infected if they get into close contact with ill birds. People who transport poultry, who feed them and clean the place the birds live in, are exposed to the virus if the birds are infected. Eating cooked chicken meal is not dangerous as the virus gets inactivated at heat.
Until now human to human transmission was not encountered.
The governments are concerned that the virus could mutate and achieve the ability of transmitting itself from one person to another. This could lead to a global pandemic and millions of people might die. Also, if this problem is not solved quickly the poultry industry will suffer and the economy of the country will drop.
In chicken the bird flu gives these symptoms: diarrhea, muscle weakness, breathing problems, sudden deaths, facial swelling, and a decline in the egg production.
In humans the symptoms of bird flu are: fever, muscle pain, sore throat and then cough, breathing problems and multi-organ failure in the last stage of the disease.
As there are so many diseases which manifest very much alike with bird flu the doctors must be very careful when diagnosing bird flu. If the patient got into close contact with a sick bird, or handles bird cages, laboratory tests will be done to see exactly if there is a bird flu infection.
There has not been yet discovered an effective vaccine against bird flu virus. The only thing humans can do is take a shot for a human influenza virus to prevent the recombination between the bird flu virus and human flu virus which could form a more threatening virus.
In order to prevent bird flu people must avoid getting into close contact with birds or their discharges; must not buy any living bird illegally as they are not controlled by the veterinaries, must report any suspect death of a bird to the authorities, and must disinfect properly after handling bird products.