http://www.pledgebank.com/prepareforflu Comments on 'write to my MP and request that they ask the Government to dramatically improve funding and preparation in order to better meet the threat raised by the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus' en-gb team@pledgebank.com 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 2 hourly http://www.pledgebank.com/prepareforflu#comment_7129 I may be missing something but I only have a year of pathology at university to call on (and that is a few years old and fading anyway!), perhaps someone who is an expert can clarify it: if the strain of bird flu present at the moment is not transmissable between humans, mutations will be needed for that to occur. So the real threat is from an as-yet unknown virus, which will need to have a specific anti-virus developed. Therefore stockpiling an existing anti-virus that is unlikley to work seems like a waste of time and money, and irresponsible. If this mutation does occur (and remember that this strain of bird flu has been present in the far east since about 1997 without this happening), then it is important to manufacture as much of the anti-virus as possible - but we're not there yet! The scientific facts seem have been badly reported amongst the scare-mongering - does anyone have a more informed view? http://www.pledgebank.com/prepareforflu#comment_6685 A far more useful way to spend money than on the things the government is currently wasting it on. Whether this is a real threat or an unlikely one, it would certainly be sensible to prepare properly. http://www.pledgebank.com/prepareforflu#comment_6512 It IS not government funding that is the problem, it is the the company that makes the antivirus refusing to allow any other drug company to produce it because it has a patent on it. profits over people as usual. http://www.pledgebank.com/prepareforflu#comment_6479 The government WANT you to be scared about this. Jesus, more people die of poverty, cancer, road-traffic accidents, industrial injuries, obesity etc every DAY and you don't see those get the terror headlines this "deadly bird flu" has caused. It's an issue, sure, but like SARS and others terrible disease panics before it, it'll pass relatively quietly.