Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
Flu Vaccine Reduced Efficacy Australia. |
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John L.
Expert Level Adviser Joined: September 03 2017 Location: New York/USA Status: Offline Points: 1415 |
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Posted: September 21 2017 at 1:55pm |
Australian authorities state their flu vaccine is missing the mark in current severe outbreak. Ominous news for us Americans. see video at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/20/flu-vaccine-not-effective-past-years-says-chief-medical-officer
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John L.
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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I had trouble loading that article. I chased it all around the news site and found it at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/20/flu-vaccine-not-effective-past-years-says-chief-medical-officer. Exactly where you said it was. But, the article would not load until I found it through the websites own index. Just as if it had been D-noticed inexpertly. It said: "Australia's chief medical officer says there has been a significantly higher number of flu cases than normal in people who have been vaccinated.
Professor Brendan Murphy said this season's vaccine, selected by the World Health Organisation, gave "moderate to good" coverage of the viruses, but it had not been as effective as previous years. "We have been notified of about 100 deaths from influenza so far this year, but we believe that to be an underestimation," Prof Murphy told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. This is worrying. I looked up the official flu reporting site on: http://www.health.gov.au/flureport#current and it had not been updated this month. The last comment they made was that the vacine was working very well." So, either the virus has mutated recently, or the Australian government is not being entirely honest. Either is a bit scary. Nice catch, John L. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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It is a fast mutating strain which is causing the most worry.
"So far, the deaths have been attributed to H3N2, a fast-mutating strain of the flu that is defying medical experts' efforts to stop it." The government site mentioned A(H3N2) as the main strain circulating and said that the vaccine was effective. It made no mention of the fact that it was a rapidly mutating strain. That is all I can find out so far. The government site is at http://www.health.gov.au/flureport#current if you want to see how little they are saying. The rest of my information came from http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/libs-promise-mandatory-flu-jabs-for-kids-as-nation-reels-from-horror-season-20170922-gymnqt.html which is a detailed article, including what little information is available on the rapidly evolving strain. The latter article included the following snippets of information: "Cobram mother Sarah Hawthorn, 33, remains in an induced coma in a critical condition at The Alfred in Melbourne, unaware she has given birth to a healthy baby boy. New dad 30-year-old Ben Ihlow died days shy of celebrating his first Father's Day. The Bacchus Marsh man died within a week of first feeling unwell. In New South Wales, 19-year-old Nathan Brown has been on life support in intensive care at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital since August 29." This is the kind of thing which worries me. When the very young and old die of the flu, although that is tragic, it is normal. When young adults start to die THAT is a warning sign worth looking at. It was the first sign that the 1918 flu was going to be such a big killer. This first appeared to be a storm in a teacup, especially as the reporting system was changed - which seemed to explain the elevated infection rate. But now it appears worth watching. Who can guess what the strain will do next?
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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jacksdad
Executive Admin Joined: September 08 2007 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 47251 |
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There seem to be a lot of weird things going on with H1N1, H7N9, and H3N2 right now. Do you think a virus can count to one hundred, because we're getting awful close to 2018.
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"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary. |
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