Re: Pandemic Flu - Thread II
CIDRAP on Tamiflu resistance:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/
content/influenza/avianflu/news/jan1807tamiflu.html Originally Posted by [URL="http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/
influenza/avianflu/news/jan1807tamiflu.html" http://www.cidrap.
umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jan1807tamiflu.
html[/url]
Fred Hayden, a WHO avian flu and antiviral expert, told the
Associated Press (AP) today the drug-resistant strains in the
Egyptian patients likely developed after they were treated
with oseltamivir. He said a more worrying scenario would be if
oseltamivir-resistant strains were circulating in birds.
I would suggest that the more worrying scenario has occurred.
If the WHO and its associated labs had not been witholding viral
sequences, this would have been obvious before now.
Let's look at this again:
http://www.recombinomics.
com/News/01190701/H5N1_Egypt_N294S_Transmission.html
The WHO says that the significant change, N274S was in a
patient in Vietnam in 2005, but these sequences have never
been publicly available thru Genbank or Los Alamos. So right
now, we have to take their word for it because the sequences
must be in their private database yet again. You can however,
see that oseltamivir-resistant strains were circulating in birds
prior to the illness of the cases in Egypt because those
sequences are available in a public data base. The
polymorphism of concern here is presently in circulation
and was in circulation prior to the Egyptian cases.
The WHO would like us to believe that Tamiflu resistance
developed with 48 hours of treatment. I guess it could happen
but it seems unlikely given the prior existence of this change
in wild birds.
The information about these changes in H5N1 would not be
available to us if not for the transparency of the US Naval Lab,
NAMRU-3. The WHO was forced to make a statement because of this.
This is what it takes to make them tell us the truth or at least part
of the truth.
I know that it is not politically correct for me to have this opinion.
But, there it is. The WHO statement is more spin.
Here are the wild duck sequences with this change:
DQ997411 A/duck/Zhejiang/bj/2002 NA (6) 1458 2002 H5N1
AY075034 A/Duck/Hong Kong/380.5/2001 NA (6) 1427 2001 H5N1
No doubt there are more available in those private databases.
Please be aware that the US has recently begun the purchase and stockpiling of Relenza.
Unfortunately, Relenza may be less effective than Tamiflu in
slowing down H5N1 replication in a wide range of patients.
It is also worth noting that Relenza is inhaled, but H5N1 can spread
and infect multiple organs outside of the respiratory tract.
Also, Relenza is contraindicated in those with asthma,
it induces bronchospasms. Amantadine has the potential
to be potentially fatal for those with cardiac or renal problems.
Another point to make as per Dr. Niman:
"... after 2 days there was no hint of wild type H5N1, and no
hint of the common Tamiflu resistance marker, H274Y. There
also was no clinical response.
If N294S was from Tamiflu treatment, then by day 2 all of the
wild type H5N1 would have to have been killed off and replaced
by the "mutant" with N294S. However, this switch was without
any benefit to the patient, because there was no temporary clinical improvement, and this VERY unlikely set of dramatic changes
had to happen independently in BOTH patients.
Didn't happen."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newest Egyptian Case, already dead. No doubt there will
be much speculation about the viral sequences. She was only
27 years old, and
mother to a newborn.
http://www.news.com.au/
couriermail/story/0,23739,21089391-5003402,00.html
Commentary - Recombinomics:
http://www.recombinomics.com/
News/01190702/H5N1_Egypt_Fatal_5.html 
Nursing News