Two Questions To Ask About Bird Flu Vaccines

by John Hart

The results of a government-funded study show that very high doses of an avian influenza vaccine, supplied by Sanofi-Aventis, are needed to produce an immune response that should guard against the virus. 54% of the volunteers received two shots of 90 micrograms each, 28 days apart. A typical flu shot is 15 micrograms.

Based on the requirements seen in the study, the U.S. government's current stockpile of vaccines would provide enough for only about four million people, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases.

The problem isn't just a matter of dosage. It is also a matter of production. Flu vaccines are produced using hen's eggs,a 50-year old technology, if it can be called that. Automated machines inject hundreds of thousands of eggs, then an 11-day waiting period begins while the eggs incubate, brewing viruses that are then killed and bottled. To produce millions of the the final product takes about six months.

Then there's the question no one seems to be asking: if we plan to rely upon chicken eggs to incubate an H5N1 virus, how do we know the H5N1 virus won't kill the eggs? H5N1 already kills chickens. Shouldn't we assume it also kills a high percentage of chicken eggs? Sanofi-Aventis is spending $150 million of its own money building a new vaccine-making plant based on the theory that H5N1 won't kill the eggs. By the way, eggs have to be ordered many months in advance for this antiquated process.

And where does Sanofi-Aventis plan to get all these egg-laying chickens anyway? Millions of chickens have been slaughtered worldwide already and a pre-pandemic scenario could kill off whole U.S. chicken farms at once.

However, there is a new vaccine technology on the horizon. It's called cell-based vaccine. Giant vats of living cells, such as dog kidney cells, multiply and then are inoculated with the virus. There are two companies already in the marketplace, one in Holland, one in Germany, but the technology won't be widely available for years. The FDA must review the entire method before any equipment can be imported to the U.S.

Clearly, the U.S. has waited for a new virus to come along to spur vaccine research. We may have waited too long. H5N1 isn't waiting. It's figuring out how to mutate into human-to-human transmission. In fact, the rate of mutation is alarming. Dr. Robert Webster, Ph.D., Member, St. Jude Faculty Rose Marie Thomas Chair, calls H5N1 "the most frightening virus I've ever seen in 40 years of research."

If you and your family are counting on a vaccine to protect you against H5N1 (Avian Influenza), don't bet on it. There are still too many unanswered questions and too many risks.

About John Hart
Mr. Hart is a medical journalist/researcher, and the author of "Killer Bird Flu...Get Ready Now!" a paperback that outlines what families can do to get prepared for the coming pandemic. Learn more at http://www.buynanomask.com.

Discovery of new drug candidates to combat bird flu

As the specter of a worldwide outbreak of avian or "bird flu" lingers, health officials recognize that new drugs are desperately needed since some strains of the virus already have developed resistance to the current roster of anti-flu remedies.
Now, a team of UC San Diego scientists - with the help of resources at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), also at UC San Diego - have isolated more than two dozen promising and novel compounds from which new "designer drugs" might be developed to combat this disease. In some cases, the compounds appeared to be equal or stronger inhibitors than currently available anti-flu remedies.

"If those resistant strains begin to propagate, then that's when we're going to be in trouble, because we don't have any anti-virals active against them," said Rommie Amaro, a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry at UC San Diego. "So, we should have something as a backup, and that's exactly why we're working on this."

Avian flu has provoked considerable concern since humans have little or no immune protection against the virus. While flu vaccines are being developed, it could take up to nine months for an effective vaccine to be developed against any new strains, and could still be rendered ineffective if any new strains arise over that time. Should the virus gain the capacity to spread from person to person, the result could be a worldwide outbreak or pandemic.

"In light of the urgency to find drugs to combat this virus, we're hopeful that our results will assist in that effort," said J. Andrew McCammon, holder of the Joseph Mayer Chair of Theoretical Chemistry at UC San Diego and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Also participating in this study were researchers from the National Biomedical Computation Resource (NBCR), part of the Center for Research on Biological Systems and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology at UC San Diego, including Lily S. Cheng, co-first author; Don Xu; Wilfred Li; and Peter W. Arzberger.

The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, builds on prior work that captured the nanosecond-by-nanosecond movements of a protein called neuraminidase 1 (or N1), needed by the avian flu virus to spread infection to new cells. To help reveal the often-spasmodic motion of proteins, scientists work with molecular dynamics codes that simulate their movements as they obey the fundamental laws of physics. Such is the complexity of the mathematical calculations needed for these simulations that scientists often require the use of supercomputers. In this case, the researchers ran their data through a molecular dynamics program called NAMD - developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - on supercomputers at SDSC and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in Illinois.

Some surprising details emerged as the scientists watched the protein gyrate and wiggle over time. In particular, one region - dubbed a "hot pocket" - appeared to be quite dynamic and flexible. Amaro said the topology of this region and the amino acids linking the pocket are significantly different from what the scientists previously observed in a static image of the protein's crystal structure.

"Crystal structures are very important," she said. "They give us a real picture of the protein. But it's just one picture."

Over the past decade or so, scientists have come to realize that the sometimes colorful structures gleaned from standard crystallography studies are limited. Instead of a still-life painting, proteins act more like a moving picture, constantly twitching and jiggling, making the goal of finding a specific inhibitor somewhat daunting. It's somewhat like a baseball pitcher attempting to throw strikes to a catcher who's doing handsprings behind home plate.

Molecular dynamics simulations already have proved their value for other drug designs, said McCammon, one of the pioneers in the field. For example, the route to the development of raltegravir, an anti-integrase inhibitor recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to combat HIV, was discovered in McCammon's lab.

"The treatment of receptor flexibility with molecular dynamics simulations played a critical role in understanding the mechanism of action for this new class of inhibitors," said McCammon, a professor of Pharmacology at UC San Diego.

In their latest work, the scientists conducted a "virtual screen" of an ensemble of 1,883 compounds selected from the National Cancer Institute Diversity Set, using a computational tool called AutoDock that predicts how small molecules, such as drug candidates, bind to a receptor of a known three-dimensional structure. The goal was to try to determine which compounds fit best into the "hot pocket" region of N1. Generally, compounds that most easily bind to the site are considered to be top hits for validation and further optimization as drug candidates.

Five other compounds known to experimentally bind to avian influenza N1 were also screened, including drugs now available or in clinical trials.

The results were intriguing. About 27 compounds showed significant promise, all having potentially the same or stronger bonding affinity than current anti-flu drugs now available, including Tamiflu and Relenza. Several looked like particularly good candidates, Amaro said, since they bound to both the regular active site and an additional side pocket that opened during the computer simulation.

"The general idea is that we will be able to make a better drug through the strategic targeting of multiple active site pockets," said Amaro.

Added Cheng, former Pacific Rim Experience for Undergraduate student and NBCR researcher: "Importantly, half of these compounds would have been neglected based on the crystal structure simulations alone. Many of these drug leads would only have been found through the use of this computational method."

The research now moves into the lab, where the compounds will undergo testing against the virus. Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., led by Dr. Ian Wilson, will lead this phase of the research.

http://www.ucsd.edu/

Bird Flu Causes Symptoms Information With Treatment

By Juliet Cohen

Although their symptoms are similar, SARS is caused by completely different viruses. Influenza viruses also are more contagious and cannot be as readily contained as SARS by isolating people who have the infection. Scientists fear the bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in an extremely contagious and lethal disease.

The two viruses could recombine inside the victim's body, producing a hybrid that could readily spread from person to person. The grimmest scenario would be a global outbreak to rival the flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which claimed millions of lives worldwide. For now, researchers are trying to develop a vaccine that would protect people in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

Causes of Bird Flu

The common Causes of Bird Flu :

Bird flu (or Avian flu) is currently being used to describe the influenza virus, H5N1, which is producing a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease, leading to severe epidemics in birds.

Bird flu is caused by different subtypes of influenza A virus affecting chickens, ducks and other birds Viruses which cause mild disease can mutate into viruses that can cause serious disease (highly pathogenic).

Symptoms of Bird Flu

Some Symptoms of Bird Flu :

Cough

Fever

Sore throat

Muscle aches

conjunctivitis

Treatment of Bird Flu

Antiviral medications used to treat human flu viruses help to reduce the symptoms of bird flu, but it's not yet clear whether these work for the current type of bird flu.

Oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (brand name Relenza) antiviral medications used to treat regular flu may be helpful in the treatment of bird flu.

However, their effectiveness against the H5N1 subtype of the virus is uncertain, and there are also concerns about the availability and cost of these medications.

Juliet Cohen writes health articles for health diseases and disorders. She also writes articles on women beauty tips.

Avian influenza prevention and treatments

by Groshan Fabiola

vian influenza affects chickens and the poultry industry, recombined with the human influenza viruses form a totally new influenza virus to which people do not have protection that spreads in the population and that causes serious illness and death in humans. Bird Flu is an infectious disease of birds that can also affect people. It can present mild or severe forms of illness. The only subtype that can cause severe illness to people is Influenza A /H5N1 virus, initially it affects chickens, ducks and other birds by the process of mutation they can become highly pathogenic. If the bird flu virus recombines with a human flu virus and mutate it may become possible the transmission from human to human as happened in Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia Thailand, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Eygpt, China, and Iraq where people died. Bird flu affected Australia in 1997 but, was eradicated.

Water birds are supposed to carry the avian influenza type A virus inside their intestines and to distribute it in the environment through bird faeces.

Infection determines many symptoms in wild and domesticated birds from mild illnesses to highly contagious and severe epidemics. Among them a decline in activity and in egg production, facial swelling and bluish-violet colored combs and wattles, diarrhea, hemorrhages, paralysis, sudden deaths. Signes and symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar to other influenza viruses: sore throat and cough, fever, muscle weakness and/or pain with complications such as: severe viral pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, multi- organ failure, eye infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and heart.

Health experts have made research into tests and vaccines, and rigorous quarantine practices. Spanish flu was the worst influenza pandemic and occurred in 1918-19. There have been adopted governmental federal plans Australian Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza, to prevent an outbreak among poultry farms. Treatments of bird flu are antiviral drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu, but some of these drugs are expensive and supplies are limited. To prevent recombination of avian with the human influenza virus: is recommended a vaccine used against circulating strains in humans to those exposed to bird flu. A vaccine against bird flu is in development.

Suggestions for people travelling to affected countries:

Wash eggs thoroughly before breaking and wash your hands thoroughly after handling eggs. Don't go to farms or market places. Wash hands, utensils thoroughly after handling raw poultry. Cook poultry at high temperatures. You may get help from: a doctor, Avian Influenza Hotline, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Communicable Diseases Section.

Remember: Although bird flu is spread between birds it affects humans through bird faeces and discharges.

If you seem to get flu symptoms see immediately a doctor and explain him how exposed you have been to avian influenza.

About the Author
For more information about bird flu or even about bird flu treatment please review this page http://www.bird-flu-info-center.com/bird-flu-treatment.htm

Bird Flu Causes Symptoms Information with Treatment

by Juliet Cohen

Although their symptoms are similar, SARS is caused by completely different viruses. Influenza viruses also are more contagious and cannot be as readily contained as SARS by isolating people who have the infection. Scientists fear the bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in an extremely contagious and lethal disease The two viruses could recombine inside the victim's body, producing a hybrid that could readily spread from person to person. The grimmest scenario would be a global outbreak to rival the flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which claimed millions of lives worldwide. For now, researchers are trying to develop a vaccine that would protect people in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

Causes of Bird Flu

The common Causes of Bird Flu :

Bird flu (or Avian flu) is currently being used to describe the influenza virus, H5N1, which is producing a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease, leading to severe epidemics in birds.

Bird flu is caused by different subtypes of influenza A virus affecting chickens, ducks and other birds Viruses which cause mild disease can mutate into viruses that can cause serious disease (highly pathogenic).

Symptoms of Bird Flu

Some Symptoms of Bird Flu :

Cough

Fever

Sore throat

Muscle aches

conjunctivitis

Treatment of Bird Flu

Antiviral medications used to treat human flu viruses help to reduce the symptoms of bird flu, but it's not yet clear whether these work for the current type of bird flu.

Oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (brand name Relenza) antiviral medications used to treat regular flu may be helpful in the treatment of bird flu.

However, their effectiveness against the H5N1 subtype of the virus is uncertain, and there are also concerns about the availability and cost of these medications.

About the Author
Juliet Cohen writes health articles for health diseases and disorders. She also writes articles on women beauty tips.