Yahoo! News - CDC Chief: Bird Flu Could Become Epidemic
Yahoo! News - CDC Chief: Bird Flu Could Become Epidemic

Mama Nomad sends me a lot of stuff on epidemics. This one looks like it may be scarier than SARS, but until it develops a strain that passes consistantly and potently from human to human, I'm inclined not to worry very much... although I may withdraw my application for a job as a Hong Kong poultry inspector.

It's probably a matter of time before we get a major epidemic that rocks the globe. On the other hand, healthcare and other factors have improved greatly since the 1918 pandemic, which might sap a massive outbreak of its killing power.

I'm talking out of my layman's posterior here, but it would seem to me that antibiotics would help to prevent secondary infections from killing those who survived, but were weakened by the viral outbreak. It also seems to me that simple developments in medical care, such as IV hydration and nutrition, the use of anti-inflammatories, and advances in hospital sanitation would be a great aid in preventing loss of life as the result of an epidemic.

On the other side of the equation, we have a population of elderly whose lives have been prolonged by modern medical science. It is possible that, in this population, whose strength I'm presuming to be much less than that of the rest of the population, there would be a high mortality rate. Of course, in countries where medical treatment is substandard, any major outbreak is going to be deadlier than it would be here, in other Western countries or Japan. - served up by Nomad @ 12:30 PM