Some more details on what might be done. Right now, we have a not-too-great experimental vaccine and insufficient supplies of Tamiflu to try and limit the viral impact if you get infected. But there are other options. A specialist emailed me to point out the following:
Tamiflu is mentioned because it’s the only drug that works against both influenza A and influenza B strains. However, pandemic influenza is type A and the current “bird flu” H5N1 is also type A. For this we have two other drugs which are approved for treating type A infleunza – amantadine and rimandatine. Both are available as generic and are much cheaper/ should be easier to get.
Where are the feds on that one? Amantadine will not help avian flu as it now is – but a single new mutation could make the flu vulnerable to it; and it cannot hurt to have big supplies of it ready to go. Small things can cause big shifts in an epidemic’s reach. The Canadian government has stockpiled a big supply – which may save many lives in the early days of a pandemic. So have many other countries. Other possible drugs – to ward off flu in the uninfected and weaken it in the infected – include oseltamivir and zanamivir (the side-effects suck). According to this article, “The United States is doing nothing to assure an adequate supply of these drugs.” Given what we know of the Bush administration’s competence, why am I not surprised? At my next doctor’s visit, I’m going to request my own supply of all these drugs, just in case. You might think about it as well. In a national emergency in the U.S. under Bush, you’re on your own. Next time, we shouldn’t be shocked by federal ineptitude. We should just prepare to save ourselves.
The Dish 