Tamiflu - do you trust the gov to stock it?

[Frizbe]

Well according to newsnight, gov don't seem very prepared.....here's what moneyshopper have to say about it
birdflu

can we buy it?

apparently yes! although looks like we have to import it, although haven't checked ebay yet!

need to be sure you're getting the genuine thing though

Sure do, the link has a few tips on things to look out for when buying.....scarey stuff tho, sounds like all the co's that produce the stuff have stockpiles for their employees.....and the necessary people are covered, the rest of us are mere lambs to the slaughter....

cant we just go to a private hospital here and ask for it?

The gist was, you can try, but they may not have the stocks!

I think that this is being seriously overhyped. I work for a PCT and our Public Health Director doesn't seem to be particularly worried about it (although he is a particularly laid back sort of guy). There are flu pandemic plans in place, and you have to wonder if the drug companies aren't encouraging anxiety... The other thing is that it is not a good idea to self medicate in general, and you may run the risk of helping with drug resistance (think MRSA). Finally I'm not sure about anti viral medicines, but many medicines, (especially vaccines) have to be stored very carefully in order to ensure they keep their potency. I agree it is scary though!

Agree with you re the over hype, but I have a gp friend, who is also seriously worried, which tends not to help! guess we'll just have to wait and see!

There is a great deal of media Hype over this. With breaking news this morning that it is the 'right' strain in Romania. At no point did they make the point that this is still not transmissable between people.

We are all at far more risk when we get into our cars this morning.

Do I trust the Govt to stock enough? Not a chance! I can just hear the aftermath now,'this must never happen again..very sorry blah, blah' All the usual platitudes

IIRC when Tamiflu was launched the issue was it had to be taken very quickly - within the first 48 hours of having flu. Everyone scoffed at it, thinking 'well, that's no use, who is going to go to the doctors so early? Not the patients who need it eg the elderly'.

The drug company is manufacturing as fast as it can but it takes time to bring your production up to these levels. Won't have enough for the whole country until next year. Someone on here, think HMB? used to work for a drug co so will know more about this.

I'm hmb

Don't know enough aboput the production time for this drug to comment. One this I would say is that since they will make money on it, I would imagine that they are pulling out all the stops to supply as much as possible.

One thing about the vaccine. It cann't be developed untill the new antigen combination has emerged. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day over this but those are the simple scientific facts, I'm afraid.

I think the logic of the importance of flu vaccine being greater this year is that the fewer people who have regular human flu the less opportunity would there be for the crossing of bird flu and human flu to create the new strain which can't have a vaccine until it has evolved. Similarly the better contained bird flu is the less likelihood of the cross over.

At the moment it is a bird disease to all intents and purposes, but as with other things of this nature the problem lies in Asia and the ability to exercise control there which is where the greatest plans in the West fall down.

And just to help put some of this in perspective, bird flu and swine flu have always been a probelm in the East (because of farming methods anbd animal husbandry practices). I was taught aboiut this in the 1980s while at university. It had been know for a long time before that.

While it is prudent to be well informend and well prepared it isn't helpful to panic in advance of something which may not happen.

60 people dies if this in the East, which is awful. Thousnads of children die each day of diaarhoea....but the press don't report that, there is nothing to panic the complacent west in that.

Remember the Sars panic..in retrospect it was quite hyped up and media induced panic...

the flu pandemic will happen at some point because of the nature of disease evolution/spread, whether or not it is related to bird flu

Ohh, HMB/martianbishop....Could I hire you to make me feel better about this?

I'm absolutley petrified by this but your posts on this thread have made me feel marginally better.

I wish I was a science teacher too!

Just to add what martianbishop said, My Mum had a mysterious illness 7 years ago, she was in hospital and having severe breathing difficulties, all a bit touch and go at the time, to this day they have no idea what she had but one of the first questions they asked her was if she had been to the East recently and had she been in contact with birds, they mentioned brid flu. None of us knew what it was so we didnt really pay much attention, this was 7 years ago, so yes it does sound like its been around for a long time. By the way she made a full recovery.

But I'm still a tad concerned......

aye, me too! not made any better by Dr friend ringing me with the argh mess the NHS is in about dealing with this.....

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