France Prepares For Avian Flu Pandemic
France is takinig bigger steps than most Western countries to prepare for a potential avian flu pandemic.
French newspaper Liberation said the government had already acquired 5 million doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, produced by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, and was planning to raise the level to 14 million by the year end.
France has a population of over 60 million people. Not all the population would get sick. 14 million Tamiflu doses might be enough if many steps were taken to reduce the rate of transmission of the flu virus.
The French government is also negotiating contracts to produce large stocks of flu vaccines. But pre-stocking flu vaccines might not work since the avian H5N1 viruses in birds are still mutating. If a viable strain emerges in humans it might look antigenically very different than any strain used now to base a vaccine on.
The French government is also purchasing a couple hundred million face masks.
The number of protective face masks in stock would be increased to 200 million by the start of next year from 50 million.
One wonders how long these masks would last. The 3M N100 and P100 masks last for 150 hours. However, most masks last for about an order of magnitude less time. Therefore individuals out in public all day would need many masks to get through the length of time of a pandemic.
French newspaper Liberation said the government had already acquired 5 million doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, produced by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, and was planning to raise the level to 14 million by the year end.
France has a population of over 60 million people. Not all the population would get sick. 14 million Tamiflu doses might be enough if many steps were taken to reduce the rate of transmission of the flu virus.
The French government is also negotiating contracts to produce large stocks of flu vaccines. But pre-stocking flu vaccines might not work since the avian H5N1 viruses in birds are still mutating. If a viable strain emerges in humans it might look antigenically very different than any strain used now to base a vaccine on.
The French government is also purchasing a couple hundred million face masks.
The number of protective face masks in stock would be increased to 200 million by the start of next year from 50 million.
One wonders how long these masks would last. The 3M N100 and P100 masks last for 150 hours. However, most masks last for about an order of magnitude less time. Therefore individuals out in public all day would need many masks to get through the length of time of a pandemic.
posted by ... at 1:00 PM
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