What Can I Do For Myself To Protect Against Bird Flu?
Perhaps one of the first things to explain is that this website was never intended to scare people with some idea that we are facing extinction by some 21st century equivalent of The Plague. We are not.
We are simply attempting to point out that a new disease is threatening a level of casualties and social dislocation that is going to be made worse by our governments' obstinate refusal to draw up any meaningful plans!
You can take steps to make life easier for yourself if you just accept that there could be a problem ahead - and that no-one else is
doing any planning on your behalf...
Just accept that there could be problems for a while, and that a bit of careful planning will pay off...
Actions that we can all take are divided into 3 categories:
"Medical" - some suggestions as to how you might reduce your chances of getting ill, or be more comfortable if you do - maybe even increase your chances of surviving!
"Social" -
make some preparations so that if things become a bit disorganised for a while you will have come up with some strategies to cope better than some-one who hasn't...
"Political" - accept some responsibility yourself for trying to change things! A bit difficult if you are British obviously, but
try complaining? The politicians and medical people who are planning to let you down are actually employed to be your "civil servants". They are employed to attend to your well-being, and they are accountable to you. You should not be content with the way that they are looking after themselves but failing to plan for you - try complaining! Ask awkward questions!
MEDICAL
Sorry, but there are no miracle drugs that are being withheld from you.
However, you are free to make up you own mind as to what might be useful - now that you have been alerted to the fact that there is an imminent problem..
In the US and throughout Europe it is easier to buy medications without a prescription than in the UK. Good luck to you, but do buy from a reputable source. (The internet is not the safest place to buy.) If you are stuck in the UK, your principal problem is that the authorities insist on controlling the drugs available to you - for you own safety, of course - however you are then completely stuffed if you disagree with their policies and want to take your own precautions. A short visit abroad may enable you to purchase medicines that you could not buy openly at home. The internet can actually be used to find safe sources of "private prescriptions" because these should be approved by a qualified doctor and dispensed via a recognised pharmacy. Your own General Practitioner may be helpful, may write you a private prescription - but don't hold you breath... (Even if they do, the local NHS pharmacy may not be able to obtain stocks to dispense to you.)
Those in power are stocking up Tamiflu and Relenza for themselves. I'm not convinced that there is much evidence that they are helpful, but if you are then make you own efforts to obtain some.
There is no vaccine against H5N1, and the standard vaccine is not likely to be effective against it, however if you are able to get a standard vaccination it won't do much harm will it?
There is now a widely available vaccine against Pneumococcus - the germ that causes pneumonia. Remember that the majority of deaths from influenza are always the opportunistic infections that set up home after the lungs have been damaged by the virus. Get this jab if you can. (It is now being offered free in the UK to "at risk" groups.)
For that matter, any antibiotic that you can get hold of may be of use in stopping the initial infection going from bad to worse. Sure, antibiotics don't work against viral infections so they are no good against flu, but if the biggest risk is that a bacterial infection will get you afterwards, then it could be useful to have some antibiotics. Hoarding something left over from your last prescription could be handy, or again, you could try a private prescription or weekend jaunt abroad. (Or chat up a nurse - I've never met one yet that hadn't got a cupboard full of medicines that "fell off the back of a hospital".)
There have been a few suggestions that some other medicines may have been helpful in treating the few people who have caught Bird Flu from birds... These include the ACE inhibitors often given for high blood pressure, the statins prescribed for high cholesterol, and the steroids that are given for some breathing problems.
None of these has received any substantial scientific endorsement, so don't go off to buy them if you don't have them already. But hey, if you are being prescribed these already then why not ensure that you have good stocks and that you continue to take them if you get flu! How easy it would be to feel dreadful with the flu, and think that today it doesn't really matter about the usual pills for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or something else mundane... Take them!
Improved levels of hygiene may help. There are many suggestions for disinfectants and masks etc that are made by all sorts of companies. I have always thought such things unnecessary because I have never regarded a dose of cold or flu as life-threatening. however maybe this time around it could be worth taking those extra precautions...
It seems to be quite a familiar sight these days on news footage from countries in the Far East that everyone walks around with a face mask on to ward off traffic fumes, clouds of pollution or infections. We Brits are far too self-conscious for that - maybe this time we need to risk looking stupid and stay a bit safer?
I have no personal experience of these precautions, except Tea tree, so I will recommend nothing specific.
You wouldn't expect that there would be much point in stocking up on aspirin, paracetamol, cough sweets and all that other stuff, would you? But yes, whatever you usually find is helpful in making the experience of colds and flu more tolerable, get them in!
It isn't a matter of surviving some terrible pestilence, it is about "coping". And sadly, with the lack of central government planning, there is a significant risk that a high level of infections will bring social dislocation in the form of disrupted manufacture, supply and distribution of the most normal items. so get yourself a cupboard full! (We are not advocating panic-buying and stockpiling, just sensible forward planning. )
SOCIAL
That previous point is a very important one... This whole website isn't some conspiracy theory that zillions of people will die because of callous neglect by our governments - it is about a bad time coming, and how it will be worse than need be just because they won't be honest with us and make some sensible plans.
If we are likely to experience 20% of the workforce off sick with flu over a substantial period, then that alone is going to cause problems of manufacture, supply and distribution.
If there are 20% of the doctors, nurses, hospital staff and pharmacists sick like the rest of us and off work, it is going to mean that standard procedures for the prescription of even routine medical supplies are going to be disrupted. So make sure you plan in advance and have good stocks!
And if 20% of the delivery drivers, warehousemen and checkout staff are at home in bed, you better believe it - soon there will be shortages of lots of other stuff as well.
And it isn't about them letting down us...
Be realistic, the word is that H5N1 infections hit fast. Why leave it until the last minute?
If and when we start to experience a Bird Flu pandemic it will arrive fast and strike fast. If you wake up one morning feeling bad it will be too late to pop out for some last minute shopping!
Do it now...
Besides a cupboard full of flu remedies and cough sweets, why not stock up on other things? We're not talking about bread and other perishables, just sensible stocks of soup, toilet paper and whatever else might get you though a week or two in bed feeling terrible.
Remember, we have become accustomed to getting a cold and "throwing a sicky" by ringing work and saying that we have flu. The advice from doctors is actually this - if you are well enough to get out of bed, wander around moaning about flu, then call work to tell them you have flu, then you probably haven't got flu! If you have flu, real flu, you generally feel too bad to get out of bed!
Be prepared for the fact that Bird Flu may feel even worse - and will come on so fast you have not time to go shopping or do any of the other things that you have put off until the last minute...
SOCIAL
Ask your GP or their Practice Nurse what is their policy regarding Bird Flu (the coming human-to-human variety).
They are charged with caring for your health, and you have a right to know.
You pay their salaries, so you have a right to ask...
You may be English, but you are still allowed to embarrass people!
If they say it unlikely that there will be a pandemic, remind them of what Liam Donaldson said. "It isn't a matte of if, but of when..."
If they say there will be a vaccine, point out that there is none.
If they say there will be drugs to help, ask them which ones?
Ask them if it is correct that there may be some Tamiflu for them, but that there certainly won't be any Tamiflu for you.
Your area also has a Consultant in Communicative Disease Control (CCDC) who is paid to have a policy on this sort of thing.
You also have a Community Health Council or somesuch that is required to help you get answers.
And you have a Member of Parliament who is paid to represent your best interests...
Ask them why there is no policy to stockpile and distribute antibiotics other than using the existing NHS system of prescriptions?
One fact is that many deaths from infections like flu are caused not by the virus but by other infections that can then get into the damaged lungs (such as pneumonia) – we have antibiotics for conditions like this, but the demand is likely to exceed the system of waiting for a prescription from your GP then taking the piece of paper to a local pharmacy …
Why aren't the authorities planning for an emergency?
All these people are likely to be striving to get themselves on the priority list for treatment.
You really have a right to ask questions of them... If you don't, you will really have no-one else to blame except yourself...
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