Expert on flu's spread says new strain here to stay
[cnn-photo-caption-image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/04/28/flu.computer.modeling/art.flu.expert.cnn.jpg]
Patrick Oppmann
CNN
Predicting the path of a swine flu outbreak is next to impossible, public health officials say. But Dr. Ira Longini has spent more than three decades trying to do just that.
And Longini says the apparent new strain of swine flu appears to be here to stay. "We are probably going to have to live with this virus for some time," he told CNN.
Longini specializes in the mathematical and statistical theory of epidemics. He works at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute at the Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
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Anderson, does the Theraflu that is sold over the counter as effective as the prescription Tamiflu?
So does this mean that Swine Flu has the potential to adapt and change like AIDS?
Is it harder for the elderly and young to survive the swine flu?
The companies that develop vaccines .. are private and not governmant supported. They are in an environment where generics are preferred.. and thus the drugs that provide the income for vaccine development is becoming increasingly limited. Most of the public are under the impression that the government develops these vaccines.. no they don't . Most are privately developed.
If drug companies are not able to see some returns.. with other compounds.. they cannot do research and developement in the area of vaccines. We need to decide whether the advancement in vaccines, and in general health care is important. The government is not the major supplier of new medical compounds!
How fast is this spreading in the united states?
Hello, And Thank You for Your Hard Work,
I remember reading in the last few years that people who wear acrylic nails can carry staph infection under them for at least 5 days.
If someone wearing acrylic nails sneezes and the contaminant goes under her nails, how long will it live?
Thank you,
Mary
I am just wondering how many suspected and possible cases are in the U.S currently? And will this flu come back in when flu season comes back and maybe even stronger?
How treatable is swine flu?
Is blood work the absolute best way to determine the Swine Flu From the regular seasonal flu....
So the people in the US that have the swine flu had recently been in Mexico. I wonder what the Americans and the Mexicans who are or were sick have in common – a restaurant, a school, a business gathering, etc? I'm sure some medical investigator is looking for links now and for the first patient (Patient 0) now; once found we may get answers to our questions of how big will this get and where did it come from...
Anderson, if people knew how many people are dying daily from the MERSA virus, they would not care about swine flu. MY brother died a few weeks ago and the young man in the ICU bed next to him died the day after he did. MERSA is everywhere and killing people in my area right outside D>C>