6 May, 2015 AsiaNews.it Twitter AsiaNews.it Facebook            


e-mail this to a friend printable version

» 01/19/2006
There is no evidence that Tamiflu works against bird flu
Flu experts say they found no documented evidence that the drug Tamiflu is effective. In Beijing the world pledges US$ 1.9 billion in the battle against the virus. More outbreaks and deaths in China and Turkey have been announced.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – There is no credible evidence that Tamiflu works against the H5N1virus, but donors' conference raises US$ 1.9 billion to fight the outbreak.

In an article published in The Lancet medical journal today, researchers from the Cochrane Vaccines Field in Rome and the University of Queensland in Australia warn against over-reliance on Tamiflu. Focus should be on implementing quarantine measures and improving personal hygiene.

The researchers found that older antiviral drugs such as amantadine and rimantadine should not be used because they are ineffective and can cause adverse side effects such as hallucinations.

Yet, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is recommending governments stockpile Tamiflu even though the usefulness of the expensive measure is increasingly coming under criticism.

For Malik Peiris, professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, "[i]t is important that [. . .] people should not be panicking and taking these pills left right and centre."

"Tamiflu and Relenza," he said, "do shorten the course of the illness by one and half days or so. [But] it is not something dramatically different".

Meanwhile, the conference on the avian flu in Beijing ended with some 120 countries and organisations pledging US$ 1.9 billion to a global fund to fight the disease. The US will contribute US$ 334 million, the European Union, 250 million, and Japan, another 155 million. The money will go to prevention and to improve health services for people and animals. For poor countries, the aid is essential. Not only do they lack the resources to cope with the emergency but they are also the hardest hit.

About US$ 1 billion will go to poor countries in South-East Asia, where the virus has become endemic, and in other parts of the world such as Africa. The other 900 million will be available as loans for short-term and long-term programmes.

China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Turkey will benefit the most. Indonesia alone has asked for half a billion dollars to cull poultry at risk and compensate farmers.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao urged rich countries to open their wallets to beat the disease. China itself will spend US$ 10 million, the highest contribution for a developing country.

Countries participating in the conference also endorsed a Beijing Declaration, agreeing to "take further co-ordinated actions to strengthen disease surveillance and diagnostics, develop much-needed capacity in human and veterinary healthy systems, increase public awareness and address social and economic impacts".

The UN coordinator on avian and human influenza David Nabarro said resources were needed immediately because animal health services around the world are not strong enough to monitor bird flu outbreaks effectively and cull poultry flocks.

Margaret Chan, top WHO pandemic expert, told the conference that the cost of acting now was "peanuts" compared to the potential losses in the event of a pandemic.

According to the World Bank (WB), the economic cost to the world's economy of any pandemic could reach as much as US$ 800 billion and cause millions of dead.

"Past outbreaks have already cost more than $10 billion in economic losses," said WB Chairman Paul Wolfowitz.

China. A 35-year-old woman—who raised poultry in the village of Zhoujia, in the south-western province of Sichuan—probably died of the disease which she had contracted on January 3. The death, if confirmed, would take China's toll to six.

Iraq. Tests into the death of a 14-year-old girl who died on January 17 in Sulaimaniya are pending. She fell ill in Raniya, an area that receives migratory birds from neighbouring Turkey.

Syria. Birds in towns near the north-eastern border with Turkey have been culled and destroyed.

Turkey. The country's 21st case of bird flu in humans has been confirmed; it involves a four-year-old boy from the Dogubayazit district in the eastern province of Agri. Tests are underway on an 11-year-old girl from Mus province who died in Erzurum. (PB)

e-mail this to a friend printable version

See also
12/01/2005 CHINA
WHO urges China to share H5N1 virus samples
10/21/2005 CHINA
Beijing acknowledges bird flu situation is grave
12/30/2005 ASIA
WHO: China may have unidentified bird flu outbreaks
10/02/2006 CHINA
New bird flu outbreak, Beijing now working with WHO
09/21/2006 CHINA
Bird flu: Beijing must designate a focal point to immediately inform the WHO
WHO denies exaggerating bird flu pandemic threat
Avian flu: chicken farms to be inspected in Hong Kong
Bird flu risks stopping Turkey's economic growth
Bird flu: more than 1.5 billion dollars needed to stem infection
Avian flu: Between good and bad news
Indonesian 13-year-old girl dies of bird flu
Bird flu risks rise as Chinese New Year approaches
Two people in China sickened by bird flu have died
Bird flu reaches Istanbul
EU says Turkey's bird flu is lethal H5N1 strain
Bird flu at the gates of Europe, second death in Turkey
Bird flu: Hong Kong stops poultry imports from Sichuan
Bird flu and terrorism cast a shadow over pilgrimage to Makkah
Bird flu feared more virulent in Eastern Europe than in Asia
WHO: China may have unidentified bird flu outbreaks
Bird flu: in China WHO says many human cases unreported
Sixth human case of bird flu in China
Five-year old boy is Thailand's 14th bird flu victim
Farmer who blew the whistle on bird flu outbreak is arrested
WHO urges China to share H5N1 virus samples
Bird flu kills again in Indonesia
Bird flu 38 times more infectious than SARS
Bird flu: "Impossible" for China to vaccinate 14 billion birds
New human bird flu case confirmed in Vietnam
Two more suspected avian flu deaths in Indonesia and Vietnam
Asia-Pacific Rim leaders urge common action against avian flu
More outbreaks and human bird flu cases expected in China
China admits to first human case of bird flu
Avian flu: China might not be reporting every outbreak
Bird flu: scientists fear the virus has become "more contagious"
New human bird flu cases suspected in Vietnam and China
Bird flu suspected in new death in Indonesia
Prime Minister admits bird flu contagion peril
A new death from bird flu in Vietnam
China admits to three possible human cases of bird flu
Fifth bird flu victim in Indonesia
Bird flu pandemic would cost Asia 300 billion dollars
Pandemic would be a disaster for Asia's economy
In China newspapers can report on the bird flu only if authorised
Thai woman tests positive for bird flu
Bird flu in China very serious, say official sources
Two more bird flu deaths feared in Vietnam
In China no information about the dangers of the avian flu
Suspected new cases of bird flu in humans in China and Thailand
More birds infected in China but world leaders have few suggestions
Pandemic inevitable, say experts from around the world meeting in Canada
Bird flu: China and Thailand want tighter controls on bird farming and human housing
Beijing acknowledges bird flu situation is grave
Bird flu spreads and claims new victim in Thailand
Alarm bells sound in the West but the frontline against the bird flu is in Asia
Asian battleground key to beating bird flu virus
China: an incubator of bird flu
World ill-prepared to face bird flu pandemic
Suspect death in Jakarta fuels global bird flu fears
Bird flu: Ankara tries to allay western fears
Avian flue pandemic could kill up to 300 million people
Indonesia's bird flu toll is rising
Bird Flu: Are there risks, cures?

Editor's choices
Vietnam today, 40 years after the fall of Saigon
by Lee NguyenOn 30 April 1975, North Vietnamese forces seized Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, thus ending the Vietnam War. Forty years later, the country has become a medium-size economic "tiger" in Asia and the world, a country with a capitalist economy behind a Communist facade, under a regime still bent on exerting tight social controls. There are some positive signs for the Church, but also acts of persecution, bans, and censorship, especially against bishops and priests. Yet, the country really needs the reconciliation Christians can bring to heal still present wounds and divisions.
For Chaldean Patriarch, state secularism and religious freedom are the practical response to fundamentalist barbarism
by Louis Raphael I Sako*In Beirut, Mar Sako met the leaders of the Syriac Catholic and Syriac Orthodox Churches. Together, they agreed to a major conference to discuss the situation of Christians in the Middle East. Past massacres and today's tragedies are a lesson on which to base real coexistence. Reflecting upon the issues, His Beatitude shares his thoughts with AsiaNews readers.
Nepal earthquake: Church and international community coming to the aid of survivorsThe Italian Bishops’ Conference has pledged € 3 million in emergency medical assistance. The South Korean Church has allocated funds for the displaced. India, Pakistan and China are already on the ground. A Chinese airline has hiked ticket fares to evacuate its nationals. Israel is selective in its help, airlifting 25 children of surrogate mothers and gay couples.


by Giulio Aleni / (a cura di) Gianni Criveller
pp. 176