Crucell Terug naar discussie overzicht

Draadje vogelgriep

1. [verwijderd] 17 januari 2006 14:49

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   in turkse kranten wordt melding gemaakt dat een russische farmafabriek injecties hebben klaarliggen die perfekt tegen de vogelgriep werken.
2. [verwijderd] 17 januari 2006 15:14

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   wat alle berichten betekenen is maar afwachten. Een hoop overheden hebben er belang bij geen paniek in de tent te krijgen en commerciele bedrijven hebben belang bij flinke investeringen en het aantrekken van geld. Als een bedrijf ook maar meent een verkooppraatje van antigriepmiddelen geloofwaardig te kunnen brengen, dan wordt de markt daarop getracteert...
   
   Aventis koos indertijd niet voor niets voor CRXL en ik ben van mening dat CRXL, zeker door de tijdwinst die de produktie op PerC6 biedt, tot de sterkste kanshebbers behoort om iets te bieden in de strijd tegen griep(ook bij pandemie).
   
   mvg ivet
   
   NB: via iex.nl kom ik er niet in, anderen ook last van?
3. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 07:48

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   ‘Bird Flu’ Infections in Humans Prompt New Investigation
   
   Newswise — In 1918, nearly 40 million people died in a flu pandemic. Three such pandemics have occurred during the last 100 years.
   
   When a new strain of flu infects people, the infection can spread around the world quickly. This is what could potentially happen with some new human flu viruses that come from bird flu viruses.
   
   “Recently, some strains of bird flu viruses have infected people in Asia,” said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “There is concern these new strains could cause a pandemic, but they are not infecting people in the United States at this time. Rather than wait for that possibility to occur, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is testing avian influenza vaccines.”
   
   The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, has tested a new H5N1 avian influenza vaccine in healthy adults at clinical sites across the country. Now that safety data are available from the first adult study, NIAID plans to test this vaccine in other populations. As part of this plan, Saint Louis University will be testing an investigational vaccine in children ages 2 to 9, a population that is especially vulnerable to acquiring influenza.
   
   Saint Louis University will conduct a research study using a killed flu virus vaccine for the bird flu virus, known as A/H5N1. This experimental vaccine was made the same way as “regular” flu vaccine that is given to people every year before flu season. In this study, researchers are evaluating the investigational vaccine’s safety and ability to stimulate antibodies, part of the body’s proteins that fight infections, in children. Study participants may receive two or three doses of the investigational vaccine. There is also a chance that participants will receive a placebo injection of saltwater instead of the investigational flu vaccine.
   
   One hundred twenty children will be vaccinated nationwide. Researchers in St. Louis are looking for healthy children ages 2 to 9 to participate in this study. Children who were previously vaccinated against the flu this flu season are eligible for the study.
   www.newswise.com/articles/view/517320/
4. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 07:52

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   quote:

   vinur schreef:

   in turkse kranten wordt melding gemaakt dat een russische farmafabriek injecties hebben klaarliggen die perfekt tegen de vogelgriep werken.
   

   Jan. 16, 2006 Russia Makes Bird Flu Vaccine
   Russia has made a bird flu vaccine to protect birds, said Eduard Dzhavadov, head of All-Russia’s Research Veterinary Institute of Poultry Breeding.
   “We have been working at this vaccine since past May,” Dzhavadov said promising to transfer the results to Rosselkhoznadzor (the supervising body for Russia’s agriculture) and Academy of Agricultural Science in one of these days. The officials of those bodies will decide whether we should carry out repeated tests or may forward the vaccine to production, Dzhavadov specified.
   
   Dzhavadov's scientists have developed separate vaccines against the high-pathogenic H5N1 virus and against the dangerous H7N1 virus, as well as the bivalent vaccine.
   www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=530&i...
   
   www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?New...
5. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 07:54

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   'EU wil grote voorraad antivogelgriepmedicijn'
   
   De Europese Unie overweegt een enorme voorraad antivirale middelen (archieffoto, oktober 2005) op te slaan om een uitbraak van vogelgriep bij de mens te kunnen bestrijden. ANP Photo
   PEKING (ANP) - De Europese Unie overweegt een enorme voorraad antivirale middelen op te slaan om een uitbraak van vogelgriep bij de mens te kunnen bestrijden. Dat heeft EU-commissaris Markos Kyprianou dinsdag aan het Britse persbureau Reuters gemeld.
   
   In april wordt het opzetten van zo'n voorraad binnen de unie besproken. Overigens is de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie ook bezig met het regelen van een reservevoorraad. Kyprianou: ,,We vonden het beter voor zowel de EU als voor de rest van de wereld als we hetzelfde doen voor Europese landen.'' De Cyprioot sprak in de wandelgangen van een congres in Peking over vogelgriep.
   
   Uit de voorraad zou een eerste uitbraak moeten worden beteugeld. Het is niet de bedoeling dat er genoeg antivirale middelen zijn voor alle Europeanen.
   
   Kyprianou noemde de Europese Unie overigens ,,de best voorbereide regio'' ter wereld. Volgens de eurocommissaris voor gezondheidszaken zijn de voorbereidingen voor uitbraken bij mens en dier al een jaar gaande. ,,En we houden ook rekening met de mogelijkheid van een pandemie.''
   
   
6. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 11:24

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   PEKING Op de donorconferentie in Peking
   over de vogelgriep is bij elkaar 1,9
   miljard dollar toegezegd.Dit bedrag is
   een stuk hoger dan de circa 1,5 miljard
   dollar die de Wereldbank had gevraagd.
   Het geld is bedoeld om de verspreiding
   van vogelgriep tegen te gaan.
   
   VN-topman Annan sprak de deelnemers toe
   in een videoboodschap.Volgens hem moet
   de hele wereld rekening houden met een
   grieppandemie.Een wereldwijde uitbraak
   van vogelgriep zou miljoenen mensen het
   leven kunnen kosten,zei Annan.
   
   De vogelgriep heeft aan zeker 79 mensen
   het leven gekost in Azië en Europa.Ze
   raakten besmet door ziek pluimvee.
7. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 12:00

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   Sanofi/Crucell: de enige echte oplossing vermoedelijk..ook voor de snel wisselende mutatie-vi-"russen"..!
   
   

   quote:

   invoorentegenspoed schreef:

   wat alle berichten betekenen is maar afwachten. Een hoop overheden hebben er belang bij geen paniek in de tent te krijgen en commerciele bedrijven hebben belang bij flinke investeringen en het aantrekken van geld. Als een bedrijf ook maar meent een verkooppraatje van antigriepmiddelen geloofwaardig te kunnen brengen, dan wordt de markt daarop getracteert...
   
   Aventis koos indertijd niet voor niets voor CRXL en ik ben van mening dat CRXL, zeker door de tijdwinst die de produktie op PerC6 biedt, tot de sterkste kanshebbers behoort om iets te bieden in de strijd tegen griep(ook bij pandemie).
   
   mvg ivet
   
   NB: via iex.nl kom ik er niet in, anderen ook last van?
   

8. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 12:45

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   JAKARTA (ANP) - Een 43-jarige Indonesische man, van wie twee kinderen vermoedelijk aan vogelgriep zijn overleden, is in een ziekenhuis in Bandung opgenomen met verschijnselen van dezelfde ziekte. Dat heeft het ministerie van Volksgezondheid in Jakarta woensdag meegedeeld.
   
   Dinsdag overleed het driejarige zoontje van de man, vermoedelijk aan vogelgriep. Een paar dagen daarvoor was zijn dertienjarige dochter overleden. Uit onderzoek bleek dat zij leed aan de dodelijke vogelgriepvariant H5N1. Testen moeten uitwijzen of de jongen ook was besmet. Het 13-jarige meisje is het dertiende slachtoffer in Indonesië.
   
   Een vijftienjarig meisje uit het gezin wordt in een ziekenhuis onderzocht, omdat ook zij symptomen vertoont van vogelgriep. De familie woont in West-Java.
   
   Het virus heeft zich eind vorig jaar vanuit Azië verspreid naar het Midden-Oosten en Europa. Turkije bevestigde maandag een vierde dode.
   
   
9. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 12:54

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   Nom d'un jus!! Het blijft maar doorgaan met dat griepnieuws.
   
   WANNEER gaat e.e.a vruchten afwerpen voor Sanofi en Crucell?
   Zeker is dat er meer nieuws volgt als het klinisch fase I onderzoek start in het voorjaar van 2006 in Noorwegen.
   Sanofi-Crucell is de ENIGE leverancier van op cellen gebaseerd pandemic vaccin aan FLUPAN, het gesubsidieerde research griepproject binnen de Europese Unie.
   
   Grtz,
   ZEKER
10. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 13:13

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    STMicroelectronics and Veredus Laboratories Team to
    
    Diagnose Avian Flu Using Rapid-Detection Point-of-Need Lab-on-Chip
    
    18.01.2006 - 06:04 Uhr, STMicroelectronics ]
    STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) and Veredus Laboratories today announced that they are
    developing a fast, point-of-need diagnostic capability that will enable health practitioners to quickly detect strains of Avian Flu and other influenza viruses. The diagnostic capability, which uses reliable and inexpensive equipment, produces results within approximately one hour of testing.
    
    Using STMicroelectronics' well-characterized In-Check (TM)platform, Veredus is developing an application to specifically identify whether a patient is infected with the Avian Flu (H5N1) or a
    subtype of Influenza A or B in a single test, instead of requiring many tests, as needed currently. To be available in time for the next
    flu season, the single-test application will be a substantial breakthrough in enabling rapid identification of the infectious agent
    to limit the spread of the disease and speed patients' treatment.
    
    The diagnostic effort is being built on STMicroelectronics'In-Check platform, a complete laboratory on a chip.
    
    Based on the encouraging results seen so far and following extensive testing and validation, the Veredus application, running on ST's In-Check platform, is expected to be commercially available to health care providers in the fall of this year.
    
    www.presseportal.de/story.htx?nr=774462
    
    
11. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 14:33

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    Jan 18, 2006 7:44 am US/Eastern
    
    Maryland Tests Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine
    
    (AP) ST. LOUIS Four national vaccine centers -- including one in Baltimore -- will test a bird flu vaccine for children, a population especially vulnerable to acquiring the flu.
    
    University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, University of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the University of California, in Los Angeles, will vaccinate 120 children -- ages two to nine -- in the coming months.
    
    The child vaccine studies follow similar investigations of a bird flu vaccine for adults, and will evaluate the vaccine's safety and ability to stimulate infection-fighting antibodies in children.
    
    wjz.com/topstories/local_story_018074...
    
    
12. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 16:43

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    Ook voor Vogelgriep?
    
    Peregrine Announces Acceleration of Its Tarvacin(TM) Anti-Viral Hepatitis C Clinical Program
    Wednesday January 18, 7:00 am ET
    - Patient Enrollment and Dosing in Initial Phase I Trial Now Scheduled for Completion in February -
    - Preliminary Phase I Safety Data to Be Presented at 'Viral Hepatitis in Drug Discovery and Development' Meeting on February 27 -
    
    TUSTIN, Calif., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM - News), a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, clinical-stage product candidates for viral diseases and cancer, today announced that it has accelerated its clinical program for Tarvacin(TM) Anti-Viral for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV). As a result of rapid enrollment in the Phase I HCV study, Peregrine is now targeting completion of patient dosing in February, several months ahead of initial estimates. Top-line safety data from the study will be presented by the company at the Viral Hepatitis in Drug Discovery and Development Meeting to be held in Boston on February 27, 2006. Tarvacin is also in a Phase I cancer trial for patients with advanced refractory solid tumors.
    
    "The initial success of our efforts to accelerate the HCV clinical trial program for Tarvacin Anti-Viral is gratifying in view of Tarvacin's promise as an important new treatment option for a number of viral infections, including chronic hepatitis C infection," said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine. "In anticipation of completing the Phase I study ahead of schedule, we are now initiating additional collaborations with leading researchers and institutions in the HCV field to advance Tarvacin Anti-Viral to the next phase of development."
    
    In the Phase I trial, a single dose of Tarvacin is being tested in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Data from the current study will enable the company to make preliminary assessments of Tarvacin's safety, drug distribution and clearance rates. Since patients with hepatitis C infection are being treated in this study, rather than healthy volunteers, data collected from the trial will be particularly relevant in designing repeat dose and combination therapy clinical trials that are expected to begin later this year. These additional studies will allow more complete assessments of the product's therapeutic potential.
    
    Tarvacin is a monoclonal antibody with unique anti-viral properties. It attaches to specific cellular components called phospholipids found on the surface of virus particles, including influenza and certain other virus strains, as well as on the outer surface of human host cells only when they are infected with these viruses. Tarvacin helps stimulate the body's natural immune defenses to destroy both the virus particles and the infected cells. Since the targeted phospholipids are not exposed on healthy cells, they are not affected by Tarvacin, which in studies to date appears to be safe and well tolerated. Tarvacin Anti-Viral is also in preclinical studies for potential use against influenza, HIV, cytomegalovirus and other life-threatening viruses.
    
    Similar to its anti-viral mechanism, Tarvacin also binds to phospholipids exposed on tumor blood vessels in all solid cancers tested to date, and it has shown promise in a number of preclinical cancer studies. Tarvacin Anti-Cancer is currently in a multi-center Phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced refractory solid tumors.
    
    About Peregrine
    
    Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative product candidates in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. The company is pursuing three separate clinical trials in cancer and anti-viral indications with its lead product candidates Tarvacin(TM) and Cotara®. Peregrine also has in-house manufacturing capabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (http://www.avidbio.com ), which provides development and bio-manufacturing services for both Peregrine and outside customers. Additional information about Peregrine can be found at www.peregrineinc.com
    
    biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060118/nyw067.ht...
    
    Site met anti virale middelen, oa. Tarvacin:
    pathmicro.med.sc.edu/lecture/chemo.htm
    
    
13. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 17:00

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    Vaccinatieplannen vogelgriep bijna klaar
    
    DEN HAAG (ANP) - De vaccinatieplannen die Nederland als maatregelen tegen de vogelgriep opstelt voor hobbykippen en commercieel pluimvee dat buiten loopt, zijn bijna klaar. Minister Veerman van Landbouw heeft dat woensdag aan de Tweede Kamer geschreven.
    
    In februari wil de bewindsman de plannen aan de Europees Commissie voorleggen. Uit de brief valt ook op te maken dat goedkeuring voor de vaccinatieplannen niet vanzelf komt. Zo overlegt Veerman met de Duitse autoriteiten ,,om daar mogelijke zorgen weg te nemen''.
    
    Zodra Brussel akkoord is met de preventieve vaccinatie van de kippen en ander pluimvee, wil de minister de dieren ,,zo spoedig mogelijk'' gaan inenten.
    
    www.nrc.nl/anp/binnenland/article1313...
    
14. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 17:54

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    By JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN
    DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
    January 17, 2006 4:00 p.m.
    
    WASHINGTON -- A study to look at the effectiveness in children of an experimental bird-flu vaccine by a unit of Paris-based Sanofi Aventis SA has started, researchers said.
    
    Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri started recruiting healthy children ages two through nine to participate in the study to test the vaccine, which is designed to protect against the H5N1 influenza strain that is mainly circulating among birds in Asia and parts of Europe. The virus has also infected humans and killed about 77 in Asia since 2003 and at least three children in Turkey this month.
    
    Health officials say infected humans caught the virus from contact with infected animals, but they are concerned the virus could gain the ability to easily spread among humans and spark the next world-wide flu pandemic.
    
    There currently is no vaccine available to protect humans against the bird flu but Sanofi is among the companies that has developed an experimental vaccine. Other companies working on a vaccine include Chiron Corp., Emeryville, Calif., which is being acquired by Swiss-based Novartis AG, and UK-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
    
    The National Institutes of Health started funding tests of the vaccine in adults last year. The initial results of those studies have suggested the vaccine works and is safe, so now NIH is opening up study of the vaccine to children.
    
    A total of about 120 children will be tested between now and April 2007 at four medical centers in the U.S., including Saint Louis University. The study is being funded by a unit of the National Institutes of Health. The other sites that are expected to soon begin recruiting about 30 patients each are the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles', vaccine research unit.
    
    Along with studying whether the vaccine works in children, researchers will be looking at what might be the best dose to use if the H5N1 strain were to cause a pandemic. Joe Muehlenkamp, a spokesman for Saint Louis University, said researchers there would be looking at a 45-microgram dose.
    
    The children in the study will receive at least two doses of the vaccine several weeks apart. Some might receive three doses, depending on how well the vaccine appears to be working. Researchers can measure a person's immune response measuring whether the body produces antibodies that would fight an influenza infection. Some of the children will receive injections of a placebo as part of a control group to compare those who will be given the real vaccine.
    
    Sanofi is providing the H5N1 vaccine under a contract from the U.S. government for the NIH tests and has also produced a bulk-form of the H5N1 vaccine for the nation's vaccine stockpile. The bulk form could then be used to quickly produce a vaccine if needed. However, the next influenza pandemic could be caused by a virus other than the H5N1 strain and would require new vaccines to be produced, a process that currently takes several months.
    
    
    
    
    
15. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 19:39

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    quote:

    Vasthouder schreef:

    PEKING Op de donorconferentie in Peking
    over de vogelgriep is bij elkaar 1,9
    miljard dollar toegezegd.Dit bedrag is
    een stuk hoger dan de circa 1,5 miljard
    dollar die de Wereldbank had gevraagd.
    Het geld is bedoeld om de verspreiding
    van vogelgriep tegen te gaan.
    
    VN-topman Annan sprak de deelnemers toe
    in een videoboodschap.Volgens hem moet
    de hele wereld rekening houden met een
    grieppandemie.Een wereldwijde uitbraak
    van vogelgriep zou miljoenen mensen het
    leven kunnen kosten,zei Annan.
    
    De vogelgriep heeft aan zeker 79 mensen
    het leven gekost in Azië en Europa.Ze
    raakten besmet door ziek pluimvee.
    

    The United States pledged the largest amount from a single country, $334 million, mostly in grants and technical assistance, while the World Bank made $500 million available in loans. The United States also said it will invest billions of dollars in the next three years to develop a human vaccine.
    news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060118/ap_on_he...
    _ylt=AnJ1zPGJ.Cz2T3t6l0raLD.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3czJjNGZoBHNlYwM3NTE-
16. [verwijderd] 18 januari 2006 21:38

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    ......en Nederland doet niet mee. Er werd blijkbaar geen nieuwe Nederlandse bijdrage aangekondigd in Peking.
17. [verwijderd] 19 januari 2006 06:45

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    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    But Dr Tom Jefferson and researchers of the Cochrane Collaboration, who reviewed more than 50 trials of the drugs, said they found no evidence that Relenza, which is sold by GlaxoSmithKline, or Roche's Tamiflu are effective against avian influenza.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    
    Newer flu drugs more effective than old: study
    Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:38 PM ET
    
    By Patricia Reaney
    
    LONDON (Reuters) - Older antiviral drugs amantadine and rimantidine should not be used to treat seasonal or pandemic influenza because they are not very effective and have serious side-effects, scientists said on Thursday.
    
    And newer drugs including Relenza and Tamiflu should only be used in serious flu epidemics and to fight bird flu with other preventive measures such as masks.
    
    But Dr Tom Jefferson and researchers of the Cochrane Collaboration, who reviewed more than 50 trials of the drugs, said they found no evidence that Relenza, which is sold by GlaxoSmithKline, or Roche's Tamiflu are effective against avian influenza.
    
    "These drugs should not be used routinely for seasonal influenza in the absence of a certain diagnosis of influenza A and B. We couldn't find any evidence of their effect on avian flu," Jefferson said in an interview.
    
    "They may or may not work (against avian flu)," he added.
    
    Governments around the globe are stockpiling Tamiflu and Relenza in case the H5N1 avian flu virus mutates into a pandemic strain that could become highly infectious in humans.
    
    In response to the review, Roche said Tamiflu's approval was based on the treatment and prevention of seasonal influenza.
    
    "To state that the drugs are not suitable for routine influenza control is entirely inappropriate, is inconsistent with regulatory opinions worldwide and is not supported by the data," said David Reddy, the company's flu pandemic taskforce head, in a conference call.
    
    RESISTANCE
    
    The researchers reviewed trials published during the past 40 years that assessed drugs against influenza and its complications and influenza-like illnesses.
    
    Influenza is caused by influenza A or B virus while influenza-like illness can be caused by a variety of different viruses.
    
    The findings of the Cochrane Review, which are published online by The Lancet medical journal, come less than a week after health officials in the United States advised doctors to stop using the older flu drugs.
    
    Jefferson and his team said both the older and newer drugs prevented or eased symptoms of influenza but they did not prevent infection. None of the drugs was effective against influenza-like illnesses.
    
    Amantadine and rimantidine also caused side effects such as hallucinations and agitation. The use of amantadine was linked to rapid viral resistance.
    
    The researchers expressed concern about use of the newer drugs against seasonal influenza because of concerns about resistance.
    
    "There is increasing evidence that widespread use of neuraminidase inhibitors in countries like Japan is causing increasing resistance," Jefferson said.
    
    The review also found that the newer drugs do not stop the virus being shed by an infected person, so people can catch the flu from someone who is being treated.
    
    Jefferson said if Tamiflu and Relenza are used to control a serious epidemic or pandemic, other measures such as masks, gowns, gloves, quarantine and hand-washing will be needed to prevent its spread.
    
    The Cochrane Collaboration is an international, independent organization that provides regular reviews about the effects of healthcare measures.
    
    
    
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    © Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
    
    
18. [verwijderd] 19 januari 2006 08:40

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    ANP - 19 januari 2006 07:58 printversie
    
    'Vertrouw niet teveel op Tamiflu'
    
    Medici hebben donderdag gewaarschuwd om in de voorbereidingen op een mogelijke wereldwijde uitbraak van vogelgriep niet te veel te vertrouwen op het medicijn Tamiflu. ANP Photo
    PARIJS (ANP) - Medici hebben donderdag gewaarschuwd om in de voorbereidingen op een mogelijke wereldwijde uitbraak van vogelgriep niet te veel te vertrouwen op het medicijn Tamiflu.
    
    De experts stellen in een donderdag verschenen artikel op de website van het vakblad The Lancet dat nog niet bewezen is dat het medicijn werkt tegen het H5N1-griepvirus. Bovendien zou Tamiflu mogelijk van weinig nut zijn als het ook voor mensen gevaarlijke dierenziekte muteert in een gevreesde pandemie.
    
    Onder controle
    
    Tamiflu is bedoeld om griepsymptomen te verminderen en de ziekte te verkorten. Het kan de ziekte niet voorkomen of volledig onder controle brengen.
    
    Wereldwijd slaan regeringen desondanks grote voorraden van het middel in. Zij hopen dat het medicijn de verspreiding van het virus zal remmen, mocht de H5N1-variant zich ooit aanpassen aan het menselijke griepvirus. Tamiflu kan dan op grote schaal in tabletvorm worden ingenomen.
    
    Het medicijn moet echter worden gebruikt samen met andere maatregelen, zoals het isoleren van zieke patiënten en de oproep aan burgers om mondkapjes te dragen en handen nauwkeurig te wassen, aldus de auteurs die talloze eerdere studies naar het medicijn met elkaar hebben vergeleken.
    
    Niet ziek
    
    Tamiflu, en het andere bekende antigriepmiddel Relenza, hebben bewezen dat ze bij seizoensgriep de symptomen verminderen. Ook verkorten ze de ziekte - mits de middelen binnen twee dagen nadat de patient zich ziek begon te voelen waren ingenomen - en bleken ze effectief tegen het ontstaan van longontsteking en bronchitis.
    
    De medicijnen waren echter niet werkzaam in ziektegevallen waarin mensen weliswaar besmet waren, maar zich niet ziek voelden. Op deze manier werd het virus in het geheim toch overgedragen, aldus onderzoeksleider Tom Jefferson uit Rome.
    
    
19. [verwijderd] 19 januari 2006 09:55

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    Aanvulling op eerdere berichten, er is nog geen bewijs, maar toch krijg ik de kriebels als ik dit lees:
    
    Nature 439, 248-249 (19 January 2006) | doi:10.1038/439248a
    
    Alarms ring over bird flu mutations
    Declan Butler
    
    Top of pageAbstractTurkish virus shows increased affinity for humans.
    
    Scientists studying virus samples from the human outbreak of avian flu in Turkey have identified three mutations in the virus's sequence. They say that at least two of these look likely to make the virus better adapted to humans.
    
    The Turkey outbreak is unusual, because of the large family clusters of cases; the fact that many of those infected have only mild symptoms; and the speed with which infections have arisen — twenty cases, including four deaths, in less than two weeks. So scientists are urgently trying to establish whether the virus is behaving differently in this outbreak from previous ones in Asia. In particular, international teams are investigating the possibility that the virus is moving between people.
    
    "With such a large number of cases within such a short period of time, human-to-human transmission is something that we've had to consider," says Maria Cheng, a spokeswoman at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva.
    
    As Nature went to press, samples from the first two teenagers in the country to die had been sequenced by a WHO collaborating centre at the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in London.
    
    The results so far are not comforting. The first mutation found, announced last week, involves a substitution in one sample of an amino acid at position 223 of the haemoagglutinin receptor protein. This protein allows the flu virus to bind to the receptors on the surface of its host's cells.
    
    This mutation has been observed twice before — in a father and son in Hong Kong in 2003, and in one fatal case in Vietnam last year. It increases the virus's ability to bind to human receptors, and decreases its affinity for poultry receptors, making strains with this mutation better adapted to infecting humans.
    
    The same sample also contained a mutation at position 153 of the haemoagglutinin protein, Nature has learned. Cheng says this information was not included in WHO statements, because "it is not clear what role this particular change plays".
    
    Finally, both samples from the Turkish teenagers show a substitution of glutamic acid with lycine, at position 627 of the polymerase protein, which the virus uses to replicate its genetic material. This mutation has been seen in other flu sequences from Eurasian poultry over the past year. It was also present in the one person who died during an outbreak of H7N7 in the Netherlands in 2003, and in a few people in Vietnam and Thailand.
    
    The recent outbreak of bird flu in Turkey has thrown up viruses with mutations that threaten humans.
    The polymerase mutation is one of the ten genetic changes that gave rise to the 1918 pandemic flu virus. Like the 223-haemoagglutinin mutation, it signals adaptation to humans, says Alan Hay, director of a WHO influenza laboratory at the NIMR. "There is this glutamic acid–lysine flip," he explains. "Glutamic acid is associated with flu-virus replication in birds, and lycine is in primates."
    
    The Turkey strains are the first in which the polymerase and receptor-binding mutations have been found together. They could make it easier for humans to catch the virus from poultry. But they might also favour human-to-human transmission. This is because the polymerase change helps the virus to survive in the cooler nasal regions of the respiratory tract, and the haemoagglutinin mutation encourages the virus to target receptors in the nose and throat, rather than lower down in the lungs. The virus is thought to be more likely to spread through droplets coughed from the nose and throat than from infections lower down.
    
    Hay points out, however, that it is difficult to predict how the mutations will actually influence the virus's behaviour. He adds that just two changes are unlikely to create efficient human-to-human transmission on their own.
    
    Establishing what effects these changes are having on the epidemiology of the current outbreak is a top priority for research teams working in Turkey. "We must learn more about the mild cases and be absolutely sure of whether these viruses are behaving differently from those we have seen elsewhere," says Hay. "It is early days in terms of what we know about the viruses causing these infections."
    
    Researchers are sequencing more strains from the Turkey cases, to see whether they share the mutations and to check for further changes. Samples were expected to arrive in London on 18 January, after being held up for more than a week in Turkey because of the Eid ul-Adha holiday period.
    
    www.nature.com/nature/journa...ll/439...
    
    
20. [verwijderd] 19 januari 2006 11:53

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    Cats and bird flu
    
    A news release about a just published article in the American Journal of Pathology (issue of January 16, 2006) has some mildly unsettling news. Dutch researchers have shown systemic spread of H5N1 in domestic cats (Rimmelzwaan et al., "Influenza A virus (H5N1) infection in cats causes systemic disease with potential novel routes of virus spread within and between hosts"). I haven't yet read the paper, but here is a summary, via innovations-report:
    
    While spread of avian influenza from bird to man is known to occur, as first reported during the 1997 Hong Kong outbreak, human-to-human spread is extremely rare. Thus, the disease events that take place during mammal-to-mammal spread are not well characterized.
    
    To assess the spread of H5N1 influenza virus in mammalian hosts, Rimmelzwaan et al. examined cats infected via the respiratory tract, via the digestive tract (by feeding on infected chicks), or by close contact with respiratory-infected cats. The researchers, led by Dr. Thijs Kuiken, then examined mucous membranes (throat, nasal, and rectal swabs) and organ systems (respiratory, digestive, nervous, cardiovascular, urinary, lymphoid, and endocrine) for the presence of virus and viral protein.
    
    As expected, all cats were infected with H5N1 virus and exhibited clinical signs of disease (fever, lethargy, labored breathing, etc.), and virus was detected in throat, nasal, and rectal swabs, regardless of the original site of infection. Most interesting, virus spread throughout the organ systems with virus being found in respiratory and digestive tracts, liver, kidney, heart, brain, and lymph nodes. Furthermore, examination of infected tissues revealed cellular damage at sites containing viral proteins, providing an explanation for the increased severity of disease in humans.
    
    These data underscore the potential for influenza virus to spread not only from the respiratory tract but also from the digestive and urinary tracts, greatly increasing the possible routes of mammalian transmission. Systemic disease has long been known to occur in birds, with the fecal-oral route of transmission being most important. However, this is the first demonstration of systemic replication in cats, providing a cautionary tale for humans regarding how influenza is spread and how the disease presents itself.
    
    Rimmelzwaan and colleagues caution that because of the systemic nature of avian influenza, "H5N1 virus infection needs to be included in the differential diagnosis of a broader range of clinical presentations than is currently done." In addition better understanding of the mechanisms of spread, including possible fecal-oral route in humans, "may limit the risk of H5N1 virus developing into a pandemic influenza virus."
    Cases of H5N1 in tigers and leopards in Thailand had already been reported, although cats don't usually get influenza.
    
    Van site met veel interessante informatie:
    
    effectmeasure.blogspot.com/
    
    Je zou denken dat ratten dan ook H5N1 kunnen overbrengen?