After reading my colleagues’ comments on the discussion fora of the harmfulness of playing our ace too soon, I bear the shame of being one of those low-risk (fairly) fit, (relatively) young people with a mild self-limiting viral illness who is consuming the precious stocks of Tamiflu and probably helping develop the resistant strains which […]
Tag: pandemic
Juliet Walker: BMJ in the news
The swine flu pandemic has dominated the news in the last few days. In a BMJ editorial, Richard Coker argues that, “as the virus is present in several countries, trying to contain it is probably not feasible any more. Efforts should now focus mainly on mitigation… Poorer countries are most vulnerable because they have underdeveloped […]
Adrian Gonzalez on swine flu in Mexico
In 2003 I was at the BMJ’s offices in Tavistock Square, London, when China’s SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic was at its peak. At that time the risk of infection seemed far away. Today is different; I’m living and working in Tlalpan, the district of Mexico City that holds the largest concentration of hospitals […]
Jane Parry on flu
Hong Kongers have lived through more than their fair share of bird flu scares across the border in China over the last few years, and, of course, Sars in 2003 when 299 people in the city died of the disease. Then there was the cull of Hong Kong’s entire poultry population back in 1997. It’s […]