BRISBANE, October 30 – Today the President of the Australian Medical Association warned that the current attention for the avian influenza might cause a sort of hype amongst the public.
Dr. Mukesh Haikerwal of the AMA shared his concerns about the general public reacting in utter despair to the news of the last few weeks. He urges that people do not try to get flu shots that might not even work or buy tablets, sprays or other drugs that aren’t even effective against a possible outbreak. He wanted the public to be sure that Australia is prepared for a potential pandemic but he also noted that there is no immediate danger of such a disaster. Bird to human transfers have been very scarce and only reported in Asia so far, where people live much closer to their poultry, and human to human transfers have not even been proven to occur so there is no direct danger for the public health.
Meanwhile Europe is experiencing an incredible spread of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain. Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and even England have seen cases of the H5N1 variant of the bird flu.
