bird flu

With flu season right around the corner, inevitably health experts will once again sound the bird flu alarm. In the Wall Street Journal, primary care doctor Benjamin Brewer expresses his concern that the nation’s emergency departments will be pushed beyond capacity if a pandemic does hit the U.S. Many people head to the ER each year because of the flu, and dealing with these patients in addition to a bird flu outbreak would send ERs over the edge. But Brewer notes that there may be a simple Internet tool that can keep this from happening.

In order to avoid unnecessary visits to the ER, Brewer proposes that patients have access to an online questionnaire to see if their symptoms match that of the flu and require a trip to the ER. “At a time when influenza is occurring in a community, clinical guidelines--without an in-person exam--are about 77 percent accurate in diagnosing the illness, according to a study,” Brewer notes. If patient’s symptoms don’t match the questionnaire, then they can avoid a trip to the doctor’s office. If their results are positive, they would be told to receive treatment from a pharmacy.

With flu season right around the corner, health experts will once again sound the bird flu alarm. In his Wall Street Journal column, primary care doctor Benjamin Brewer agrees that the nation's emergency departments will be pushed beyond capacity if a pandemic does hit the U.S. But Brewer thinks that there's a simple Internet tool that can keep this from happening. Article

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The World Health Organization said that a cluster of bird flu deaths in the village of Kabu Sebalang on the Indonesian island of Sumatra is a potentially seminal event. The Associated Press quotes WHO spokesman Peter Cordingsly, who alarmingly calls the six deaths "the mother of all clusters." Cordingsly state, "This is the first time that we've been completely stumped about possible single-source infection."

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The World Health Organization is investigating reports of a cluster of suspicious bird flu deaths in Indonesia last week. After attending a family gathering on the northern island of Sumatra, eight family members fell ill. Six of those present at the gathering died. Tests confirmed the presence H5N1, the virus that causes bird flu. WHO spokeswoman Sari Setiogi says the cluster is the largest seen in Indonesia.

- see this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

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