yeah the vaccine doesn't work and tamiflu is a v best modest.
heres a thought. according to the cmo yesterday, all nhs staff, and he named
GPs first, will be required to see these pts at home (duty of care etc)
coughing trillions of lethal virus over us. all we'll be offered in
protection is a face mask (not even a respirator) and tamiflu. if i got the
virus and died, would my widowed family be able to sue the NHS for breaching
their duty of care to me to provide proper protection for its staff against
a known serious threat. remember in the 1970s birmingham med school got
seriously fined when smallpox virus leaked out and killed a secretary- and
that was an accident.Here the NHS would be requiring its staff to expose
themselves lethally.
any chance the BMA lawyers have an answer to this one? eh fay?!
>From: Chris Salter <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: GP-UK <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: avian flu
>Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 14:50:21 +0100
>
>Hello Mary and GP-UK,
>
>Saturday, October 15, 2005, 6:46:50 PM, Mary wrote:
>
> > In message <[log in to unmask]>, Chris Salter
> > <[log in to unmask]> writes
>
> >>Saturday, October 15, 2005, 9:17:43 AM, Mary wrote:
>
> >>> Should we be asking for space suits as well? How effective are they in
> >>> cases of 'flu? If they were useful in SARS, why weren't we told?
> >>
> >>> My instinct would be to stockpile supplies and keep home in
>isolation...
> >>
> >>I have arrived at much the same conclusion although it raises a number
> >>of issues. One of which is should patients on long-term medication be
> >>allowed/encouraged where practical to obtain say six months supply
> >>with a repeat two months before their supply runs out? In the event of
> >>a significant outbreak the Government advice may well be to stay
> >>indoors so the last thing you would want to do is travel to the local
> >>pharmacist to pick up your prescription. What does the team think?
>
> > At the millennium - when we didn't know whether the worst case scenario
> > might occur - I did something like that for some of my patients.
> > The shelf life of insulin - which has a very long production/supply
> > chain and is not manufactured in the UK - is 3 months in the
> > refrigerator: prednisolone for asthmatics is cheaper and lasts
> > longer.....
> > I recommended a months supply of food which did not require cooking -
> > and bought a wind-up radio and dynamo torch for myself...
>
>While some may well wish to plan for the worst case scenario (e.g.
>DEFCON 1 Equivalent [Note 1]) I was thinking more in terms of 'DEFCON
>3'. In the Millennium Bug scenario, utilities would have failed
>because the control systems failed. If a bird flu pandemic takes out
>the workforce to the point that utilities fail we are all in deep
>trouble! From a less pessimistic viewpoint, I am focusing on the point
>when some form of outbreak (human infection) may appear *very likely*
>but before the Government advises 'stay at home'. I admit that at the
>moment I am not at all sure how that point would be determined but
>suspect we will get a better idea as the weeks and months pass.
>
> > A bird flu epidemic would be worse: if patients are advised to stay at
> > home, who is going to make deliveries?
>
>It *seems* a reasonable assumption that there are plans for
>distributing these millions of doses of antivirals that don't
>contribute to spreading the infection! However, I must reemphasize
>that I am suggesting that patients obtain a reasonable stock of
>existing long-term medications *before* the risk in doing so becomes
>significant.
>
> > Joking aside, surely the first thing would be to close the schools?
> > Can't think why it wasn't done in the last food poisoning outbreak..
>
>I would guess that if contingency plans are not *already* in place
>most decisions are taken later than is probably desirable.
>
> > MaryH
> > PS would your pharmacist be *able* to fill the prescription?
>
>See above.
>
>Chris
>
>Note 1.
>
>DEFCON DEFense CONdition
>http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/defcon.htm
>
>
>--
> Chris Salter mailto:[log in to unmask]
> Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network http://www.lincolnshirepostpolio.org.uk/
> Polio and Post-Polio News
>http://mt.lincolnshirepostpolio.org.uk/pandppnews/
|