The Poultry Keeper The Independent Forum for Poultry Keepers    FAQ   Search     Register   Log in  HIV may help spread bird flu          The Poultry Keeper Forum Index -> Avian Flu & Farm Livestock Diseases Author Message stephen Site Admin Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 4874 Location: Billinge, Skåne, Sweden. Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:38 pm    Post subject: HIV may help spread bird flu From the BBC Quote: Bird flu could readily mutate into a pandemic form if it infects people with Aids, a flu expert has warned. Dr Robert Webster said it was possible people with Aids, who have depressed immune systems, could harbour the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. This would potentially give it the opportunity to become better adapted - and more dangerous - to humans. Dr Webster was speaking at a conference organised by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. At present, H5N1 cannot pass easily from human to human. It has so far infected around 125 people in South East Asia, but most of these have had intimate contact with infected birds. Experts fear that the widespread infection of birds in this region, coupled with the close mixing of birds and people, could lead to the virus evolving to pose a more deadly threat. But Dr Webster, of St Jude Children's Research Hospital im Memphis, said the key could be when H5N1 reaches East Africa, where HIV/Aids is rife. He said experience with immune-compromised cancer patients at his hospital had showed they are unable to clear normal flu virus from their systems, and can shed copies of the virus for weeks. The same could be expected of AIDS patients coming down with H5N1, he said. "We're all very worried by the prospect," he told the BBC. Reproducing over a long period inside a human would be the ideal conditions for more infectious forms of the virus to develop. H5N1 has not reached East Africa yet, but it is the final destination for many birds currently migrating from infected areas. Officials at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation expect to arrive there soon. They believe that because the social conditions are close to those in Asia, and farming practices are similar, the virus could take a grip among poultry as it has in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and China. Health expert Laurie Garrett adds that with malaria, tuberculosis and HIV already widespread in Africa, it will be difficult to single out the symptoms of bird flu in new victims - high fever and nausea. Particularly with the parlous state of the health systems there. The direct effect of H5N1 on people with Aids is hard to predict. The H5N1 virus overstimulates the immune system, and many of its powerful effects are caused by what medical expert call a "cytokine storm", after the immune molecules excited by the disease. It was the cytokine storm that overwhelmed so many victims of the 1918 flu pandemic. Aids patients may be spared that fate. But equally possible, with their immune defences down, they could succomb easily to the disease. "In that situation," said Laurie Garrett, "vast populations of HIV positive people could be obliterated by the pandemic flu." Back to top George Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:09 pm    Post subject: What a load of old codswallop I wish these so called experts would actually think about what they are saying rather than spreading unproven theories just to get themselves in the news. Back to top stephen Site Admin Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 4874 Location: Billinge, Skåne, Sweden. Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:31 pm    Post subject: It does seem that we are now into the teritory where any "expert" will get their 5 minutes to spout off anything. Back to top George Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:10 pm    Post subject: Yup, and it does annoy me Back to top summayah Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:03 am    Post subject: These kind of reports really upset me. It seems they have to pin the blame on someone, and there always has to be a scapegoat and it's always going to be a minority. When will these 'experts' grow up and stop stirring up hatred of one kind or another? Back to top poultry poofs Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 1796 Location: Wensleydale,North Yorkshire. Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:48 am    Post subject: If anyone is infected with HIV virus and has little or no immune system to fight off any infection and little chance against H5N1 flu, the first thing thats probably going to happen is they are going to die so how exactly are they going to become carriers of a new H5N1 to infect the rest of us. It seems that we are going over the same old ground covered when HIV and AIDS first surfaced and look for a group of people to pin responsibility for the disease on. Its evitable certain bigotries will surface from so called experts spouting off but to most of us the truth is apparent as they are just trying to scare people so much that Governments will have no choice politically but to pour millions into the organisations and companies these so called experts represent to develop a cure or vacine and no doubt some of this funding will find its way into other less popular areas of research. At a time when pharmaceutical companies are finding it harder and harder to market profitable drug lines what more ideal way to twist the arms of government purses then fuel the fires of panic. 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