Tamiflu To Be Dispatched Immediately

Ukmedix is monitoring the reports that the World Health Organisation has officially asked the drug maker Roche to be ready with its supplies of the bird flu drug Tamiflu and to be ready to ship it quickly to the Far East after reports that the H5N1 virus could have mutated into a human to human bird flu virus. In a case that has not been confirmed, it was possible that the members of one family who caught the deadly flu had got it from each other and not from direct contact with poultry.

The WHO representatives said that there was no need to panic but they were just readying themselves for every situation that might occur and that the decision to ship the stockpile had not been taken; only a request to have it ready should the need to do so occur. The latest outbreak in Indonesia that hit seven members of one family and has killed 6 of them was reported to the WHO by the Indonesian Health Ministry.

The WHO has drawn up guidelines and operating procedures that must be followed in the event of bird flu outbreaks and they must be followed to the letter to be effective. The guidelines specify that when there is reasonable doubt that a case involves human to human infection action must be taken to be ready for shipment of the Tamiflu drug. Nevertheless nearly 10,000 Tamiflu treatments with disinfectants and protection equipment for doctors and nurses were flown to Indonesia last week as a precaution.

This case does not mean that the bird flu virus has mutated but only that it may have and the WHO were keen to explain that all family members had had close contact with poultry as well as with each other. The Tamiflu drug maker was asked to remain in a state of alert for two weeks and be ready to ship the drug at a moments notice.