Re: Avian Influenza; Human / 'Bird Flu', SARS- Biowarfare or Propagand
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:11 pm
Joy,
Your comments about the mutations is correct. I appreciate your objective
views on this situation. This is apparently not just in the China and the
east, but a friend of mine in Van Couver is reporting massive amounts of
bird deaths there as long as a year ago! Health Canada is apparently
preparing for an epidemic. So, this may be even closer than China.
I have an excellent book called The Homeopathic Treatment of Influenza by
Sandra J. Perko, Ph.D., C.C.N.. ISBN # 0-9653187-1-0 , Benchmark
Homeopathic Publications 14947 Forward Pass San Antonio, TX 78248-0918
benchmarkpub@stic.net The thing that makes this particular book so
helpful, is that it breaks the remedy selection down by the predominant
symptom. It deals mainly with the Spanish Flu, so some of the mutations
are not necessarily the same (such as some of the Ebola symptoms) but this
is a good book to have on hand.
My friend who does genome research wrote me the following as a further
explanation of this situation. I felt it was helpful in understanding the
way this pathogen works. Her comments follow:
"The influenza viruses have been blessed with eight, as opposed to one piece
of genome for most human and animal viruses. That is, every single virus
particle has eight different sections of genome, each of which carry a
different function.
When they talk about all these types and sub-types and strains etc...there
are major categories yes. What seems to be happening now for instance, with
the highly pathogenic H5N1 type that they found in the many dead birds at
the sanctuary lake in central China - is that even with that type, they
found 10 different strains.
It is well-known that with many strains of influenza viruses, wild waterfowl
are silent carriers. The virus does not make them sick but still builds up
to high levels in their bodies, and gets shed into watercourses. The
waterfowl ones that are getting sick in Russia and China are undoubtedly
victims of strain(s) that experienced natural recombination events.
A couple things can happen that cause all this variation. Many people think
of a "mutation" as a virus or bacteria adding or subtracting some DNA (or
RNA, in the case of influenza and many other viruses). It's good to
remember though, that quite often point mutations occur...this does not
change the length of the genome per se, but can quite alter the activity of
a protein that might be produced from that genome. For example, it could
make the virus able to dock on a mammalian or human cell receptor, as
opposed to only a bird cell receptor. Or, it might make a virus that used
to affect only respiratory type cells, also able to dock on nerve cells.
Another mechanism that can often happen with influenza viruses, is that you
might have two different viruses circulating in the same bird, lets say for
example H3N1 and H5N2. In that situation, some of those 8 genome pieces
mentioned above can get intermixed with each other, and you might end up in
this case, with H3N2 and H5N1. Now, H5N1 is known to be capable of causing
havoc in humans, but especially if there are also some specific point
mutations in a couple other of the segments.
So now, when you see news reports of H5N1 cases in humans causing a milder
form of illness, yes that can be true. But there can also be a different
H5N1 strain(s) which can cause rapidly progressing, serious illness...as has
been seen in some human cases in Asia this past year. Certainly not as many
serious cases as mild cases. But the concern is that the more serious
strain(s) of H5N1 will acquire a point mutation or experience a
recombination episode, which would allow rapid transmittal among humans.
The more H5N1 that is circulating among birds, animals (yes there have been
mammalian clusters), and humans, the easier it is for recombination episodes
to happen that would allow easy transmittal of a serious strain. And THAT
is what all the fuss is about. "
Hope this is helpful.
Health, Hope, Joy & Healing :
May you Prosper, even as your Soul Prospers 3John 2
Jennifer Ruby
Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.
http://www.rubysemporium.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SymphonicHealth
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Therapeutic-Laser_Therapy
http://www.lazrpulsr.com
______________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Your comments about the mutations is correct. I appreciate your objective
views on this situation. This is apparently not just in the China and the
east, but a friend of mine in Van Couver is reporting massive amounts of
bird deaths there as long as a year ago! Health Canada is apparently
preparing for an epidemic. So, this may be even closer than China.
I have an excellent book called The Homeopathic Treatment of Influenza by
Sandra J. Perko, Ph.D., C.C.N.. ISBN # 0-9653187-1-0 , Benchmark
Homeopathic Publications 14947 Forward Pass San Antonio, TX 78248-0918
benchmarkpub@stic.net The thing that makes this particular book so
helpful, is that it breaks the remedy selection down by the predominant
symptom. It deals mainly with the Spanish Flu, so some of the mutations
are not necessarily the same (such as some of the Ebola symptoms) but this
is a good book to have on hand.
My friend who does genome research wrote me the following as a further
explanation of this situation. I felt it was helpful in understanding the
way this pathogen works. Her comments follow:
"The influenza viruses have been blessed with eight, as opposed to one piece
of genome for most human and animal viruses. That is, every single virus
particle has eight different sections of genome, each of which carry a
different function.
When they talk about all these types and sub-types and strains etc...there
are major categories yes. What seems to be happening now for instance, with
the highly pathogenic H5N1 type that they found in the many dead birds at
the sanctuary lake in central China - is that even with that type, they
found 10 different strains.
It is well-known that with many strains of influenza viruses, wild waterfowl
are silent carriers. The virus does not make them sick but still builds up
to high levels in their bodies, and gets shed into watercourses. The
waterfowl ones that are getting sick in Russia and China are undoubtedly
victims of strain(s) that experienced natural recombination events.
A couple things can happen that cause all this variation. Many people think
of a "mutation" as a virus or bacteria adding or subtracting some DNA (or
RNA, in the case of influenza and many other viruses). It's good to
remember though, that quite often point mutations occur...this does not
change the length of the genome per se, but can quite alter the activity of
a protein that might be produced from that genome. For example, it could
make the virus able to dock on a mammalian or human cell receptor, as
opposed to only a bird cell receptor. Or, it might make a virus that used
to affect only respiratory type cells, also able to dock on nerve cells.
Another mechanism that can often happen with influenza viruses, is that you
might have two different viruses circulating in the same bird, lets say for
example H3N1 and H5N2. In that situation, some of those 8 genome pieces
mentioned above can get intermixed with each other, and you might end up in
this case, with H3N2 and H5N1. Now, H5N1 is known to be capable of causing
havoc in humans, but especially if there are also some specific point
mutations in a couple other of the segments.
So now, when you see news reports of H5N1 cases in humans causing a milder
form of illness, yes that can be true. But there can also be a different
H5N1 strain(s) which can cause rapidly progressing, serious illness...as has
been seen in some human cases in Asia this past year. Certainly not as many
serious cases as mild cases. But the concern is that the more serious
strain(s) of H5N1 will acquire a point mutation or experience a
recombination episode, which would allow rapid transmittal among humans.
The more H5N1 that is circulating among birds, animals (yes there have been
mammalian clusters), and humans, the easier it is for recombination episodes
to happen that would allow easy transmittal of a serious strain. And THAT
is what all the fuss is about. "
Hope this is helpful.
Health, Hope, Joy & Healing :
May you Prosper, even as your Soul Prospers 3John 2
Jennifer Ruby
Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.
http://www.rubysemporium.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SymphonicHealth
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Therapeutic-Laser_Therapy
http://www.lazrpulsr.com
______________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
