08 November 2006
Bronco Bill – at 10:24
Continued from here
anonymous – at 16:37
crfullmoon – at 07:07 (Note to self; will Z my snowblower and lawn mower; they’d be better cared for…”
I’ll take ‘em. I had to fly 3,600 miles to get a weedwhacker running for a friend. :) I just need some ducttape, baling wire and a Leatherman.
Other useful factoids: no need for an expensive arsenal for protecting the ranch during a pandemic. Potato cannons will take out just about anything, they make a scary good loud noise and they’re fun! All you need is some ABS/PVC pipe and fittings, and plumbing cement. Science project for the kids…
For detonation, hairspray is awesome - big badda boom and cheap. A little dab’ll do ya. Better living through modern hair products.
Z – at 16:46
The above was ‘Z’
no name – at 21:29
Z, do you have a more detailed construction instruction. I’ve never heard of a potato cannon…do you put a baking potato in the tube…really?
Guess I missed that science class.
Bronco Bill – at 10:24
Z – at 16:46 --- We used potatoes and brussels sprouts in our “veggie cannons” during a lot of our hot-air balloon events in California. For the “fuel”, we tended towards aerosol engine starter ‘cuz it didn’t leave a mess inside the firing barrel! Those things were, literally, a blast!!
21 November 2006
janetn – at 21:49
If the pt in Egypt who died had the required mutatu=ions to make H5 adaptable to the upper resp. tract in humans [which is what i took away from the reported article] What stopped the virus from transmitting easily in this case, and why didnt the feared pandemic start. Forgive me if Im way off base in what i understood the report to say.
PS Dem thanks you sure are quick! Thinking of giving you a new nickname [ the wiki genie ] ask and it shall happen!
Grace RN – at 21:59
janetn – at 21:49
yeah-what she said!!!
(I wondered about that too)….
DemFromCT – at 22:05
janetn – at 21:49
it was an easy request. Would that they would all be easy.
22 November 2006
cactus – at 10:02
We were just lucky ? I wish someone with more understanding of virii would weigh in here.
anon_22 – at 19:47
janetn – at 21:49
If the pt in Egypt who died had the required mutatu=ions to make H5 adaptable to the upper resp. tract in humans [which is what i took away from the reported article] What stopped the virus from transmitting easily in this case, and why didnt the feared pandemic start. Forgive me if Im way off base in what i understood the report to say.
I like this thread. I like the questions. They make me think. :-)
Well, it may disappoint you when I say “we don’t know”. What I mean is what we do know about influenza is very sketchy. We have some vague idea that receptor binding is important, but we do not know what is the degree of correlation between binding ability and the virus being able to do what it wants. For example, 2 different (human) samples of the 1918 virus were tested, one had very strong binding to human receptors, the other one binds moderately strongly to avian receptors and weakly to human receptors. Yet these 2 cases were no different in the severity, clinical picture, lung pathology at autopsy etc.
Also, receptor binding is one thing that we have some vague idea about, cos it has been studied. But it may be the tip of the iceberg as to the totality of what is required for the virus to jump from one host to another, survive, and continue to propagate.
I am reading a rather theoretical paper by Marc Lipsitch on virulence and transmissibility in pathogens (not just flu viruses).
For virulence, for example, we need to have tropism (the ability to attach to host, such as receptor binding), multiplication, and cytotoxicity (damage to host tissue). For transmissibility, you need dissemination (discharging of the virus out of the first host eg sneezing), translocation (via the environment, and surviving the process), and colonization (including adhesion, receptors, host response, etc).
anon_22 – at 20:47
23 November 2006
anon_22 – at 10:09
uk bird – at 15:10
Sorry but this is based around recombinomics, I’m too cowardly to post this in the recombinomics thread :-|
Say Dr Niman is right and he can predict potential pandemic changes in H5N1 before they happen. Even he can’t predict an actual pandemic because nobody knows what will happen on the ground – it may never get beyond the R0 case or widespread use of antivirals may stop it dead. So I suspect that no mass production of vaccines could be made because there are too many chances the vaccine might be a dead end?
So my question is this, how long from identifying a pandemic strain does it take to make the blueprint for a vaccine? Would I be right in thinking it is a small fraction of the time it takes to produce the first batches of vaccine for the public?
If Dr Niman is right, how much of a heads up could he possibly give the world?
anon_22 – at 15:42
24 November 2006
uk bird – at 04:49
Mmm, a significant number of months then. No wonder recombinomics creates so much angst.
Many thanks, I knew you’d have an easily understood slide :-)
anon_22 – at 16:22
I’ve got many magic tricks, and they all start with google…
anon_22 – at 16:25
FYI at the moment, the issue is far more than having the right strain. There are all sorts of problems with immunogenicity, dose-sparing strategies, low yield, adjuvants, regulatory hurdles, etc etc.
(Note to self: move vaccination threads, plus summarize info to-date)
Karina – at 16:49
I’ve created a dummies corner over at the new site. Don’t be afraid, it’s not too bad. A little disorienting at first, but you get over it. Everyone’s patient and friendly.