There is much to be discovered about the lethal H5N1 strain, this is clear to the international scientific community. In January 06′, there was an outbreak in Turkey in which all but two of the 21 confirmed human cases, it said, have involved children and teens aged 4 to 18. The general thinking is that children are more likely to touch or play with diseased birds. I am not a doctor or scientist but I do know when it comes to flu season in general the first warnings tend to be directed at the very old and the very young because of the susceptibility of their immune system.

One of the more disturbing discoveries is that since the virus not only affects the lungs, but passes throughout the body into the gastrointestinal tract, the brain, liver and blood cells it has been revealed it can pass from mother to fetus. This fact was confirmed in Beijing this past September when a 24 year old pregnant woman died from the bird flu and it was discovered that her four month old fetus was also infected.

Experts across the board seem in agreement that the Bird Flu will cross into U.S. boards at some point in the near future. In the fall of 2005, President Bush earmarked $7.1 billion dollars for research to fight the next flu pandemic, focusing largely on public health preparations such as how to quickly manufacture an effective vaccine once it strikes. In the spring of 06′, the White House formally released Step 2 of that strategy — a list of actions that different branches of government need to take to prepare.

What makes the flu pandemic hard to contain is the fact that a person can have the flu a full twenty four to thirty six hours before showing outward symptoms of it. Advice being heeded includes the three-foot rule which limits contact at businesses and schools to three feet with limited contact. But this advice implies that the flu only spreads in the large droplets of coughs and sneezes; tiny droplets that stay suspended in the air for long periods can spread it, too. Scary stuff. Something to think about the next time you watch your kid sneeze into the wind, right. One small thing to keep in mind - when your child sneezes or coughs have them do it not not their hands but into their arm. By doing this they will be less likely to pass anything through hand-to-hand contact.

At this point knowledge is one of the best things for us as parents. There are some resources out there to helps us keep up to date with how the Avian Flu is being tracked and what is being done about it.

Related Links:
MSNBC.Com | Bird Flu
DrugDelivery.CA | Free eBook on Bird Flu

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