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Just when it seemed that the panic over a flu pandemic had subsided, startling news has been announced this week which makes this threat a potent reality: that bird flu, which is rife in the Far East, can be transmitted from one human being to another.

This disturbing development in events has come to the attention of doctors in the case of a 24-year-old man who, having contracted the disease from a poultry market, passed on the disease to his 52-year-old father. The young man died as a result of the disease while his father survived. The fact that the H5N1 strain of bird flu has evolved, and now seems to be able to freely pass between humans could be the birth of a strain of the virus which could infect hundreds of millions of people.

The 24-year-old developed flu symptoms after visiting a poultry market in the Jiangsu Province in China. He suffered fever, chills, a headache, a sore throat and a cough. He was treated with antibiotics but with no success. He died in hospital, five days after he was admitted. His father who, importantly, lived six miles away and never visited the poultry market where his son was infected, fell ill a week after going to visit his son in hospital. He himself had to be admitted and spent over three weeks being treated. He was treated with antivirals and the blood plasma from a woman who had been infected with the same strain of avian flu. He narrowly pulled through.

There is a possibility that the father contracted the disease from another market where it was noted that poultry were being slaughtered. The man maintains, however, that he went nowhere near these birds, which strongly suggests that he caught the avian flu from his son. It is thought that this family may have had a genetic susceptibility to the disease though Wendy Barkley, from Imperial College, London, said that there was no firm evidence to suggest that the H5N1 strain has mutated to allow it to pass from one human being to another.

If someone goes to the trouble of getting themselves a flu jab they might, unsurprisingly, assume that their efforts would be rewarded by them escaping full blown flu. Well, apparently they would be under a misapprehension because the latest flu jab, according to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers absolutely no protection against 60% of the flu viruses that are currently infecting people in the USA. A rather startling figure suggests that flu jabs are becoming increasingly insignificant. In typical years a flu jab will protect against between 70%-90% of viruses…this year it is only 40%.

The main reason for this alarming figure is a ‘surprise’ strain which, as well as not being catered for in the flu immunizations is also resistant to vaccines. This strain has been thriving and is responsible for the majority of the USA's lab-confirmed influenza cases.

Dr. Joe Bresee, Head of Influenza Epidemiology, CDC, said that every area of the United States is currently experiencing major outbreaks of flu, but that it was too early to know whether this year will go down in the records as one of the worst outbreaks. Last week 31 states in had reported widespread flu activity, this week the number of States has risen significantly, to 44. Since September 10 children have died as a result of the flu virus though scientists have urged that this is an average figure for this time of year.

Scientists are shocked at how badly the flu vaccines have performed this year. Usually predictions on what type of influenza virus strains will be prevalent pretty much hit the mark, and the vaccines, when successful, do offer significant protection. In 16 of the last 19 flu seasons the flu vaccines have performed well, and as expected. The World Health Organization says that the flu jabs given this year should be completely different from the season that has just gone and that the problems encountered this year should be met with a complete overhaul of the flu vaccination process.

We have been bringing you news relating to progress on vaccines that might prevent the spread of a human form of H5N1 in the event of a global flu pandemic.  All of the vaccines that have been discussed to date are traditional vaccines that require to be refrigerated throughout their journey from the clinical manufacturing site to the delivery (usually by way of a needle) to the patient.  We now have news in that a novel way of delivering a vaccine through a nasal powder has just passed its initial toxicology study.  This means that the FDA will now permit the technique to be progressed to Phase I human trials this year.

The new technology is called GelVac and it is owned by a subsidiary of Carrington Laboratories. A Phase I human safety evaluation has already taken place using this technology but without the antigens.  This study showed that the technology was generally well tolerated and safe.

The nasal cavity is widely recognised as one of the best sites for delivering immunisation as most infectious diseases enter the body via this route.  This means that rather than just a normal systemic response that you would expect following immunisation, you may also get a mucosal response at the likely entry point of any infection.

This method of delivery has several advantages over the traditional type of vaccine.  GleVac is stable at room temperature and this therefore disposes of the normal requirement for cold chain distribution which can be problematic.  This means that the vaccine can be sent directly to patients who, because of the easy to use delivery system, can actually immunise themselves rather than having it done by a healthcare professional.  In the event of a pandemic this would be extremely useful in helping to contain the virus.

The EU laboratory in Weybridge has announced that the bird flu virus discovered on a farm in Suffolk earlier this week is the potentially deadly H5N1 strain.

Reports have suggested that more than 2000 birds have died on the farm near Halesworth in Suffolk and further birds have been slaughtered as a precautionary measure. This is the first incident affecting farmed poultry in the UK. It is not known how the virus was introduced to the sealed rearing units at the farm but it is believed that a migrating wild bird must have found its way into the one of the sheds.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural affairs said earlier today that there was no immediate risk to humans but staff at the farm were being monitored and restrictions had been put in place to limit the movement of birds.

It is thought that the Government has placed an order for a vaccine to be used on healthcare workers in the event of an outbreak of a human form of bird flu. A stock of Tamiflu, the anti-viral of choice, has been ordered to cover around 25% of the UK population.

Cats have become infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia according to recently published research. A study of 500 stray cats from five sites where there have been outbreaks of the deadly virus found that one in five cats was infected. This raises fresh concerns about the disease jumping to human beings.

Bird flu might have disappeared from the news recently but the likelihood of a human pandemic has not receded along with media interest in the story. When a dead swan was found in Scotland earlier this year the whole of the world’s media seemed to go crazy but interest soon faded, even after the confirmation that the dead bird was indeed infected with the H5N1 strain of the influenza virus, as this seemed to be an isolated incident with a single migratory bird that had strayed off course.

The Global Health Research Forum believes that the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus could be with us for another decade and they believe that there is a strong possibility of this virus mutating into one which can be transferred between humans. So far a few hundred humans have been infected with the virus since 2003 but these have all been people who have come into close contact with infected poultry or wild fowl.

There are widely varying estimates of the number of deaths which might occur in a flu pandemic. The UN has said that up to 150 million people could die worldwide but the World Health Organisation has distanced itself from this figure and has suggested that between 2 million and 7.4 million people are likely to die. The UK Government has arranged to stockpile around 14 million courses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu which is effective in preventing the spread of influenza or reducing the symptoms once contracted. The Government is also in talks about acquiring a vaccine.

Given that the Government has only made provisions for around 25% of the UK population, many people are looking to purchase Tamiflu privately for themselves and their families as a precaution. Although GPs can write a private prescription for their patients, many are unwilling to do so at this stage. As a result, many people have turned to the internet to seek advice and to purchase Tamiflu.