Fighting bird flu in Indonesia

Finally, some good news about bird flu out of Indonesia.

The government says it's culled 5.7 million birds and has provided 262 million free vaccinations for chickens.

They also plan to stock up 44 hospitals with Tamiflu to treat bird flu victims with. Apparently, victims so far has gotten only basic medical attention and, hopefully, tender loving care. That's nice, but not sufficient.

Personally, I don't think much of Tamiflu, however. Also, nobody knows how much is necessary against bird flu. Also, it's supposed to be taken within two days of the onset of symptoms.

If doctors think a case of bird flu is really typhus (which happened to the 6 year old boy who died recently), it'll be too late to save them.

That's assuming they even get to a clinic or hospital that quickly. Poor farmers don't have much money for medical care, even for their children, so they must see that the condition is very serious first.

That's also assuming that the victim can get to treatment within the two days. People living far out in the boondocks may have to travel a day or day to get good medical treatment. And people with bird flu don't feel much like traveling.

Still, anything the Indonesian government is doing to fight bird flu should be given positive reinforcement.

fighting bird flu in Indonesia


Indonesian Bird Flu
Indonesian Bird Flu