Month: May 2009

Pensito Flu Update: Tamiflu Resistance

Buck Banks

From ProMed:

With the recent explosion of A(H1N1/2009) cases in Japan, it will probably be prudent to monitor for Tamiflu (oseltamivir) resistance. One Roche representative in Hong Kong told me that Japan accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s use of Tamiflu (even before avian H5N1 and the new H1N1/2009 viruses appeared). Thus, if Tamiflu resistance occurs with this new A(H1N1/2009) virus anywhere, it may well first happen in Japan. Also, a language barrier may delay this revelation.

However, now Tamiflu is used in many countries (particularly in Europe) in patients for whom it was previously not recommended (i.e., otherwise healthy adults with no underlying chronic disease or immuno-suppression with uncomplicated infection with seasonal influenza virus) to try to curtail the onward transmission of this new A(H1N1/2009) virus.

So, if this continues, ironically, maybe the rest of the world will catch up with Japan as a potential source of Tamiflu resistance. This policy may be counter-productive in that if this fails to control the spread of this virus, then in those who eventually need Tamiflu for serious illness (if the feared more lethal second wave of the pandemic does actually appear), it may be ineffective.

– —
Dr. Julian W Tang
Consultant Virologist
Division of Microbiology/Molecular Diagnostic Centre
Department of Laboratory Medicine
National University Hospital

[Dr. Tang identifies an important issue, namely whereas the widespread use of Tamiflu with the aim of disrupting the transmission of the novel strain of H1N1 influenza virus is fully justified, indiscriminate use of Tamiflu in non-urgent situations may hasten the evolution of Tamiflu-resistant strains. Many, but not all, healthcare agencies are aware of this possibility. Fortunately, in the case of seasonal influenza strains, Tamiflu-resistance has not always been accompanied by cross-resistance to the other currently available neuraminidase inhibitor, Relenza. — Moderator CP]
Singapore

No More Apologies, Steele Says. Um, No ‘More?’

Trish

Was I out of the room when the Republicans apologized for the Bush years? Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele is planning to stop doing it, which means at some point they started. How did I miss that?

“The era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over,” Steele will say in a speech to the RNC’s 2009 State Chairmen’s Meeting, according to excerpts obtained by CNN. “It is done. We have turned the page, we have turned the corner. No more looking in the review mirror. From this point forward, we will focus all of our energies on winning the future.”

Do you remember any Republican “apologizing” or in any way looking backward and identifying mistakes? If you can dig up a quote where anyone anywhere did so, please submit it in the comments.

Pensito Flu Update: Rumors of New Mexican H1N1 Virus

Buck Banks

This odd exchange took place at [Sunday’s] press conference with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

David Brown, The Washington Post: “There’s a report that there is yet another new H1N1 virus that has been found in the states of Durango, Zacatecas, and Jalisco that is distinct from both this swine H1N1 and the seasonal Brisbane H1N1. Have you heard of this and can you tell us anything about this?”

Daniel Jernigan, CDC’s deputy director of influenza division: “We’ve heard of some reports about that, but I’ve not had any direct information about the specifics of that case. There’s ongoing dialog between us and the folks that are in Mexico, and as we know more about that, we’ll be able to let people know.”

ScienceInsider is investigating but has yet to learn anything substantive. It was aired in a public venue, though, and likely will receive media attention, regardless of whether it turns out to be false.

“We heard a rumor but think it may be a misinterpretation of some lab data by a non-lab person,” Nancy Cox, head of CDC’s influenza division, tells
ScienceInsider. “We are following up.”

[byline: Jon Cohen]

Poll: 43% Say CIA Misled Pelosi

Buck Banks

The latest Rasmussen Report poll found that 43 percent of voters nationwide say that it’s at least somewhat likely that the Central Intelligence Agency misled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the use of waterboarding in interrogations. But the national telephone survey also found that 41 percent say it’s not likely the CIA did so.

It breaks along party lines: 62 percent of Democrats give Pelosi the benefit of the doubt while 62 percent of Republicans hold the opposite view. As for independents and unaffiliateds, 38 percent say the CIA may have misled Pelosi, but 48% say it’s not likely.

The ideological divide is similar: 70 percent of liberals take Pelosi’s side, but just 24 percent of conservatives agree.

Overall, just 20 percent of voters say it’s Very Likely Pelosi was misled while 22 percent say it’s Not at All Likely. Most voters are somewhere in between and may be waiting for additional information.

The CIA is viewed favorably by 63 percent and unfavorably by 24 percent. For Pelosi, the comparable numbers are 35 percent favorable and 55 percent unfavorable. The agency earns positive reviews from 78 percent of Republicans, 62 percent of unaffiliateds and 51 percent of Democrats.

Fifty-nine percent of all voters believe it’s at least somewhat likely that harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding helped secure valuable intelligence information. Eighty percent of Republicans hold that view along with 60 percent of unaffiliateds. Democrats are evenly divided.

Sixty-five percent of voters say they’re following news about Pelosi and the CIA at least somewhat closely. Democrats are less interested in the story than Republicans and unaffiliateds.

Steele Shows Creativity with Gay-Marriage-Costs-Small-Business Argument

Buck Banks

Given his continuing series of gaffes and dumb-ass statements, I have been wondering why the Republican Party keeps Michael Steele as chairman. But then I read about his recent comments regarding the potential of gay marriage to wreak havoc on small businesses, or at least using that message to expand the base, which right now is limited mainly to dittoheads over 65 years old.

Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles.

Steele’s new party message goes something like this: if gays are allowed to marry, small business owners will have to pay for … well, that part is not really very clear. Here, we’ll let Steele himself explain it:

“Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,” Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. “So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

There, isn’t that clearer?

Of course that sounds like nonsense because it is nonsense. I am married, but that has absolutely no impact on my boss, except that I am a more reliable employee because I have a mountain of debt like everybody else, so I show up for work on time and regularly. Even if my spouse was on my health insurance, I would pay the additional cost, not my employer. There is absolutely no way that I can conceive that an employee having a spouse impacts an employer’s bottom line.

[…]

Talking Point du Jour

Trish

”If he doesn’t level the playing field, we have a serious problem in the Republican Party of Florida and we’ll have to straighten it out at our July meeting. The press might want to be there for that.” – Sid Dinerstein, chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party.

Dinerstein and others have cried foul because the head of the Republican Party of Florida, Jim Greer, has not done enough to keep individual chapters from endorsing in the primary for the U.S. Senate seat being further vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio are both running for the office but most early endorsements have gone to Crist. Greer was appointed by Crist, who has stood by him steadfastly amid calls for Greer’s ouster. Greer supported Michael Steele for chair of the Republican National Committee and has been called, “the world’s biggest hemorrhoid,” as his head is so far up Crist’s butt that only his body remains. We don’t make this stuff up, we just pass it along.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

I waited for two years after I left office to make statements that were critical, and then of policy … You talk about somebody that shouldn’t be talking about making the country less safe, invading a country that did not attack us and posed no serious threat to us at all.

— Former vice president Al Gore, in an interview on CNN.

Swine Flu: The 1976 Prequel Video

Trish

Thanks to Make the Logo Bigger for passing along these two vintage public service announcements from the golden days of swine flu. The second one, with the cheerful female voiceover, is the clear favorite.

For those of you too young to remember, one of the things that sunk Pres. Gerald Ford’s campaign in 1976 was calling for everyone in the entire country to be vaccinated against the strain of swine flu that was then predicted to be an epidemic. Ford was probably right, in the face of the evidence at the time, but side effects and unwanted consequences of the vaccine, coupled with less transmission of the virus than feared, worked against him.