Bird Flu Protection

Bird flu protection could be as simple as bowing instead of shaking hands.

Japan never suffered an outbreak of SARS despite being surrounded by countries where outbreaks occurred.

The most likely reason is that viruses like SARS and the bird flu are most commonly passed through hand to hand contact and in Japan it's more common to bow than shake hands.

Hand hygiene is also promoted heavily in kindergarten and schools across Japan.

This combination of excellent hygiene and a lack of formal hand to hand contact could be huge factors in Japan's avoiding the SARS outbreak and may hold one key secret to slowing a bird flu pandemic.

What most people don't realize is that over 90% of respiratory viruses like the bird flu, the common cold and influenza get into your body through contact between your fingernails and the mucous membranes of your eyes and nose.

They literally hitchhike into your body and you're giving them an easy ride.

If the bird flu mutates into a human to human virus and becomes a pandemic health authorities predict it will kill somewhere between 200,000 and 150 million people.

The bird flu is particularly dangerous because it can readily kill the young and healthy – reminiscent of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 whose main victims were aged 20 to 40.

We're unprepared for a bird flu pandemic.

Bird flu protection through vaccination is impractical.

First you can't begin to produce a vaccine until the virus mutates and then it's difficult to produce enough bird flu vaccine to provide bird flu protection to large population.

Worse still a “bird flu shot” may not even be effective bird flu protection against a rapidly mutating avian influenza virus.

Looking for a pharmaceutical first line of bird flu protection may be worthwhile but Cavanagh says early efforts so far seem bewildering.

The new breed of anti-viral drugs can help fight viruses like the bird flu.

The US government is stockpiling tamiflu as basic bird flu protection against bird flu in the United States yet the bird flu virus is showing a high level of resistance to tamiflu in China.

Relenza, another anti-viral drug seems to be more effective against the bird flu but again we have to wait till the bird flu virus mutates to see if any drug can provide effective bird flu protection.

That leaves us with the most sensible, simple bird flu protection which is simply washing your hands.

If you can stop avian influenza from entering your body through contact between your fingernails and your eyes or nose your chances of contracting the bird flu virus will drop dramatically.

And if everyone practiced excellent hand washing perhaps this could be as effective a response against a world wide bird flu pandemic as it was for Japan against SARS.

But hand washing as bird flu protection is not quite as simple as it might appear.

You need to use the right soap to wash your hands and anti-bacterial soap is NOT recommended.

Other hygiene techniques like nasal irrigation might also improve a natural bird flu protection strategy.

The FREE report How To Prevent Bird Flu at http://www.howtopreventbirdflu.com explains how to use hand washing and other advanced hygiene techniques as a natural bird flu protection strategy.



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Bird flu pandemic tamiflu

In a bird flu pandemic tamiflu may not be as effective as authorities hope.

Many countries like the USA are stockpiling tamiflu in preparation for a bird flu pandemic.

Members of the public are buying up tamiflu for their own personal bird flu protection.

But until the bird flu mutates to a human to human virus we can't be certain that tamiflu will be effective against the bird flu virus.

And the latest signs are not good...



In an unsettling development for health authorities tamilflu resistant strains of the bird flu are appearing.

A vietnamese girl diagnosed with bird flu with a tamiflu resistant strain of bird flu.

Fortunately she survived after being treated with Relenza – another antiviral drug.

In China the bird flu strain H5N1 is showing around 70% resistance to adamantane drugs like Tamiflu.

William Chui from the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong said viral resistance to tamiflu was growing in Japan where doctors commonly prescribe the drug for influenza.


It's also important to note that Tamiflu and other anti viral drugs don't stop the bird flu from entering your body – they fight the virus once it is already inside your body.

Tamiflu works by stopping the virus from bursting out of infected cells in your body.

It does this by inhibiting an enzyme called neuraminidase on the surface of the virus cells.

This can help stop viruses like the bird flu infecting other cells in your body and also possibly reduce the chance that you'll infect other people.

To be effective you need to take tamiflu within 48 hours of becoming ill.


But if a bird flu strain is resistant to the drug then tamiflu may not be the answer to a bird flu pandemic.

It pays to be prepared and the first preparation is paying attention to personal hygiene.

Around 90% of respiratory viruses like the bird flu, the common cold and influenza that enter our bodies get there when we touch the mucous membranes of our eyes and nose with our fingernails.

So hand washing really is the first line of defense against a bird flu pandemic - not tamiflu.

But washing your hands is more complex than it might seem on the surface.

You need to use the right kinds of soap and if you can't use soap there's only one alternative that's proven by the USA Centers Of Disease Control to be effective and it's NOT an antibacterial solution.

You can learn more about effective handwashing and hygiene to prevent the bird flu and other viruses in the free report How To Prevent Bird Flu at http://www.howtopreventbirdflu.com


More on the possible bird flu pandemic tamiflu

Bird flu and SARS

Bird flu and SARS are both respiratory viruses and both can be fatal. Understanding their similarities and how they differ could help you prevent both these killer viruses.

Bird flu, SARS, the common cold and influenza are all viruses that multiply initially in your nasal passageways.

But the way bird flu and SARS are passed on is quite different at present.

SARS is passed directly from human to human.

You can catch SARS from any human being is infected with the SARS virus.

The bird flu (or avian influenza) is not currently known to pass from human to human.

You can only catch bird flu from an infected bird.



The great danger of bird flu is that it could mutate into a human to human “killer” virus which the general population would have very little resistance against.

A human to human bird flu virus could kill millions of people.

Estimates vary but credible sources like David Nabaro of UN health estimate the deaths will range from 5 to 150 million people worldwide.



The bird flu and SARS have one other similarity that is highly valuable in understanding how to prevent bird flu SARS even the common cold and influenza.

The most likely way bird flu and SARS will get into your body is when you touch the mucous membranes of your eyes or nose with infected hands.

So hand washing when you handle birds and eggs (in the case of the bird flu) and hand washing when you have contact with other people who could be infected (in the case of SARS) is the first line of defense against bird flu and SARS.


And avoiding contact between your face and your hands is highly recommended for bird flu and SARS prevention.

Natural soaps are recommended for hand washing – NOT antibacterial soaps – and it's also crucial you dry your hands thoroughly after washing.

Infections like the bird flu and SARS are passed more easily on wet hands.



For more information on how to use hand washing and other simple hygiene measures to protect yourself against the bird flu, SARS, the common cold, influenza and more...

And the best soaps to use and other natural effective therapies that really help protect you and your family read the free report How To Prevent Bird Flu at http://www.howtopreventbirdflu.com