Contents:

1 x Puramask 2400 (FFP2 / EN149 / N95)
1 x Vinyl Gloves (Pair)
2 x Trigene Individual Wipe Sachets
1 x Small Yellow Adhesive Clinical Waste Bag 205 × 305mm
1 x Digital Thermometer with Case
1 x Thermometer Disposable Cover
2 x Premier Overshoes Blue 36cm (14")
1 x Polypropylene Disposable Apron
1 x Alcohol Gel with Pocket Clip and Spray Head 50ml
1 x Empty First Aid Green Bag 130 × 190 × 80mm

Bird Flu: Common Misconceptions

• A regular flu shot will help protect you from bird flu

No, it wont – it will help protect you from regular flu. If bird flu turns into a human pandemic then you’ll need a pandemic vaccine.
However, ordinary flu vaccination is a good idea for people closely exposed to birds with flu. By preventing people being infected by human and bird viruses at the same time, it could swap the viruses swapping genes to form a pandemic strain.

• This is all a load of scaremongering, like SARS and AIDS, and they didn’t turn out to be nearly as bad as we were told they would be.

That SARS didn’t become any worse was largely due to the prompt, massive international response to limit it, after what some now call scaremongering
And to a bit of luck: SARS didn’t become infectious until after an infected person developed symptoms, so we could tell who to quarantine. Flu, by contrast, can be infectious for a day before symptoms develop.
As for AIDS, 40 million people worldwide are now HIV-positive. If that isn’t a disaster, what is?

• Many people should get ordinary flu vaccinations, because with more of a market for that vaccine, companies will have an incentive to build more vaccine plants.

This idea is as touted by a lot of experts, but it is a bit like saying, “If people ate more, farmers would have an incentive to grow more food and there would be no starvation.”
Certainly, more people who can afford it should get regular flu shots, and manufacturers could perhaps then build a few more, and more modern, vaccine factories. But most people in the world cannot afford flu vaccination. There is not enough of a market for ordinary flu vaccine to support the vaccine plants needed to supply a pandemic vaccine to the entire world, whether or not this suits free-market ideology.

• Why are we stockpiling Tamiflu? It doesn’t stop flu? It only shortens its duration and makes kids crazy.

The visible effect of Tamiflu on ordinary flu is to shorten the duration of symptoms. This has led to the notion that is merely a symptomatic treatment, like using aspirin to treat fever.
No, it does slow down viral replication, giving the immune system more time to kick in. That makes flu symptoms less severe, which could make the difference between life and death in a pandemic.
It’s true that two teenagers in Japan attempted suicide on Tamiflu, and 10 others went into a coma and died. But flu sometimes affects the brain, causing strange behaviour. Since Tamiflu is now routinely given to children with flu in Japan, it is not surprising neurological effects are seen in a few of those taking the drug. But a casual link is improbable. What is worrying is that Tamiflu did not prevent the neurological complications.

• Pandemics start when bird and human flu viruses recombine in pigs.

That has long been a popular idea. Flu viruses bind to a sugar called sialic acid on the surface of cells. It was thought birds had one type those, humans had another type and pigs have both, meaning pigs could be affected by both bird and human flu viruses. This could allow the viruses to swap genes to create a hybrid pandemic strain.
It is a neat theory but the hybrid viruses that caused the 1957 and 1968 pandemics did not form in pigs. That does not mean it cannot happen in the future. But it is unlikely with H5N1 as it does not spread from pig to pig.

• Fit young adults have the most to worry about because they have the strongest immunity and what kills you is your immune system over-reacting.

This idea appears to have emerged from the fact that older people were less likely to die in the 1918 pandemic than those aged between 20 and 40, plus the fact that immune over-reaction is often how flu kills. One, however, does not lead to another.
Older people probably had some immunity to the 1918 flu because a similar virus circulated for a while during the late 19th century. Younger people were more vulnerable. This was a particular circumstance of 1918 not a characteristic of flu pandemics in general.
And older immune systems are more likely to go haywire. Saying there is “stronger” immunity in young adults partly means there systems are more resistant to such runaway reactions.

• This is the 21st Century, not the dark ages. We can’t die of massive plagues any more.

Like it or not we are biological creatures. Plagues can happen. And in the age of mass air travel, we are in some ways more vulnerable that ever.
With flu, we do at least have the know-how to defeat any future pandemic. But even though leaders know death and misery anywhere will have global consequences, we don’t have the capacity to produce anti-virals or vaccine fast enough to protect everyone. We have 21st Century technology. But when it comes to getting it to people, we are still in the dark ages.