Fragments From Floyd

Good News! "A Canadian company, Biolyse Pharma Corp., have plans to use up to half a million used Christmas trees in Ontario to extract a chemical found in the needles to help manufacturer vaccine for the bird flu. Shikimic acid can be harvested from the needles of pine, spruce and fir trees.  The acid is usually harvested from the star anise tree in China.

The cost of the acid has increased in cost dramatically and cost $600 Canadian dollars per kilogram.  The reason for the increase in cost has been the time it takes to grow the star anise tree.  It can take eight years to grow and there are only two months are able to be harvested.  The goal of Biolyse will be to sell the acid to companies or governments that do not have to follow the Roche’s Tamiflu patents and can manufacturer a generic version of the drug."

Bad News: Tamiflu not only is probably ineffective against H5N1, but it has a long list of potential side effects which may make it even less appropriate for consumption. The list includes, in alphabetical order: aches and pains, allergic reactions (sometimes leading to shock), asthma and aggravation of pre-existing asthma, bronchitis, chest infection, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, ear infections and problems, erythema multiforme, headache, hepatitis, indigestion, liver problems, lymphadenopathy, nausea, nose bleed, rash or rashes, runny nose, sinusitis, Stevens Johnson syndrome, symptoms of a cold, tiredness, tummy pain, urticaria, and vomiting.

Good News: This report in Forbes suggest that Chinese scientists have a new bird flu drug that is better than Tamiflu at controlling avian flu symptoms in humans and costs less than $4 per pill. But then the Chinese have said (or not said) other things health-related that have panned out not to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so let's wait and see on this Tamiflu-2.