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Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins (full article)

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  • #16
    Re: Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins (full article)

    Is anyone aware of clinical trials with statins in SE Asia yet?

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    • #17
      Re: Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins (full article)

      Kick -- I knew I read this a couple of years ago. This thread has two interesting suggestions for potential treatments. One is statins (I think there is a current thread on that) and the other half way down the thread is a combination of ibuprofen, Zantac and Benadryl which was effective in this one study on ARDs in swine (I believe). Additional investigation or information into this avenue would be welcome.

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      • #18
        Re: Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins (full article)

        Almost 90 percent of the world's population will not have access to supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents during a pandemic, a researcher in France says.


        Expert says generic drugs may aid pandemic
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        Published: June 16, 2009 at 11:41 PM
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        LYON, France, June 16 (UPI) -- Almost 90 percent of the world's population will not have access to supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents during a pandemic, a researcher in France says.
        Dr. David Fedson, a vaccine expert at Aventis Pasteur MSD in Lyon, France, said it is possible inexpensive generic drugs prescribed for other illnesses such as heart disease that are readily available, even in developing countries, could save millions of lives during a pandemic.

        He points out that seasonal flu resistance to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu may make them ineffective in a pandemic.

        Fedson is calling for urgent and sharply focused research to determine whether drugs that reduce inflammation or modify the host response -- the way that the body responds to infection or injury -- could be used to manage a pandemic. Fedson said a lot could be learned from the work done on these commonly available generic drugs, which include medicine to lower cholesterol and treat diabetes, by scientists not involved in influenza research.

        "Research suggests that giving patients anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agents such as statins, fibrates and glitazones could help to regulate the cell signaling pathways in patients who have suffered acute lung injury, a common problem with influenza," Fedson told the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.

        "Statins are commonly used to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease -- but have also been shown to be effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths from pneumonia."

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        • #19
          Re: Pandemic Influenza: A Potential Role for Statins (full article)

          The next flu drug might already be in your medicine cabinet

          A group of cheap, common medications could save lives ? so why aren't we investigating them?

          By Carrie Arnoldon February 28, 2014 09:00 am

          On January 31st, billions around the world rang in the Chinese Lunar New Year. Hualan Chen, a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, however, celebrated from her office. Like so many days before, Chen got to work and immediately checked the number of new cases of H7N9 flu that had been recorded overnight. After a small outbreak in 2013 the virus had gone quiet, only to resurge with a vengeance in December.

          The situation is changing so rapidly that Chen can hardly keep up. "I think this virus is a bigger problem than people realize. There is a high chance of a pandemic if it continues to spread because no one has immunity to this virus," she told attendees at a recent conference. "If there is sustained human-to-human transmission, it won't just be a problem for China, it will be a disaster for the world."

          Indeed, health officials worry that the H7N9 cases in China are the beginnings of yet another pandemic ? one for which we're woefully unprepared. Although the public health community has been readying for The Next Big One, recent history shows that even smaller pandemics can cause serious problems. In 2009, for instance, the H1N1 pandemic popped up seemingly out of nowhere and showed that our ability to rapidly distribute vaccine and antiviral medication wasn't nearly effective enough.
          ...
          The 2009 epidemic and stirrings of a potential H7N9 epidemic have mobilized Fedson and other public health experts to look for new ways to decrease the effects of seasonal and pandemic flu. And according to Fedson, one surprising group of drugs, called statins, might serve just that purpose. Typically used to reduce cholesterol, they might also turn down the body's immune response to the virus responsible for many flu-related hospitalizations and deaths.

          Statins are cheap, safe, and widely available

          Statins are cheap, safe, and widely available even in developing countries, which gives them a huge advantage over traditional vaccines and antivirals. Preliminary studies have hinted that people who take statins are less likely to die from influenza complications. But not everyone is convinced. Other scientists have pointed out flaws in the studies and say sufficient data doesn't yet exist.

          Fedson, though, thinks we can't afford to wait. "Desperate circumstances will call for desperate measures," he says. "If there is a pandemic and people are sick, doctors will want to use anything they can get their hands on, and statins are everywhere."

          More...

          zhttp://www.theverge.com/2014/2/28/5454536/the-next-flu-drug-might-already-be-in-your-medicine-cabinet
          "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
          -Nelson Mandela

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