H5N1 vaccine could be delivered by US mail in the future

[Laidback Al]

Bird Flu Outbreak? The Vaccine (Patch) Is in the Mail

Creators say the vaccine could save lives, prevent spread in case of an outbreak
By Jason Koebler
August 23, 2012

If a flu pandemic breaks out, the last thing the government wants is for people to rush to hospitals and doctors' offices to get vaccinated among lots of already sick people. To prevent such a scenario, a self-administered flu vaccine is being developed that could be mailed out to the masses. The vaccine, developed by the Infectious Disease Research Institute, will start human trials next month and is designed to protect against H5N1, one of the most deadly strains of bird flu. While H5N1 kills about 80 percent of people who contract it, so far it is unable to spread from person to person. . . .

"The idea is to send it through the mail as a patch that's self-assembled and stable," says Darrick Carter, who helped develop the vaccine. "We could stop people from going to a hospital where there's a bunch of sick people." . . .

"The idea is the government could stockpile enough of these and we could send them through the U.S. Postal Service come rain or shine or pandemic," he says. "If the swine flu virus had been any more virulent, the healthcare system could have broken completely down." . . .

The Infectious Disease Research Institute's vaccine will be tested in 100 healthy adults starting next month, and if all goes according to plan, the government could have a stockpile ready to go in case of an outbreak within a couple of years, Carter says.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/08/23/bird-flu-outbreak-the-vaccine-patch-is-in-the-mail

:tiphat: Carol@SC

 

[Amish Country]

Re: H5N1 vaccine could be delivered by US mail in the future

This reminds me of the classic Star Trek episode where the cast encounters an outpost of a long dead civilization that was waiting for a cure to a plague. All that was left was a computer generated image of the last inhabitant and a working security system. It was surmised that the dead civilization's ships also spread the plague as they made their deliveries.

Back during the 1819 flu pandemic one of the paths for contagion was the mail delivery. Back then mail was delivered in horse drawn carts. In now travels significantly farther much faster.