WHO denies advising tourists to China for Olympics to pack bird flu drug
Posted in: zjnq.com Date: March 13th, 2010
WHO denies advising tourists to China for Olympics to pack bird flu drug
22 minutes ago
GENEVA — The World Health Organization denies it is recommending that visitors to China for this summer's Olympic Games should pack an antiviral drug to protect themselves against avian flu.
The denial comes in the wake of a report Monday by the Italian news agency Ansa, which said WHO is warning tourists going to Beijing for the August sports event to arm themselves with the drug Tamiflu "in case of exposure to the disease virus."
The Ansa story quotes Walter Pasini, director of the WHO Collaborative Centre of Medicine for Tourism in Rimini, Italy.
But WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said Wednesday that Pasini does not work for the international agency itself and the report quoting him has "set off alarm bells" because it is erroneous.
"We would categorically deny that WHO's ever made any kind of recommendation to this effect or that there would be any need or justification ... in any context, including going to the Olympics in Beijing," Hartl said.
Pasini could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
The WHO's website shows there have been 30 cases of avian flu, also known as H5N1, reported in all of China since 2003 - three of them so far this year - and 20 of them ended in death.
The hardest-hit country has been Indonesia, with 133 cases, including 108 deaths. Worldwide, there have been 382 cases, with 241 deaths since 2003, the website said.
http://fluprediction.uiowa.edu/fluhome/AvianFlu_Graphical.cfm
which trades at 3% , although I doubt there is much trading.
Roma, 28 apr. (Adnkronos Salute) -
Un antivirale in valigia per chi si recherà in Cina in estate per seguire le Olimpiadi ormai alle porte.
La raccomandazione arriva da Walter Pasini, direttore del Centro collaboratore dell'Organizzazione mondiale della sanità (Oms) per la medicina del turismo, che a margine della sesta European Conference on Travel Medicine in corso a Roma, ricorda che "la Cina è l'unico Paese, insieme all'Indonesia, dove si è verificata la trasmissione interumana di influenza aviaria".
Per questo chi ha in programma un viaggio a Pechino dovrà, oltre a mettere un antivirale in valigia, "evitare i mercati, in cui è più facile imbattersi in possibilità di trasmissione del virus H5N1, e non consumare carne e uova di pollo crude". Secondo Pasini, la possibilità di trasmissione "è reale". Anche se non è il caso di generare un vero e proprio allarme.
"La Cina - conclude l'esponente dell'Oms - è un Paese ricco di contraddizioni, dove convivono realtà all'avanguardia, ma anche situazioni da Paese terzomondista. Ci sono alcune condizioni ambientali che possono costituire un pericolo, per questo bisogna tenere alta la guardia e prestare la massima attenzione", senza lasciarsi distrarre troppo dalle competizioni sportive.
-
http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Salute/?id=1.0.2115700779
-----
[Google Machine Translation]
Rome, April 28. (Adnkronos Health) -
An antiviral in a suitcase for who will travel to China in summer to follow the Olympics around the corner.
The recommendation comes from Walter Pasini, assistant director of the Center of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for medical tourism, which on the sidelines of the Sixth European Conference on Travel Medicine being held in Rome [website: http://www.ectm6.org/ See also one of the sponsor! - IOH], recalls that
"China is the only Country, together with Indonesia, where occurred the transmission of avian influenza. "
So who is planning a trip to Beijing should not only put an antiviral in a suitcase, "avoid the markets, where it is easier to find possibility of transmission of H5N1 virus, and not consume meat and chicken eggs raw."
According Pasini, the possibility of transmission "is real."
Although it is not appropriate to generate a genuine alarm.
"China - concludes the exponent dell'Oms - is a country full of contradictions, where reality art, but also from country situations terzomondista. There are some environmental conditions that may constitute a danger, so we must hold high the call time and attention ", without leaving too distracted from competitive sports.
--------
#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |
