Sarossa Share Discussion Threads

[ahkeen] 04/5/2003 17:47

crystal,

You are clearly right that IF SARS becomes established, it COULD threaten a small percentage of our poplulation, but SO FAR (thank goodness) it's spread outside the area of origin is fairly limited, Toronto excepted of course.

Vietnam CLAIMS to have eradicated it, but is a relatively poor country, and probably doesn't have too many international travellers, compared to Hong Kong, at least, so they quickly and easily isolated it.

Given the number of people that arrive and transit through Heathrow, we have been lucky so far. I am extremely disappointed that the governemnt have not seen fit to check people arriving on flights from effected ares, ie Toronto, HK, Singapore, and China.

I did read that the greatest concentration of cases in HK has been in the poorest areas, which may be lucky (for us)in that these peoole are too poor to travel outside their territory.

I think the point about the number of patients in chinese MILITARY hospitals may be pertinent! I've always thought it sounded like some sort of virus the military could be working on.

Andy.

[crystalclear] 04/5/2003 16:56

From the malaria article.
SARS has so far infected an estimated 4,510 people and killed about 276. This year, between 300 million and 500 million will contract malaria and at least a million of them will die, according to the report by the World Health Organization and the UN Children's Fund, the first assessing malaria across Africa.

1 million in 400 million is 1 in 400 or 10 in 4,000 for malaria.
SARS killed 276 so far from 4,510.

That makes SARS much worse than malaria if it reaches the same proportions of the population.

[crystalclear] 04/5/2003 16:48

freeme:
It goes without saying that if one has been unfortunate enough to contract Aids then your ability to combat the disease will be severely diminished.In certain regions of Africa 30 percent of the population have been infected with the Aids virus.If SARS spreads to these areas the impact will be devastating.As things stand now family support systems are breaking down.

CC:
A large percentage of Africans have weak immune systems from malnutrition and sewage in their drinking water - that is AIDS according to current definitions I think.

Many African women only see a medical centre for childbirth when their immune systems are at their best, and test positive for HIV antibodies - which I would consider a good sign rather than a sign of illness. It is often regarded as a proof they have an HIV infection rather than being naturally immune or recovered, but that is just scaremongering.

Despite all the rumours, there is still no reason to suppose that HIV causes the severe damage to the immune system.

In comparison, SARS is real, and needs to be contained. The number of unreported cases in the Chinese military hospitals raises concerns about SARS's origin. If its spread is exponential, the fact that it is currently localised is only relevent to how it could be contained easily with prompt action.

We coped with foot and mouth in about 60,000 infected animals with a badly managed program, killing about 3 million animals. Since SARS is a human illness it should be treated with more respect and should be better managed. I imagine quarantine would be used in preference to extermination. There would then be a need to shoot only the people that try to break quarantine, eg selfish people that put collecting their kids from school above containing the disease in their list of priorities.

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!

[a harris] 04/5/2003 09:05

US specialist eyes Powderject Boots

THREADNEEDLE


AFTER one false start it looks as though Britain’s leading vaccine specialist will finally succumb to the advances of United States group Chiron.

Powderject has so far refused to confirm the identity of the mystery bidder. But the betting among industry sources is that the US firm has come back to the negotiating table and is this time willing to stump up around 545p or 550p a share - valuing the business at around £500m and substantially higher than last year’s offer which valued it at around £455m.

Discussions last year foundered on price, but they are unlikely to do so this time.

A deal undoubtedly makes sense between the two: both are vaccine specialists and, although from California, Chiron’s main trading is in Europe, while Powderject’s is in North America.

A deal would also make sense for founder Paul Drayson who, no doubt, would be glad to get out of the limelight for a while after coming in for a barrage of criticism after his donations to the Labour party. These were made while his company was negotiating and securing a multi-million pound deal to supply the National Health Service with a smallpox vaccine.

Drayson and his family also look set to walk away with a cool £83m if the deal does come off - a sum not to be sniffed at and enough to help start another biotechnology venture, should he feel like it.

Given the fit between the two companies, the probability of a bidding war ensuing looks unlikely at this stage - although one should never say never.

Nevertheless, with no other bidder currently at the table, it looks like Chiron’s offer is the only one in town - which makes it tricky for investors if the talks do collapse for the second time.

The shares have already had quite a good run in recent weeks as takeover speculation has resurfaced and investors should, therefore, look to hedge any risks by taking some profits now rather than wait for any official confirmation in a few weeks time.

[a harris] 03/5/2003 15:49

SARS
Date : 02 May 2003
NeuTec Pharma is seeking to apply its FABTEC® technology to develop a potential antibody-based...

[a harris] 03/5/2003 15:47

Also, in today Express. Neutec Pharma are planning an anti-virus product

[a harris] 03/5/2003 13:13

So

GenVec
GlaxoSmithKline
Chiron

This site is also definately worth a read

[a.fewbob] 02/5/2003 12:26

I'm sorry bhg but that article seems like a load of complete rubbish. For a start they go on about how exagerated the threat from sars has been. The reaction to SARS has been severe but when you consider the death rate has now been upgraded to 10% this is no small figure. Can you imagine how fast this virus would spread if extreme precautions were not taken? If one man with sars boards a plane then the entire plane plane should be put under quranteen because if just one other person catches the infection unnoticed they could infect 10 more people which could then go on and infect another 100 peolpe which could then go and infect another 1000 people etc. The only way to beat sars is to over react.

As for the origin of sars,

Scientists have bben predicting such an outbreack from china for years, did you know that the bubonic plauge which killed 30% of all europeans originated from china?

[a.fewbob] 02/5/2003 09:29

Do you seriously not believe the disease would not spread exponentially if it was not for the extreme measures being taken? This thing would have spread 1000 times faster than the plague with todays transport systems.

[waldron] 02/5/2003 07:38

The Media Coverage has a lot to be desired.

[kibtf] 02/5/2003 06:47

A.Fewbob- there are approx 7 million people in HK. SARS has been with us for over a month. If it infected people as virently as some people on this bb seem to think, and did so exponentially as you suggest in your example, we would have all caught it 10 times over, and there wouldnt be anyone left standing by now!

[maywillow] 01/5/2003 17:11

bhg,thanks for the link. Must read it again,but already had an uneasy feeling about this SARS affair which the author has outlined very well.

Certainly the media covering the SARS outbreak has much to be blamed for .

[bhg] 01/5/2003 16:28

I posted this earlier on one of the SARS threads hoping to have it debunked but there were no responses. The authors credentials make it a sobering read.



SARS: A GREAT GLOBAL SCAM
by Dr. Len Horowitz, who warned of the anthrax attacks before they happened and then forced the government to admit the anthrax came from CIA programs, blows the lid on SARS. It's economic warfare and a preparation for when the real bio killers are unleashed. More people die of the flu and malaria each year. But now your brain will be prepared for the emergency quarantine orders and suspension of civil liberties that are coming.

[maywillow] 01/5/2003 16:21

LONDON (AFX) - The journal Science, published by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said peer-reviewed studies of the genomic
sequences of two Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) strains show the virus
is a novel class of coronavirus, rather than a recent mutant of a known variety.
Science, which has published the sequences on its website, said the studies
provide a first look at the molecular components of the virus. This should help
speed diagnosis, treatment, and prevention the spread of SARS.
The studies identify the pieces of the genome that should contain
instructions for producing proteins. This includes putative genes for four
essential proteins that enable a coronavirus to enter host cells and replicate.
The researchers also identified five regions coding for "non-essential"
proteins, which may nonetheless help shed light on the virus' origins.
Unlike the three known classes of coronavirus, the researchers found key
differences in the SARS genome when they looked at the predicted amino acid
structures of the individual proteins.
By statistically analyzing the differences among the proteins, both teams
concluded that the SARS virus is a novel class of coronavirus.
jsa/rf

[maywillow] 01/5/2003 16:20

LONDON (AFX) - The journal Science, published by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said peer-reviewed studies of the genomic
sequences of two Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) strains show the virus
is a novel class of coronavirus, rather than a recent mutant of a known variety.
Science, which has published the sequences on its website, said the studies
provide a first look at the molecular components of the virus. This should help
speed diagnosis, treatment, and prevention the spread of SARS.
The studies identify the pieces of the genome that should contain
instructions for producing proteins. This includes putative genes for four
essential proteins that enable a coronavirus to enter host cells and replicate.
The researchers also identified five regions coding for "non-essential"
proteins, which may nonetheless help shed light on the virus' origins.
Unlike the three known classes of coronavirus, the researchers found key
differences in the SARS genome when they looked at the predicted amino acid
structures of the individual proteins.
By statistically analyzing the differences among the proteins, both teams
concluded that the SARS virus is a novel class of coronavirus.
jsa/rf

[waldron] 30/4/2003 14:07

COLOGNE (AFX) - Deutz AG and other German companies have begun recalling
their workers in China amid fears they could contract the potentially fatal lung
disease SARS, according to separate statements by the engine maker and the
German Chinese Trade Association.
According to the association, around 1,500 German companies with operations
in China have begun recalling staff. It could not say how many workers might be
involved.
Meanwhile, Deutz said it has withdrawn three foreign workers in concern
about the contagious virus, but it said that local staff will continue to ensure
its operations.
China and Hong Kong account for the vast majority of more than 5,500
probable and confirmed cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome worldwide and
the global total of 372 deaths.
[e-mail]
loc/tm/hjp

[waldron] 29/4/2003 00:51

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA) - Cases of SARS in Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada's Toronto
and Vietnam appear to have peaked, the World Health Organisation said.
"It appears from reports we have from Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and
Vietnam that the epidemic has peaked in those countries and now they're having
fewer cases every day, and in some countries, no new cases, such as Vietnam,"
David Heymann, executive director of the WHO's Communicable Diseases Cluster,
told reporters.
The respiratory illness has now killed over 300 people, the bulk of them in
China and Hong Kong.
mlm/sb/lg/pb