I enjoy your news letter, and I feel that is of great service!.
I am a pulmonary and critical care physician, and I am amazed at the
lack of interest in this topic!
Can you send me back newsletters?
Thanks,
Guy
Dear Julie,
Thank you for all the updates about the bird flu, that you have been dilligently sending me.
I am very grateful to you for all of the imformation.
I am only sorry that i am unable to afford any of the face masks at present.
But my husband & i will be doing everything we can to keep our 4 girls as safe as possible if & WHEN this thing hits.
I would be very grateful if you have a list of provisions, that would be good to stock up on!!
Holding up at home seems our best option...
Yours Sincerely,
Caroline
If you click on the Emergency Supplies link at the top of our website and then scroll down to the bottom of the page you will find a link called Your Family Disaster Supplies List.
How many face masks should a family of four purchase? I have a husband and two small children. Thank you !!!
Elizabeth M.
Elizabeth...
It really depends on how you're going to handle the pandemic. Will you be self-quarantining the family? If so, you won't need many. Mostly to hand out to visitors and for trading. If you plan on going out where there are other people a lot, you will need more. If you assume going out everyday, you should allow, say, one mask for each 3 hour period you're in contact. Calculate this over a 3-4 month period for each family member. Then add more, because you'll be giving them to others and using them for trade.
Dear Bob and Julie --
Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful service for humanity! Your website is nicely comprehensive. But equally as important as that is your tone -- you sound like balanced, well-educated, good-hearted people, which makes dealing with this issue less daunting. You inform while not causing panic! I should add that I visited your website back when it was "younger" and got that same feeling from it. So today I returned feeling confident. Congratulations, and again, thanks!
Betsy F.
HI Julie. I just ordered some masks and was wondering what was available/recommended for young children, age 18 mos. to 5 years? Also, what about goggles or eye protection for little ones? Thanks!
Margaret S.
Margaret...
The Alpha Pro Tech masks should fit the toddlers. And you'll be able to buy swim goggles for kids. Of course the best protection is to never take your children anywhere that the virus might be lurking. If a pandemic hits kids will no longer be able to play with one another outside. Schools, churches, playgrounds, etc. will all be closed.
You'll probably find a lot of resistance from your 18 month old to wearing a face mask.
Hi Julie
Thanks for all your emails, I have found them very useful. I ordered some Tamiflu from the company you mentioned below (ABC Online Pharmacy Ltd). I did receive the Tamiflu after a couple of months. However I was under the impression from the website the company was Canadian. However the package was sent to me from the Seychelles. How can I know if it is the genuine Tamiflu drug? None of the instructions that came with it are in English.
kind regards
Sara H.
Sara...
There's a photo of the Tamiflu box on our website at http://www.survivetheflu.com/tamiflu.html. Does yours look like this? Does it have Roche written on the side of the box? Does the capsule look similar?
They have marketed their product all over the world so the box wouldn't necessarily have English on it. I live in Canada and my boxes are written in both English and French. The one in the photo on our website looks like it has German on it. But there should be the Roche name and the green symbol above it.
It's not surprising that it wouldn't come from Canada. The supply was cut off here, just like it was in the US. ABC has likely found sources around the world that still have stock.
I would appreciate your response because ABC just recently contacted us announcing that they have another large shipment coming in and I certainly won't recommend them if they're not selling genuine Tamiflu.
Bob & Julie:
First, thank you so much for the hard work you do pulling your site & your newsletter together. I so appreciate all of the information you impart.
I was wondering if you've ever covered the impact the pandemic will have on the stock market? I understand that the ramifications will be huge, my question is whether you've researched and/or discussed the safer arenas to keep your/our money in to protect it from the inevitable crash? Are there way to view your previous (archived) newsletters?
Have you put out any lists of good websites to go to, to order food supplies?
My best friend and I are quietly stocking up on supplies in our respective houses. I no longer talk about this very much with my other friends. For quite a while I was the one urging them to get Tamiflu or Relenza or whatever they could get their hands on. I was the one finding the articles in the newspapers and forwarding them to everyone I cared about.
I then found out that I was getting the reputation of being obsessed with the subject...the 'bird flu lady.' Nothing I was saying seemed to make a difference. So, I pretty much stopped talking about the subject unless someone else brought it up.
It's strange. One day my family will either think I'm this crazy woman with all of this stored food in the back of the basement, or they'll think I was gifted with great foresight & ingenuity. I'm still the same person, it's the events to come that will determined how I'm ultimately viewed.
Are there any reliable diagnostic kits available that can tell whether a person has the avian flu? I've heard rumors that various companies are working on this, but I haven't been able to track down anything specific.
I believe that it will be invaluable, if the avian flu becomes transmittable between humans, to be able to know immediately if a person has the flu.
Thank you again for everything you're doing. I for one am in your debt.
Sam
Sam...
Here's a link that we have on our site to An Investor's Guide to the Avian Flu: http://www.survivetheflu.com/avian_flu.pdf
As far as food supplies go, we haven't really tried to find sources. It's just too easy to go to Costco or other warehouse outlets and buy in bulk. We're only looking at 3-4 months worth, so you will probably be buying most of the same things as you presently buy, with perhaps more canned goods to make up for the lack of fresh produce.
I've also heard the rumors about the flu testing kit,but I don't think there's anything yet available for the general public.
We purchased the QuickVue Influenza AB Test from Craig Medical Distributors and weren't that impressed. It will tell you whether or not you have the flu, but that's about it. It could be handy if there is a pandemic and you develop flu-like symptoms and want confirmation before you start taking Tamiflu. Its shelf life is only good for the current flu season, however.
Keep the faith. As soon as the first bird with H5N1 is found in the US, you'll find your friends will start paying attention.
Dear Bob & Julie,
What isthe difference between NANO MASKS & the Alpha Pro Tech?
Which one will your family use?
Thank you,
Carole B.
Carole...
There's actually a big difference. And we've purchased both.
The Nanomask is made of silicone just like the material used for swim goggles, and the filter is inserted and replaced as necessary. The filter is coated with an anti-viral agent that traps and kills pathogens on contact. This provides a higher level of comfort when entering a hot zone where you know the risk of H5N1 is high.
The Alpha Pro Tech does not have an anti-viral coating. It functions only as a filter. It is NIOSH approved as an N95 mask, which means it will filter out 95% of all pathogens that are greater than .30 microns in size. While the H5N1 virus is considerably smaller than that, it is almost always attached to moisture droplets which make it too large to get through the mask. This mask is more comfortable to wear in our opinion. And because it is so economical, you can wear it to go to the bank or to the grocery store (assuming they'll still be open) and not feel reluctant to throw it away afterwards. It also makes a great mask for giving to visitors, or even for trading, since commerce will likely break down completely. If you have children, this mask will be easier to achieve a snug fit than the Nanomask.
I have a question regarding the N-95 Respirators. How often can the same respirator be used? Please advise.
Thankyou,
Dom
Dom...
They're basically a wear once and discard mask. The problem being, if you enter an area where the H5N1 virus is present, your mask surface will be contaminated. When you leave the area it is far safer to just dispose of the mask than to try to save it for another use. The latter could probably be done by spraying it with chlorine, but they're cheap enough that discarding is without question the best option.
Good morning:
Very interesting and informative website. Two questions:
Are you waiting for confirmation of human-human transfer to raise your rating to “2” from “3”, and
In the event that we have a pandemic, I’m hearing mixed reports on the benefits of getting out of the city and into the country – either way, it will get you they say. Plus, health care in the country is typically not as good. As our family recently purchased a cottage, I was feeling good about the potential protection this may offer, but as I say, the feedback is mixed. Could you provide any further arguments or ideas on this?
Best regards, keep up the good work.
Jacques in Toronto
Jacques...
The rating is actually already at 3. We're going by the rating that is determined by WHO. There are some who believe that h2h transmission has already taken place and the rating should be higher.
Did you see the Fifth Estate show, 'Black Dawn' on CBC? They devoted the entire program on what life would be like in Toronto in the event of a pandemic. Not pretty. I wouldn't think twice about leaving if you have the opportunity. If you can quarantine yourself and your family the virus can't get you. And you can pretty well forget about getting medical attention in the city during a pandemic anyway. The system will be either non-existent or totally clogged. My wife spent 8 hours waiting in Emergency the other day. Can't even begin to imagine the scenario during a pandemic.
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