brid flu not so deadly for humans

[Dr Martin Williams [account from Drupal site]]

News just in on study published in Science, showing bird flu is way less dangerous to humans than had been estimated by WHO (which based figures on people receiving treatment, so missed those who had only mild infections).

from USA Today:

Quote:

The team compiled evidence of antibodies to the virus collected from 12,677 Asians, Africans and Europeans in 27 studies dating from 1997 to 2009. The team estimates that about 1.2% of them had survived mild bird flu cases. That corresponds to "millions of people who have been infected worldwide," the study says.

"The bottom line is that it looks like a whole lot of people become infected and don't die," says Columbia University virologist Vincent Racaniello, who was not part of the study. "How much lower the death rate is, we don't know."

Study: Bird flu more common but looks less deadly

– won't please those, like Osterholm and even some in Hong Kong who've benefited from notions bird flu could kill us all [or at least, 50% of world population as "expert" Robert Webster once claimed]

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