Topic at Seattle health summit: pandemics, host of unknowns

Perhaps the greatest challenge in preparing for a possible flu pandemic is the host of unknowns.What strain or strains of bird flu would be involved? How infectious would it be?How rapidly would the disease be detected once it broke out, and how many more people would be infected before vaccines could be delivered and administered?These were some of the concerns voiced Tuesday at the opening of Seattle's third-annual Pacific Health Summit, a gathering of heavy hitters from around the globe in the areas of disease research and international policy. This year's topic was pandemics, in response to the growing threat of bird flu, or H5N1.The answers seem to lie in aggressive and far-reaching prevention and treatment. But that, in turn, elicits more questions: If a flu pandemic were to break out, it would take three months for the infection to peak in the global population, but six months for researchers to produce enough vaccines for everyone. Stockpiling vaccines is one solution, but who would have access to it, how much would it cost, and who, by the way, would foot the bill?
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As in the days of Noah....