'Vaccinate now' to beat bird flu

The BBC’s website, on the 9th October 2008, has an article about a report telling us we need to vaccinate against bird flu now and not wait until the pandemic starts. It says,

A jab against one strain of avian flu, given years earlier, may "prime" the immune system to fight a wide range of bird flu strains.

When the pandemic arrives, "pre-vaccinated" people could then be given a booster shot, and be protected far quicker, said researchers.

The speed that pandemic flu - labelled the "gravest threat" to the UK by a recent government document - could sweep the world, is one of the great challenges facing scientists and governments.

Some suggestions say it might only be a matter of weeks before an emerging virus reached the UK.

By the time a vaccine exactly matching the pandemic strain is developed and administered, it may already have claimed many thousands of lives.

"If governments are thinking about stockpiling vaccine, you could actually be stockpiling it in people's arms."

The “gravest threat” now seems to have some magic snake oil to cure it.