About the Author
The name of the author of the journal that will be critically appraised is Dr. Chloe Sellwood. She has earned herself a postgraduate degree in Medicine and works in the Pandemic Influenza office, which is a Health Protection Agency Center for Infections; located at Condiale, London, United Kingdom (Sellwood, 2007).
After skimming through the abstract of this article and analyzing its body, it can be stated that the author of this article has vested interest as will be clearly shown in this essay.
Type of Article
The type of article that this report will critically appraise is a peer-reviewed journal that is published internationally and is specifically for ongoing professional development.
Introduction
The article is basically about preparing for the next possible outbreak of Avian influenza; normally referred to as the “bird flu”. The author goes on to point out countries should begin to prepare for the next rare but likely outbreak of human influenza caused by the virus; HPAI A/H5N1, which is mostly brought about by foreigners visiting uninfected countries. The author also states that the only virus that has been revealed to have the capability of giving rise to pandemics is influenza A; that is, Avian Influenza. On the other hand, Influenza B is the major reason for outbreaks in populated areas such as nursing homes and around school-going children while the most common disease that easily infects humans- the common cold- is caused by Influenza C. The examples about the Influenza A subtypes include H1N1, H3N2, and H2N2 as stated by the author.
Claims
It is evident that the author of this article has made several claims, some being based on evidence while others are assumptions that have not been backed up by evidence. One of the claims made by the author is that “at least two of the 20th-century pandemics were associated with the re-emergence of viruses similar to those which had circulated previously by a process known as the antigenic recycling” (Nguyen-Van-Tam, 2006, p. 1767). The author bases her claim on the theory of antigenic recycling by saying that the H2 subtype will be the cause of the pandemic that follows and not HPAI A/H5N1. The states that the pandemic mostly infects the old people but at a certain period in the past, this whole trend kind of changed faces with the young people being the most infected while the elderly got to be on the safer side. The author gives a reason for this by claiming that the older the elderly acquired partial immunity obtained from the antigens that they obtained during their young ages, for example, when they were still children or at the beginning of adulthood and therefore they could not succumb to the effects of the pandemic.
Speaking of the current situation that mostly deals with cases of infections in poultry and fowls in Southeast Asia, it is stated in the article that the subtype of influenza that caused the deaths of the dead poultry was A/H5N1. Concerning that, the author claims that since this subtype of influenza is the cause of many deaths in poultry, then it will be the most likely cause of the human pandemic.
The treatment of this pandemic, as stated in the article, will be through the use of a vaccine. It will take four months for the recognition of a strain that causes the pandemic and another six months to accumulate sufficient stocks that the public will have access to it so that it can be used for defense. The vaccine, A/H5N1, has already been bought by the government of the United Kingdom, which will be utilized only when necessary or in the case of an emergency and also experimentally. However, the author claims that this vaccine is not going to be effective enough to act against the strain that causes the pandemic even if it came from the HPAI A/H5N1. The reason the author gives is that the virus is very likely to change its structure during its evolution for it to enable itself to multiply from one unaffected individual to the other.
The journal goes further to give other options of treatment of the virus apart from the vaccine to curd the blow of this virus. As Sellwood (2007) claims, the antivirals of the neuraminidase inhibitor class could be the best used against the pandemic influenza. The World Health Organization has taken a step to include this antiviral in its stock of drugs as a measure of preparation, in case human infections of influenza arise. It is claimed that this antiviral functions by preventing the multiplication of viruses, especially the production of new viruses that have been formed in the cell that is infected which acts as the host. The author further states that this antiviral should be swallowed very early after infection, for instance, in less than two days after infection for the drugs to work effectively.
Global perspective
The article has clearly outlined the global perspective of the disease by stating how much the countries that are located around the world, those that have been victims and those that have not experienced the disease, are taking necessary measures to prepare on how to tackle the disease in case an outbreak occurs. This view is shared by Coker (2006) when he says that the readiness of Europe to deal with pandemic influenza has been examined in two kinds of research in 2006. The study indicates that the governments of these countries in Europe are dedicated and their stage of carrying out preparation is fine.
New Zealand together with Hong Kong has carried out their preparation by keeping large stocks of the antivirals, vaccines, and other important resources that will be needed to control the human pandemic in case an outbreak will occur. Other countries like Vietnam have used measures like distancing themselves from other infected countries, issuing travel bans, and carrying out screen testing.
The global World Health Organization has also been the force behind the plans in the United Kingdom on how to deal with the pandemic. This plan that is available in the health department states that it intends to reduce the accumulation of crowds of people and to encourage people to consider the hygiene of their hands while at the same time restricting people from one country to another. Only the necessary flights will be allowed.
The United States has not stocked antivirals but it has made it possible for other plans, for example, closing of schools in the event of an outbreak. It has also outlined in its plan the necessary measures to take for effective communication and at the same time, preparation, how the public will respond to an urgent call, and how to prevent the movement of the infected people to the public, thus reducing the number of infected people.
Supporting Claims
The author has backed up the claim of the antiviral that will work if taken during the first two days of infection by saying that studies have recommended that if one sticks too early treatment, then the treatment will result in the reduction of transfer of the pandemic in such a way that the effects of the secondary population will be visible. The rest of the claims, according to the article and ad outlined in this essay have not been backed up by evidence.
Conclusion
It will be proper and thoroughly sound to say that the author of this peer-reviewed journal has a vested interest. The reason why this essay will conclude this way is that there is no sufficient evidence that supports the claims of this author concerning the treatment of bird flu. The author seems to be interested in convincing the readers of the journal that the next human pandemic will be caused by A/H5N1 without necessarily taking into consideration shreds of evidence and living examples to convince the intended audience. If the author wanted to sound more convincing and logical, then she would have considered giving the important scientific evidence that these antivirals work on humans. Furthermore, instead of just stating that the A/H5N1runs have the highest probability of causing human infections because this same subtype is what killed poultry, is a weak assumption that needs strong evidence. Therefore, the author seems to lack sufficient evidence on the whole subject of treatment.
Reference List
Coker, R. & Mounier-Jack, S., (2006). How Prepared is Europe For Pandemic Influenza? Analysis of National Plans, Lancet, 367, 1405-11.
Nguyen-Van-Tam, J., & Hampson, A. (2003). The Epidemology and Clinical Impact of Pandemic Influenza. Vaccine, 21, 1762-8.
Sellwood, C. (2007). Bird Flu: if or when? Planning for The Next Pandemic. Post-Graduate Medical Journal, 83, 445-550. Web.