Wash those hands!

Last Update: Monday, June 12, 2006. 6:39pm (AEST)
Pandemic preparations: Professor Plant says good hygiene helps prevent the flu spreading.

(Reuters)

'Hygiene better than drugs' in bird flu fight

Health professionals at a conference in Perth have been told anti-viral medication offers little protection against any future influenza pandemic.

At a bird flu seminar, doctors have been told too much emphasis is placed on drugs such as Tamiflu, and stringent hygiene routines offer better protection from viruses.

Infectious diseases expert Aileen Plant told the conference she has been surprised by the number of medical professionals she has seen ignoring infection control procedures.

Professor Plant says basic cleanliness is needed to fight the spread of any future flu pandemic because anti-viral drugs offer limited protection and may not reduce the number of deaths.

"The anti-virals are good for stopping people getting infection, so in other words if they take them before they are exposed to somebody who's sick or even after they're exposed to somebody who's sick, if they take them quickly they're useful," she said.

"We're still not really sure what's going to happen in terms of whether that will affect hospitalisation and mortality, we hope so but we don't know yet."
Pandemic preparations

Professor Plant says even though the virus has not reached birds in Australia, people need to prepare for a possible pandemic.

"We've never seen anything like we've seen with the birds this year where we've seen it go from about 13 countries at the beginning of the year to well over 30," she said.

"We are concerned to see that many places with both bird cases and a few human cases of course have spread to more countries too."

She says health professionals need to be vigilant.

"A pandemic is eventually inevitable and the best thing to ameliorate it is to be well prepared," she said.

She says if bird flu infects people in Australia it will be difficult for doctors to recognise because its symptoms are like those of any other influenza.