Present and Future Pandemics

Currently H5N1 (avian flu) is not demonstrably transmissible from human to human. It is widespread in various populations of wild birds and is a major threat to overcrowded farmed populations of chickens and ducks throughout the world. But it would be unwise for us to be complacent about this. A prominent element of viruses, including the influenza's and rhino viruses (which cause the common cold), is that they often mutate, and in the process, become more virulent or move to new species not previously affected. That possibility is the main concern here.

Another concern is that the various health organizations like WHO and the CDC and national authorities accross the world are currently focused on killing entire populations of farmed birds if isolated infections occur. This gives the farmers some considerable incentive to fail to report disease in their flocks and is, in the end, counterproductive in a variety of ways. It is also unfortunate that we are betting on the possibility of developing a vaccine that can be produced industrially within a short enough time-frame to be useful to more than a few percent of the world population, if the virus were to mutate to a form which was not only virulent, but easily transmissible from human to human.

As far as I know, no public health agency is doing much of anything to investigate better methods of prophylaxis for viruses in general. Furthermore, the authorities often impede progress in this area by the exclusionary and myopic way grants for research are issued.

I also know, with a considerable degree of certainty, that gauze masks and the like are not an effective prophylactic measure. I also know that other methods in this area work quite well. I know this because I haven't had a cold or bout of flu since 1984 and there are now thousands of other people who now have a similar record of being free of these viruses since as far back as 1990 (when I began teaching others how to protect themselves).

My motive in life is not to accumulate a lot of money. (I have never made a dime for many thousands of hours of research and dissemination of the Prevention Procedure). I have never applied for a research grant, and do not intend to. Even now, while recovering from a stroke, I will present or debate the subject in any venue which gives the chance of teaching new people how and why to engage in a process of protection, which, if done consistently, will afford them a high degree of protection even in the event of a pandemic. I impede no one if they wish to quote me, as long as they are accurate, complete and give me proper attribution, so that people can check with me if questions arise.

If I have any regrets, they are that I did not spend another 10,000 hours doing what I have been doing. On the other hand, from the first moment someone speculated on the idea that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes, it was nineteen years before the notion was accepted as fact. In that time many, many thousands of people died because of fallacious ideas held by the authorities. And of course the AIDS crisis is considerably worse today because of the inept and ill-advised response by the authorities throughout the years.