Tamiflu fever medicine

The auction site eBay had to withdraw Tamiflu from the trade list on the grounds that it was a prescription drug, so eBay was not allowed to sell online .

Roche's Tamiflu

The fact that the price of Tamiflu is feverish: increased to 17.4 USD / tablet from noon yesterday.

Normally, the retail price of Tamiflu in the European market is about 4.4 - 5.3 USD / tablet (drugs for each country's stockpiles are much cheaper).

Microchip testing virus

STMicroelectronics Group has announced the successful study of the microchip that can detect viruses and pathogens quickly and accurately.

Lab on Chip project director Stefano Lopriore told the BBC that their product could be used to test the H5N1 virus.

If that is achieved, then this is an interesting success because when using the test circuit only takes about an hour to have accurate results.

STMicroelectronics plans to bring products to market by the end of 2006.

More importantly, the retail price of products not exceeding $ 100 should be appropriate for developing countries. (N.Quân - BBC)

Reason is not difficult to understand: bird flu is in danger of coming back to threaten the world. Currently only Tamiflu is the key drug in the treatment of bird flu in humans. Most countries are recommended to store Tamiflu for adequate protection. It seems that fear only enriches Swiss manufacturer Roche and wise people who know speculation.

Roche said the Tamiflu drug sales have increased by 20% in the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period last year, reaching $ 6.78 billion. Roche also said it would open a new factory in the US to meet demand. In response to the pressure of the community, Roche announced it was ready to franchise other companies involved in the production of this drug. However, many countries around the world think that these "concessions " are not appropriate in the context of the current pandemic bird flu pandemic.

Yesterday, Senator Chuck Schumer in New York State (USA) asked Roche Pharmacy to give up its right to produce Tamiflu in a month (valid until 2016) so that all other countries could join. Comfortable medicine production, if you don't want the US Congress to ' act '. ' Roche is putting its interests on the health of the world. They should not go on like this while we have a latent pandemic that can happen at any time, 'Senator Schumer said.

Meanwhile, UN coordinator David Nabarro called on each country to appoint a minister in charge of coordinating bird flu response activities. ' I would like to see in every government a person who is empowered to gather all parts of the government together so that they can be well prepared and respond quickly to epidemics.

The key to countering this threat is that the government must act closely. Just like with SARS or with any flu, 'he stressed.

In Europe, European Union foreign ministers (EU) say the spread of avian influenza from Asia to Europe is a global threat. They urged international cooperation and called on the EU Executive Committee to speed up the construction of stronger laws to combat bird flu. Meanwhile, Romania said a swan carrying an avian flu antibody was found near the border with Ukraine.

In Africa, experts recommend that the region may be the most heavily affected by bird flu because of the habit of eating chicken as the main source of protein and poverty and backwardness. medical. China, meanwhile, admitted that the outbreak appeared more than two months ago in Inner Mongolia region due to the H5N1 virus but also confirmed its control.

HYDRAULICS ( According to Bloomberg, Korea Times, Reuters, AP )