What Will You Do About the Avian Flu?

Scholarly Journals in the natural science area are easily found and contain a wide variety of information. In the previous assignment, we looked at Nature, a scientific magazine. We were particularly focused on editorials and opinions and were instructed to write on something we found particularly interesting. As I looked into bioterrorism in the previous post, I decided to view scholarly articles on the Avian Flu Epidemic that recently hit mainstream media and had a large number of people worried. I found that the distinct difference between scholarly journals and regular articles is the type of information each provides and I gained a great deal of useful information on the avian flu from the journal. We could all benefit from knowing so much about something that our government is worried enough to spend $3.8 billion dollars on, right?

It is not difficult to see that scholarly journals take on a completely different level of thought and organization. These writings are much longer and obviously take a much larger amount of time, effort, and research; whereas, most editorials give the basic outline of the situation and then discuss the author’s opinion on the subject. In the Avian Flu Threat, the report starts with an Abstract and Overview, which summarize the article and gives an overview of the situation and how it started. In this particular article, they talk about what is being done to combat the flu, the first human-to-human case, and the amount of money and lives this new threat has taken (Glazer, 1). They go on to explain the World Health Organization’s (WHO) involvement and include maps of bird migratory patterns for the spread of the virus. The scientist’s hypothesis is clearly stated throughout the paper, what is the United States going to do when another flu epidemic comes and it takes too long to create a vaccine?

The background gives information to better inform the reader of the data presented. In this case, information is presented on the flu outbreak of 1918, where an estimated 40 to 100 million citizens died worldwide (Glazer, 2). The SARS outbreak is also highlighted, along with facts about the expected mutation of the virus and the chances of it becoming spread vastly from human to human. “Today, the virus is “like a key that doesn't quite fit the lock” of human-to-human contagion, explains Michael T. Osterholm, a professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. “But if you jiggle the key enough times, occasionally it will open the door. The virus is moving closer to the key that would really open the door. That's when you get sustained human-to-human transmission.” The only available treatment are Tamiflu and Relenza, which are simply medicines for basic influenza.

Probably the most informative and interesting sections are the overview and current situation. It encompasses all the previously assessed information and relates it to citizens. There is a chart of avian flu cases and deaths since 2003 presented by the WHO and other informative visuals, such as, How to Avoid Risk. One can particularly find the set-up of these sections useful. The author presents the audience with a quesiton (e.g. “Is the United States Preparded for a Pandemic?”) (Glazer, 4), and then proceeds to provide the answer. Domestic efforts, liability, and quarantines are all presented in sections as solutions to the problem. Unfortunately what worries scientists the most is the fifty-percent death rate of this disease (Glazer, 4). An interesting topic also presented is the economic effects. Countries will shut down their borders and cut off trade, which will cause a severe medicine shortage in the United States, because we import eighty percent of our raw materials (Glazer). Scholarly journals not only present the entire subject, but also provide solutions and other information pertinent to the topic.

To sum up the information, scholarly journals usually contain an outlook section towards the end. We are left with a question, in this case, economic disaster? (Glazer) While many disagree on the severity of this epidemic, most agree that there will be another flu epidemic and that we should caution ourselves because chances are vaccines will be in short supply if it sneaks up on us (Glazer). This article contains useful information on how the government and other organizations are researching and providing answers to this threat. It presents the problems, how many vaccines will be needed, when vaccines will be available and how many can be produced? It really stresses the need to start now, because of scientists beliefs that there will be another flu epidemic and the medicine needed is not going to meet the number of people acquiring the disease. They also tell the stories of several people who died of the avian flu in Asia while the flu was believed to be a severe threat.

Just by providing an overview of the contents of a scholarly journal, one can see that it encompasses a much higher amount of information. Editorials are intended to get the reader interested and provide an opinion, but one should always view scholarly journals when researching or learning everything they can about a subject. There is such a large amount of good information that it is hard not to learn more from them and this scholarly journal is a good start to inform oneself about this biological threat.

Works Cited:
Glazer, S. (2006, January 13). Avian flu threat. CQ Researcher, 16, 25-48. Retrieved January 30, 2007, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006011300.