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Flu cure on the horizon?

September 17, 2012

Researchers have identified an antibody that not only prevents test animals from contracting the influenza virus, but also cures already infected rodents. [Nature]

By examining the flu virus in its crystalline, or 3-D form, researchers from the Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies were able to identify how the CO5 antibody grabs hold of a particular structure on the virus – a structure the virus uses to latch onto its victim’s cells.

Researchers found if they gave mice C05 it prevented them from getting the flu. In addition, mice that had been exposed to the deadly flu were cured 100 percent of the time.

 


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Viruses are wickedly nimble in mutating to work-arounds to disable antibodies. Some viruses are also able to survive for long periods of time in very severe environments, ensuring that there will be reservoirs of the virus available to repopulate and continue to evolve to meet the challenges of the new antibodies of its hosts.


In Laurie Garrett’s book “The Coming Plague,” she writes about an area in the DR Congo where one of the first major outbreaks of the ebolavirus occurred. The kill rate was quite high in the early outbreaks, but there were plenty of ebolavirus victims who made it to the closest medical clinic before they died so that one of the first hints of what humans would encounter when being confronted with the ebolavirus was demonstrated.


The ebolavirus is carried in sera/serum. In the blood serum it causes a profound ability to disable the clotting mechanism. Therefore, the people with ebolavirus bleed out of every orifice and pore. The patients literally sweat blood. They bleed from their tear ducts. Of course, there is blood and other sera in the feces. This produces a lot of ways for the virus to be spread to other humans.


In the midst of this full-blown ebolavirus outreak, the clinic had to be evacuated because a rebel army was slaughtering its way through the jungle, toward the clinic.


One of the clinic’s physicians had just drawn a syringe of blood from one of the ebolavirus patients when he was forced to leave. In his haste, the physician just laid the blood-filled syringe down on the window sill of an open window, in full-blown equatorial sunshine.


When the staff returned to the clinic two weeks later, after the rebel threat was over, the physician saw the blood-filled syringe he had left when they evacuated the clinic. Out of curiosity, he sent it out for testing, to see if there was any part of the viral body left.


To his surprise, and horror, there was still living, mobile, infective ebolavirus cultured out of the syringe.


Moral of the story: don’t have a lot of faith in any “cure” of a virus. At best, it is temporary and, at worst, it will simply train up the next generation of virus to a more horrifically lethal version.


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Just an FYI, but if they are discussing antibodies, the article should read C05 (zero) not CO5 (oh) – this is the antibody that neutralizes strains from multiple subtypes of influenza A virus, including H1, H2 and H3 according to the Actual article on Nature.com. Overall, it’s a short read, and I am not sure where the “100 percent” in the article here came from; closest I found was in the Supplemental Information (8.7mb, pdf) (page 4, graphs) – which have an 80% cure rate.


Still, this is for H1N1 and H3N2 viruses so it is really astounding. I personally think the US developed and sold this virus to Saddam back during the Iran-Iraq 10+ year war… which is how we knew he had WMDs (we sold them to him), but I digress… let’s go back to Ted Slanders’ silly posts for cheap liberal elitist street cred!


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Holy Beelzebub Ted, put a sock in it will ya. “Satanic Science” is what allows you to spout your Bronze

Age mythological clap-trap on this forum. Go get your flu shot or whatever you might need to keep you alive past the life expectancy of 25 years for the goat herders that wrote your invisible friend’s big book of magic.


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Here goes Satanic Science once again in overstepping our Judeo-Christian bible! BLASPHEME!


With our Christian mindset, in the way we have to “think” about things to be able to support the scriptures, then in the midst of a flu sickness; can be a means of God’s loving discipline and “tests” our integrity towards Him.


The clearest example of this in Scripture is found is Psalm 119. Notice the progression through verses 67, 71, and 75. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word…It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees…I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”


The author of Psalm 119 above was looking at suffering from God’s perspective. It was good for him to be afflicted. It was faithfulness that caused God to afflict him. The result of the affliction was so that he could learn God’s decrees and obey His Word. Our Christian mindset says that this makes sense.


It is difficult for us to comprehend why our ever loving God would work in this manner, but believing in the sovereignty of God in any situation; there is no other option than suffering the flu being something that God allows and/or causes to “test” us so that we can see the light!


Therefore, true Christians should NEVER use any type of drug that relieves the suffering of a sickness! It’s our God’s way of testing our faith.


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I really cannot wait for you to tire of this schtick (שטיק) you have been performing.


You quote the Old Testament to prescribe what “true Christians” should never do…? Really? Did you just want to skip over the greatest physician in the Christian religion: Jesus Christ. Or how about Luke (the beloved physician), also referred to as a physician?


I mean, you don’t want to reflect on “But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” (Matthew 9:12 KJV)?


Faith, apart from your incessant mocking, is but one step for people who need to heal. There’s the physical healing, physicians, medications (holistic or otherwise), then one’s faith and miracles can occur. Not always, but enough that we’ve all heard the “miraculous recovery” even in today’s modern medicine world!


How about you let Christ’s actual teachings in the gospel guide people on being “true Christians” – wouldn’t that be amazing?


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r0y,


The Hebrew-Christian God has given me this apropos passage to use against His creation like you who think they know in what they’re talking about, to wit: “When arguing with fools, be sure to answer their foolish arguments, or they will become wise in their own estimation” (Proverbs 26:5)


That being said, and barring the factoid that Jesus was NOT a physician, but why let the facts get in your way, your faith card and medication are two opposing concepts. If you really have faith of being healed, then you don’t need the medications or physicians. It’s a slap to God’s face in the fact that you don’t trust Him with the “faith card” as the Matthean passage so dictates below.


Try this test the next time you get a very serious ailment like the flu, that turns into pneumonia. Jesus stated, to wit; “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” This verse, with specificity, states that if one truly“believes” ye shall receive”. (Matt 21:22)


By just BELIEVING you shall receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Do the simple math, as a TRUE Christian, if you prayed in the context of the Matthean passage above to receive a healing from the flu going into pneumonia, then you don’t need medications and/or physicians that you include in your insidious healing scenario! Get it? Yeah, you do.


The sad thing is that if you prayed and you didn’t get healed, then it can only be assumed that you really didn’t “believe” enough in Jesus. How sad.


Back to your daily programing.


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Incredible.


We think we’re so incredibly advance in medicine. And when we look back at what we were doing in medicine 100 years ago, we laugh and shake our heads and say those poor people suffered needlessly.


Well, they’ll be doing the same 100 years from now.


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Pretty cool.


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