Protecting Patents Is Good For Patients.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(PERSPECTIVE)

Byline: DAN GAINOR

The health care community is worried about the chance of a deadly flu outbreak. This isn't just the media trying to scare us to death. Medical professionals are genuinely concerned.

While the warnings are important, Washington must ensure that safeguarding efforts don't jeopardize our ability to protect ourselves in the future.

The avian flu has been migrating across the world from China in recent weeks. Authorities have destroyed 140 million birds to try to stop the spread. Already the virus has infected 117 people in Asia and killed 60 since December 2003. Those numbers don't sound high, but health officials fear the virus will mutate.

Their worst-case fears are a repeat of the 1918-19 outbreak in which the Spanish flu killed more than 500,000 in the U.S. and up to 50 million worldwide.

This time things are different. The two major outbreaks since 1918 have been deadly, but manageable. The Asian flu killed about 70,000 people in the U.S. in 1957-58; the Hong Kong flu killed roughly 34,000 here in 1968-69, which is about the same number that die each year from flu in America.

Why the difference? Health care improved immensely in the U.S. in that time. And, most notably, we now live in a world of antibiotics. A major reason the Spanish flu killed so many was it weakened their immune systems and they died from secondary causes. Antibiotics keep those other causes in check.