This letter appeared on November 13, 2005:
Alec van Gelder's Oct. 31 op-ed article on issues swirling around preparing for a possible pandemic of bird flu makes some excellent points about the need for public-private cooperation and the disastrous consequences for public health that would likely ensue if patents on antivirals were violated for expediency's sake.
However, his assertion that ''the hysteria surrounding avian flu far surpasses that which accompanies the yearly arrival of a new flu strand, which regularly kills hundreds of people," mars his commentary. In the United States, the regular yearly toll of influenza amounts to more than 30,000 dead, some years well over that level. Even in his native United Kingdom, the best estimates are that more than 3,000 succumb to the flu each year.
Dr. Gilbert Ross
Executive Director
The American Council on Science and Health
New York