Beating bird flu
From Peter Dunnill Sir: Ross Clark's article on what will happen if bird flu becomes a pandemic (Will you have a place in the bio-bunker?', 10 February) is correct in its criticism of government. However, our government could learn a lot from America. Mike Leavitt, the equivalent to Patricia Hewitt in the USA, has worked his way through the States with the message that ordinary people must do their part. Put a tin of food under the bed each time you shop, he advises, which is official US government advice. Ross Clark asks why children are not a vaccination priority, and US research can help us here as well. Studies done in America suggest that preschool children and the elderly move around less than working people, so protecting the working people from infection indirectly protects the very young and old.
Peter Dunnill Chairman, Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, University College London, WC1
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