Are pharmaceutical companies releasing flu bugs on purpose?

Question

Isn't is strange that you always get a cold or the flu (or some other common virus) just shortly before the adverts appear on TV for the latest cough syrup or winder cure? Are the big companies developing their own superbugs to increase their profits? I've never had so many colds as I have in the last 2 years and the one I've got right now I can't easily get rid of! Who knows what these guys get up to in their hidden labs and white coats!

Answer 1

you dont know just how right you may be

Answer 2

I hope this is a joke question otherwise we're living in even more paranoid times than could have previously been imagined. The ads appear when they do just because colds and flu tend to happen at particular times of the year or if an outbreak occurs outside of these times the companies concerned just book additional ad space.

You might as well say that ice cream companies have a secret machine that controls the weather to make it sunny when they want to sell lollipops.

Answer 3

Hi there!

Let me answer your questions in the order by which my answer build on teh other:

1. You always get a cold or the flu (or some other common virus) just shortly before the adverts appear on TV for the latest cough syrup or winder cure?

- Let me set some information correct first. Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease that infects birds and mammals (primarily of the upper airways and lungs in mammals) and is caused by an RNA virus of the Orthomyxoviridae family (the influenza viruses). The most common and characteristic symptoms of influenza in humans are fever, sore throat, myalgia (muscle pains), severe headache, cough, and malaise (weakness and fatigue)

Influenza reaches peak prevalence in winter, and because the Northern and Southern Hemisphere have winter at different times of the year, there are actually two flu seasons each year. Therefore, the World Health Organization (assisted by the National Influenza Centers) makes two vaccine formulations every year; one for the Northern, and one for the Southern Hemisphere.

While most influenza outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere tend to peak in January or February, not all do. For example, the influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919 reached peak virulence during late spring and summer worldwide, and not until October in the US. It remains unclear why outbreaks of the flu occur seasonally rather than uniformly throughout the year.

One possible explanation is that, because people are indoors more often during the winter, they are in close contact more often, and this promotes transmission from person to person. Another is that cold temperatures lead to drier air, which may dehydrate mucus, preventing the body from effectively expelling virus particles. The virus may also linger longer on exposed surfaces (doorknobs, countertops, etc.) in colder temperatures. Increased travel and visitation due to the holiday season may also play a role.

Since most people are indoors, marketing people see this as a slot to advertise or reach out a broader and more captured market i.e. people indoors. Likewise, since you are indoors, you exposure and attention to what is actually shown on TV in higher hence you do recognize and realise the huge influx of information thrown at you designed by advertising and marketing people.

2. Are pharmaceutical companies releasing flu bugs on purpose?

- No; Let me give you a backgrounder first before completing my answer. Flu research includes molecular virology, pathogenesis, host immune responses, and epidemiology. These help in developing influenza countermeasures such as vaccines, therapies and diagnostic tools.

The US federal government on May 4, 2006 awarded five-year contracts for "more than $1 billion to five drug manufacturers developing technology for speedier mass production of vaccines in the event of a pandemic" from the $3.8 billion pandemic preparedness bill passed in 2005. "The federal government says its goal is to be able to distribute a vaccine to every American within six months of a pandemic. Currently, flu vaccines are produced in specialized chicken eggs, but that technique does not allow for speedy mass vaccinations." The companies receiving the contracts were:

* GlaxoSmithKline $274.8 million
* MedImmune Inc $169.5 million
* Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics $220.5 million
* DynPort $41 million
* Solvay Pharmaceutical $298.6 million

Given the cycle of producing the vaccines (which are again done in specialized chicken eggs), the turn around of the vaccine sometimes coincide with that of the "peak" of the flu rather than at the onset.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

It'd be crazy if they did. We already have cold and flu viruses mutating so that they resist even the strongest medication, so unless they have a cure for these hidden somewhere so that they can tackle a huge epidemic, they'd be creating one huge problem. And people who are dying off due to extreme strains of flu are unlikely to be buying anything from a pharmaceutical company!

Answer 5

Of course they are making new viruses, Its to make money Do you really think anyone care about us I am 77 in 12 days and I will kill myself That's a promise Too bnad my 8 year ols cries when I say I have to die because I am old. America is a **** hole cesspool greedy evil society .

Answer 6

Extraordinary !:

"Ice cream companies have a secret machine that controls the weather to make it sunny when they want to sell lollipops".

Just-washed automobiles cause downpours.

Answer 7

Just as software professionals of anti-virus software first release viruses, before selling anti-virus softwares.

Answer 8

the companies did research that computes the period which most people gets sick.
So they strongly market their medicine during that flu period.
Don't think too much.