Monday, July 26, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 3
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New flu vaccine
C 4awaiting ap rova
By Phil Bansa thedru il be aiable or this flu
Dalv 'tafl Repor
t 1 a sea0on
CN pid iti tV eommat s Hu FIA of i sircfu tdhto
* not totention tt rand nausea - Relcnztbould e appv I, icat-
Sgo the fu. AlthougI the flu ing that t f mrtionti usl
s s nonths awaya n antisi- ly crestictd to txoid tipping off
d7i drug developed in Austria could stock market ovestors.
proxvide a nxxew wpon in h war As the price of pecription drugs
fxagainst the flu. continues to rise, ow much will
The drug, cailed Reen. ai to be Relenza cost?
manufactured by Glaxo Wellcome, Dean said Glaxo has yet to deter-
Inc. and will only be available with a mine the price.
prescription. Karen Collins, director But Relenza has even more
of public communications at Claxo, promise than just getting people out
said Relenza can shorten the virus's of sick-beds and on their feet one
life in the body by a day. day ahead of schedule. In clinical tri-
Public Health Prof. Arnold Monto als conducted in Ann Arbor and
said Relenza beats over-the-counter Columbia, Mo., Relenza proved to
flu drugs since they only attack the be 84 percent effective in preventing
symptoms, not the virus itself, leav- flu with fever.
ing open the possibility of later con- The FDA is currently checking
tracting the flu. Relenza's therapeutic capabilities
Although previous antiviral drugs and Dean said approval for the pre-
worked only against a fraction of all ventative side of Relenza probably
flu types, Relenza works against will not happen until at least after
every kind of the virus. the upcoming flu season.
Relenza works against all flu types Although Relenza offers a lot of
ft because it inhibits an enzyme called hope for staying well this winter, the
neurominidase, which the flu virus best thing to do as the flu season
uses to replicate itself, but Glaxo is approaches is to get a $10 flu inocu-
still seeking approval from the Food lation at University Health Services.
APP OT and Drug Administration. The vaccine isn't guaranteed to
A wet retreat Julie Dean, Glaxo's executive ward off all viral types of the illness,
With temperatures in the 90s, Taylor Austin of Battle Creek, Mich. tries to beat the heat at a dam on the Kalamazoo director of public communications, but it's the best thing available to
River Saturday afternoon. said the company is only "hopeful combat the flu.
'U' starts contingencyplaning or Y2
y Adam Zuwerink
aily News Editor
As date-dependent technological
devices prepare to roll over to the year
2000 in a little over five months from
now, a team of University employees,
known as the U-M Year 2000
Committee, is busy doing everything
it can to ensure the transition is a
smooth one.
After focusing most of its time and
energy last year and earlier this year
on the actual reprogramming of the
University's computer systems, ensur-
ing programs are coded to recognize
the number 2000 as a four-digit,
rather than two-digit numeral, the
committee feels confident in the
University's systems' Y2K complian-
cy.
With the Unixersity's centrally-
managed computer infrastructure -
vhich includes critical sxstems that
"anage payroll and financial aid -
almost 100 percent complete, Year
2000 project leader Gloria Thiele said
the committee is 'not aware of anx -
thing that will not be compicted by
the end of the year "
Chief Information Officer Jose-
Marie Griffiths said the Utiversity
feels "pretty comfortable" phsical
systems, like elevators and security
'stems, will also be compliant.
As the reprogramming phase nears
completion, the committee recently
turned its attention to contingency
planning, which involves thinking international communication. With Division is also currently working
through worst-case scenarios and the University itxolved in many inter- with University Housing to provide
developing plans that identify what national student and research pro- information to students when they
steps will be taken in case of system jects, there is a fear other countries arrive for fall term and to determine
failure, Thiele said. will not be as prepared for the Y2K how many students will be living in
The next step in the contingency bug and that problems may arise in the residence halls in case problems
plans is for the information from the contacting other countries. do occur, Griffiths said.
University's various divisions, depart- But Griffiths said the University ITD will request students to switch
ments and schools to be summarized needs to be careful in spending all of everything off before they leave for
to see if there are areas of remaining its time and efforts on internal Y2K vacation in December to avoid prob-
concern that need to be addressed. issues, when potential security threats lems when the year 2000 arrives.
Thiele said the Y2K team needs to may arise from external hackers. More information about current
determine what specific events would "We need to be vigilant over exter- University Y2K issues, includitg
have to occur that would activate a nal attacks on the network," Griffiths statements from cornmercial software
contingency plan. said. vendors, can be found at
One of the largest areas of concern The Information and Technology http://swww.year2000.tintch.edu
is making sure that electricity, which
stores the University's vast amount of
irreplaceable research sp.1s will
not be disconnected, Theil' stid.
"The research otunsinity has been
very responsive in communicating
areas of concern, especially in the
area of power outages," Thiele said. MEIAN CAFE
"There's a lot that needs to be done,
but we think we have our arms around A
it- ANN A 0RB'RS FINEST
Griffiths said the University is cur- MEXICAN STYLE FOOD!
rently working with Detroit Edison-
and other utilities to ensure full con- a3LOWESTPRICE
tinuation of electricity and water ser- HIGHEST UALI1Y!
vices. MEXIAN-VE Ta URANT AT TE VCE
"We're alwavs concerned about ME iAN reaUrA TFASTENTSERVICE! U
whether we will have powr M v"* 1002 PONTIAC TR.
Grifftths said. W LE IV K994-1367
Another potential problem s.U
Griffiths identified was in the area of
opihcc tt11LK tl M4dhktM. h, t n11 t*1ti U U U U * *
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