Swine flu

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Here’s the story for reference... swine flu

I believe that it seems rather difficult to contain a disease like that, especially because it spreads too fast and also because its symptoms are just like any other flu which people don’t pay too many attention.

 

The symptons are like any other flu because from what I understand it is just like any other flu. We just don't have a vaccine for it yet. It is not any deadlier or more virulent than any "normal" flu strain. I am getting quite peeved at these media induced disease panics that strikes every few years. The swine flu is a flu, they come and they go I am no expert but the experts I have listened to on the telly doesn't seem overly concerned the only problem that it could be a pandemic of a certain kind of flu before a good vaccine is created and just like with any other flu some people who are weakened for one reason or another will die. They do that every year when the "normal" influenza strikes.

 

joa is mostly right here. From everything I have heard, the only real difference between this flu and the normal flu is that this flu seems to pass more readily from one person to another. It's symptoms are just like the regular flu, and there is a small chance of death for the very young and the very old (regular influenza kills about 100,000 people per year in North America alone - I was actually surprised it was that many). Most people who receive treatment (there is no vaccine but it does respond to anti-viral drugs) are fine.

The reason why there have been over 100 reported deaths in Mexico is because many people there are very poor, and cannot afford and/or cannot get access to proper treatment. If you have access to doctors, it's not nearly as big of a deal.

My initial reaction is that this is going to be a lot like the bird flu a few years ago - which is to say it will turn out to be much ado about nothing.

 

Yeah. That is potentially a really big problem.

 

Yes but wasnt the Spanish flu an especially virulent flu with severe symptons and a high kill ratio? Nothing I have heard points towards this flue being any more lethal than the flu that strikes every year.

 

All deaths have been in people who delayed treatment -- but run the entire age spectrum. That's what's causing the concern; the high percentage of deaths in the 20-40 year olds range. The key appears to be getting medical attention early enough.

We're looking at a minimum of 13 weeks for a vaccine, most likely 26 weeks.

 

Which is why this is going to be a much bigger issue in Mexico - and the uninsured in the US than for those who have insurance and access to medical facilities.

Obama has authorized federal spending to some pharmaceutical companies to mass produce anti-viral medication - and the infection responds well to that. There should be about 75 million doses of anti-viral medication on hand by the end of May, which is good news, because waiting for a vaccine is not a good short term solution.

 

This was just passed out at my work:

Recently, information has been reported in the media relating to a seemingly new strain of influenza that has been dubbed, “swine flu”.

Although these reports are concerning, our public health system is moving quickly to deal with the situation.

We do have some specific, reliable information:

1. At this time, cases of influenza have been reported in growing numbers in Mexico. Fatalities have been reported in Mexico relating to this influenza, however, at this time, The U.S. State Department has not restricted travel to Mexico. Travelers from the US going to Mexico that are at high risk of severe illness from influenza (for example persons with chronic conditions such as diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, and the elderly) are recommended to take antiviral medications for prevention of swine influenza during travel.

2. There have been 20 confirmed cases of “swine flu” in the U.S. None of these people have died, only two were hospitalized, and there have been no cases reported in Illinois. Individuals who have recently traveled to one of the areas where swine flu cases have been reported should monitor themselves for any flu-like symptoms and see their physicians if they have symptoms.

3. Symptoms of concern include: high fever, or acute respiratory illness (at least two of the following; nasal congestion, sore throat, cough) with a recent history personal travel to, or exposure to someone who has recently traveled to, one of the areas where the swine flu has been reported.

4. There is a reliable treatment available for individuals who are infected with swine flu. Medications are available in pill form and in a form that comes in an inhaler.

5. The same precautions as are appropriate for seasonal flu are appropriate to use at this time. People should wash their hands frequently. They should use tissues when coughing or sneezing to prevent spread of germs. Finally, people should not go to work or school if they have serious respiratory illnesses.

For further reliable information about this topic, please go to one of the two websites listed below:

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/press09/4.26.09MexicanSwineFluUpdate.htm

 

I just heard the latest info on Swine Flu, they suspect it originated, wait for it....








On a PIG FARM, who woulda guessed THAT one...

 

Israeli Taleban Make Swine Flu Kosher

Hard to beat in it's absurdity is this news from The Middle East's Most Western Country™. Israel's health minister Yakov Litzman, who is ultra orthodox, ponders in times of a potential global outbreak of Swine Flu about matters of wording.

He stated on Monday in his first act in office that swine flu would be from here on in referred to as "Mexico Flu," as pork is non-kosher and considered unclean under Jewish law.

*sign of relief* Problem solved. * sigh of relief*​

 

3 kids at my local school (about 1km from my house) have just tested positive for Swine Flu after a recent trip to Mexico. They appear to be alright, but this does indicate to me that this thing is pretty fast spreading. I live in New Zealand for crying out loud. You can't get much further away than this.

 

So, wait, pork is unclean but diseases are kosher? I didn't know that.

 

Think of that - a health minister who is unable to talk about an infectious disease that - as media are so fond to repeat, has pandemic potential - without getting a rash from uttering unclean words that are the name of this blight, and thus has to rename the disease? Interesting priorities. The man is obviously utterly unsuited to the job - which doesn't matter at all, because he won that job in coalition bartering. Which makes him perfectly qualified, as he functions as the collective intelligence of his party, which probably is the very core of the problem with that/those guy(s). Geez ....

Just think of the trouble and tribulations he will be go through when discussing with his staff health issues like teenage pregnancies ...

My deep cover mole in the Israeli Health Ministry has sent me the agenda for his next meeting:

 

I don't think its going to be a big deal. Just a big deal over something "potentially" serious. Way more people probably have (or HAD) it than reported since it is just like the regular flu. SARS was supposed to be a big deal too... Where is it now?

 

Yes, I read the unexcited and sober assessment of the German Robert Koch Institute. There are instances, and they're watching it. It could be dangerous. The reporting that's coming from the US is clearly hysterical, and IMO irresponsible.

As for now, every seasonal flu takes a toll. Normal (i.e. non-swine) flu iirc kills an average of 36,000 people and hospitalizes 226,000 people in the U.S. every year. Everybody ought to calm down. So far the lethality of the swine flue is in tune with the normal flu. The risky aspect is the genetic composition that give it 'pandemic potential'. Right now we are far away from that.

Fun fact Secessionist Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked for Federal aid against the swine flu Chickened out already?

 

I imagine infection rates will be much higher than a normal flu, and thus the death toll will be higher, but I'm not worried.

 

My bets are on it being Giraffe flu next...its about time giraffes got on the news for something!

I'm not too worried, I mean I had flu twice in 3 weeks when it was all about the bird flu and I'm still about, the media just gets a little carried away...its their job to get carried away I guess!

 

While I agree about the latter part ... even though I know nothing about you, I question the first half of it. Had you have had the flu you'd have been genuinely sick, as in unable-to-work-at-all sick. It's not something you have twice in three weeks, more like something you have for two weeks.

My physician is fond to point that his patients like to confuse that flu-ish thing we all have once in a while that is caused by picornaviruses, rhinoviruses or coronaviruses - with the real thing, the influenza (of which, to add to the confusion) also weaker strains exist). When you have fever and are sneezing and coughing all respiratory diseases feel the same I presume.

 

Well I'll admit it may not have been the flu then , but it felt like it at the time and I was unable to get out of bed for about 3 days...then it just kinda cleared up over a couple more days. Maybe I hadn't quite got completely better and so I just got sick again off the same thing. I'm no superman, but I don't get ill for very long if I do

To sum up, it felt like it could of been flu, though maybe it wasn't Flu flu (I don't go to the doctor when I get sick)...these things just get kinda lumped together in my house, flu is just a cold that knocks you flat for a few days to me lol. Guess I'm a little ignorant on the subject

 

The only thing I'm a little concerned with is I have a child under 2. He is in a high risk group, and I certainly wouldn't want to have to hospitalize him if this reaches pandemic proportions and he gets sick.

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Is it just me who finds it odd that the toddler, who is being reported as the first US death from swine flu is Mexican? And I don't mean that he is a Mexican living in the US. He and his family actually lived in Mexico, and his family brought him to the US so he could be treated here instead. To me, that doesn't make him the first US death from swine flu. It makes him the 100th-something Mexican to die from swine flu. I know that this is a semantic point more than anything, but if I go to some other country and I die there, I'm not suddenly a citizen of that country. I'm still an American who died somewhere else.