Mad Cow, Bird/Swine Flu, Foot and Mouth, E.coli, Salmonella, Ebola, Marburg...

[cobweb]

the things is though, if our respective governments choose to make something a 'big deal' then it is a big deal.
I booked a trip to Disneyland with my son around the start of the Iraq war and it was cancelled due to worries about French retaliation against the British due to the invasion.
Had it been up to me i would have gone right ahead with the holiday.
I also think its fair enough actually to have this new strain of flu highlighted by the media as it did kill 150+ people in Mexico and appears to be spreading rapidly and globally, though i don't appreciate all the enormous amount of hype.

[auryn23]

I apologise for having been facetious earlier - it seems from your post that you are genuinely quite frightened by this. I acknowledge that you have the right to feel whatever you feel, and I am not being dismissive of your feelings, but I find it quite hard to understand, because it seems rather disproportionate to the actual risk. I would like to understand your post better - do you think it's a good thing or not that cruises are cancelled and schools have been closed?

Your post seems to imply that these actions verify the panicky approach of the media. I acknowledge that my reading of your post may be wrong. To me the actions seem bizarre, and I cannot wrap my head around it really. My instinct is that the word "pandemic" is not well understood, and this is leading to a level of anxiety which is unwarranted. This in turn puts pressure on public bodies to be seen to be "doing something" - in this case, closing schools - which in turn reinforces the public perception that there is sufficient risk to life for schools to be shut. Would you agree?

As a comparison, are your schools generally shut if there are 'several' cases of seasonal flu (which kills around a quarter of a million people every year?). What are the levels of other transmissible diseases (e.g. isolated cases of measles, rubella, meningitis) in schools in Indiana, and are schools closed regularly for this? Would a cruise operator be required to cancel cruises if visiting an area with a spike in - for example - malaria? Or if only in the case of human-to-human diseases, would a cruise be cancelled if someone on the ship had had norovirus?

Interested to know your views.

OH NO! I am so sorry you took it that way!! I have a very dry sense of humor and am very sarcastic. And the post about the cruise was more to show how this craze has taken over, well, cruises and schools.

No, my actual view on this is amazement...we (in America, at least, can't speak for everywhere) (and am speaking about those representing the masses, not always individuals) step over the homeless and age children out of schools and orphanages without a second thought and turn away from countries where people die by hundreds every minute from starvation yet focus all of our energies on tiny issues that affect only a small number. And the only reason we focus on that is because it isn't something that can be blamed on the actual victim. Although we still found the victims to blame on this by it's very name.

No, again, I am sorry it was read that way. I enjoy talking about it because I enjoy all things sociological. And being a sociologist, I can find something sociological in just about everything! And I will repost the link I posted earlier. :) (and my utmost apologies for that one paragraph run-on sentence!!!)

http://doihaveswineflu.org/

[CrunchyMomma]

Technically I think they've only confirmed nine deaths so far worldwide (twelve at the most). Mexico was reporting that there had been "hundreds" of deaths, but so far the samples tested have come up showing that some of the deaths were not directly attributed to this strain of the flu. Of course there is still a backlog. A lot of the deaths were due to the fact that people were being turned away by doctors because they assumed people just had a bad cold or allergies.

In California there was huge hype over a man who died. The news were saying he died from this flu. Turns out he had lymphoma and had been terminally ill for quite some time. A few things to keep this in perspective:

1. They have already speculated that it is highly plausible this didn't start in Mexico and was actually going around during normal flu season, hence why many people reported getting the flu this year despite being vaccinated against it. The first case here in the States dates back to the beginning of March and, if I recall correctly, did not involve travel to Mexico.

When you go to the doctor with flu-like symptoms they give you the option of being tested. Those results are sent to the CDC and WHO to be counted in the National Flu Reports; however, because doctors can pretty much diagnose the flu on the spot (not to mention many people never even go to the doctor when they get the flu) and the additional testing is costly, many people don't get tested to officially confirm the diagnosis. Also, when they do test for the flu they run the gamut of all strains and don't look for a particular, isolated strain so they wouldn't necessarily be looking for this strain among the several that go around each season.

2. There will be more confirmed cases as the testing labs work through the backlog, some dating back to February and March, and the news are reporting that many of the cases already confirmed the people have already recovered, family members have been given antivirals as a preventative and so far have not infected others. The one exception being the private school in New York where children returned home from Spring break in Mexico ill and went to school that way because they didn't want to miss finals. By the end of the week, hundreds of students were out with flu-like symptoms. Only around fifty tested positive for this strain.

[Quantum Mechanic]

Please do not not go to the doctor if you think you have flu!!!
Doctors waiting rooms are wonderful places for spreading infections and there may be children, elderly people and immunosuppressed people there as these groups do consult the doctor more.

Government advice for anyone with flu like symptoms is to stay at home, and telephone the health care provider if necessary.
This flu is no more dangerous than normal flu and should be treated in exactly the same way. Stay at home, phone someone to tell them you are ill if you live alone, take lots of fluids, take paracetamol if you have a fever, take rehydration salts of you have diarrhoehha, and telephone the NHS Direct or your health care provider.
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pandemic-flu/Pages/QA.aspx

It can't be said to do one or the other (stay away from the doctor or go whenever you get symptoms). It depends on how sick you get, and other factors (such as being immunosuppressed like was mentioned). Staying home and such similar measures are the first line, but going to the doctor shouldn't be shut off.

[Buddha Belly]

The WHO don't like the name 'swine flu' either Cherry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/health/01name.html?_r=1


We could call it Mexican Death Fever. It has that extra punch that the media love and can cause a real panic in the population. MDF does have a nice ring to it.

[Quantum Mechanic]

Along those same lines...

Hemagglutinin 1-2 Punch? Television news outlets are not known for knowing where to draw the line...

[beanstew]

MDF does have a nice ring to it.

The Daily Wail would get the wrong end of the stick and call for a ban on flat pack furniture.

[gutts]

The Daily Wail would get the wrong end of the stick and call for a ban on flat pack furniture.
If only maggie were in charge, she'd know what to do. Oh well, on to the next Daily Fail story about an immigrant claiming benefits who... :down:

gutts

[beanstew]

If only maggie were in charge, she'd know what to do. Oh well, on to the next Daily Fail story about an immigrant claiming benefits who... :down:

gutts

... bans Christmas and lowers property prices.

[CrunchyMomma]

They're asking people here in the States to please call your doctor before showing up at the doctor's office, especially if your doctor's office does not have a separate waiting room for sick and well patients. Some doctor's offices have special steps sick patients must take to protect well patients and patients with less benign medical issues so they're asking for people to please not just show up, rather call first. But they're also saying now if it isn't serious to just stay home. Basically, if you normally stay home and don't go to the doctor with seasonal flu, you shouldn't have any need for medical care with this strain.

They're also asking people to please stop panicking and bogging down the emergency rooms. ERs are complaining that since this story broke last weekend there have been tens of thousands of people flooding emergency rooms with everything from colds to seasonal allergies thinking they have this flu. They're having trouble treating the real emergency cases such as heart attacks and gunshot wounds and whatnot because they're so crowded with scared people. They're also stated they will no longer send EMTs to anyone's house calling to complain of flu-like symptoms because people with run of the mill colds were calling 911 for an ambulance to come to their homes.

[kriz]

They're also asking people to please stop panicking and bogging down the emergency rooms. ERs are complaining that since this story broke last weekend there have been tens of thousands of people flooding emergency rooms with everything from colds to seasonal allergies thinking they have this flu. They're having trouble treating the real emergency cases such as heart attacks and gunshot wounds and whatnot because they're so crowded with scared people. They're also stated they will no longer send EMTs to anyone's house calling to complain of flu-like symptoms because people with run of the mill colds were calling 911 for an ambulance to come to their homes.

I guess it's understandable that people are panicking the way media have hyped the whole thing and played into our fears in the most effective way, but it's a non-productive way of dealing with a problem. Since it's a new strain, precautions should be taken, of course, but panic and paranoia may cause even more harm IMO.

[cedarblue]

a colleague at work said "at least we can still eat pork!"

*sigh**

[CrunchyMomma]

I guess it's understandable that people are panicking the way media have hyped the whole thing and played into our fears in the most effective way, but it's a non-productive way of dealing with a problem. Since it's a new strain, precautions should be taken, of course, but panic and paranoia may cause even more harm IMO.

Well, it's a known fact that Americans tend to abuse the emergency room system here. People go to the ER for things as benign as colds and migraines (not that migraines are fun, by any stretch of the imagination, but an ER doctor will only give you an Extra Strength Tylenol for one). It's no surprise they're flooding ERs over this. What people have failed to realize is that we're still in the midst of flu season here. Not at the peak, but it's not impossible to get influenze at any time of the year.

A mother in the town next to us was furious that the CDC would not test her daughter for H1N1, even though her flu symptoms were very benign and she was not in the risk category. In fact, H1N1 was the predominant flu strain that went around the States this year. It may not have been the "swine flu", but it was A/H1N1 none the less, so I have no idea why they're hyping this strain as if it's some mysterious flu virus that no one has ever heard of. It is the single most common subtype of flu among humans, even though there are various strains of the subtype that subtly mutate from time to time.

As it stands there are only 787 confirmed cases of this particular strain in the entire world, most coming from backlogged samples taken in Mexico almost a month ago. The world's population is estimated at close to 7 billion. I hardly see this as a frightening illness anymore. Yes I will continue to do what I do year-round and that is wash my hands and keep them away from my face and not walk through other peoples coughs and sneezes in public, but I refuse to buy into the hype. It's obviously been a slow news week. Last major headlines were about the Kentucky Derby and scientists being able to make dogs glow in the dark.

[harpy]

I went to visit someone in hospital yesterday and they had all these helpful posters up headed "SWINE FLU" that basically said if you had any flu-like symptoms you should **** off home before you infect all their patients. I would have thought anyone with flu-like symptoms would have the sense not to visit a hospital anyway but maybe not :D

To look on the gloomy side, as someone else said, now They've decided the flu pandemic isn't going to get us we'll be back to our daily diet of credit crunch stories :-/

[cedarblue]

To look on the gloomy side, as someone else said, now They've decided the flu pandemic isn't going to get us we'll be back to our daily diet of credit crunch stories :-/



uh huh!
...untill the second wave of the flu hits us at some point - more virulent than this first strain apparently...

[mariana]

...and scientists being able to make dogs glow in the dark.
Uh...:eek: I must have missed that story.

[Frank]

Dog story can be found here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCXfMGiIv1DFnF2FK00QZHfC7yfgD97RNB7G2

[auryn23]

Arg. Just. Arg.

[herbwormwood]

How are the stats looking in the UK, herbwormwood? The news has been slow here today. Not that it's necessarily a great sign or that there haven't been anymore cases, just that we haven't seen a staggering increase of them, but I heard that there were something like three-hundred suspected cases in the UK.

There have been very few confirmed cases in the UK.
The latest BBC report is here and gives a map of where the confirmed cases are.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8032165.stm
The UK has a lot of very densely populated urban areas, and a media which often tends to scaremongering and hysteria.

[herbwormwood]

It can't be said to do one or the other (stay away from the doctor or go whenever you get symptoms). It depends on how sick you get, and other factors (such as being immunosuppressed like was mentioned). Staying home and such similar measures are the first line, but going to the doctor shouldn't be shut off.

Please do not spread this very ill considered advice.
:(
If a person is ill with a serious infectious disease its better that they stay at home.
If they are ill enough their doctor will either come to their home or send paramedics who can take them to hospital. That's why people are supposed to phone the health care provider.
People with life threatening chronic diseases such as HIV and AIDS, heart and lung disease, and those on immunosuppressive therapy such as cancer patients are being put at risk because when they want to see their doctor they have to sit in waiting rooms full of people coughing and sneezing.

Illnesses such as seasonal flu, and other cough cold type viruses can kill people in these groups, because they have weakened immune systems.

[beanstew]

Expert advises, by way of twitter, greeting friends and colleagues by way of el bump.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/01/swine.flu.etiquette/index.html


:rolleyes:

[Ruby Rose]

^ Love it! In the interests of even greater viral safety (not to mention increased social distance) could we start greeting others by smashing them on the head with a tennis racket or something instead?

[Stu]

...but it's a non-productive way of dealing with a problem.

But what is this problem? Sorry, but there isn't a problem (except a fucking irritating media and millions of gullible morons).

[auryn23]

I agree, the media has blown this WAY out of proportion. However, there ARE groups of people that are susceptible to infections at much higher rates than others. Anytime there is any flu going around, you hear about vaccinating the elderly and young children, because they could die from something that causes someone else the sniffles. And those with any immunodeficiency need to know what to do to protect themselves.

I disagree that anyone concerned about this is a gullible moron, but I do agree that the media has made this into something it should not have been made in to. When I run the world, there will be responsible alerts for safety. ;)

[CrunchyMomma]

I think the reason this particular strain is so frightening for people is because:

1. It's one scientists and doctors have never seen and there is no clear-cut answer to how easily it spreads nor how dangerous it could become if it mutates.

2. There is no vaccine for it, at present.

3. We're supposed to be coming out of our flu season here in the States. Are we going to have a year-long intense flu season, or will this virus just fizzle out until Fall?

I hate flu season. I have a small child and a husband who works for a HUGE company and is exposed to hundreds of co-workers every single day. They all get flu shots for free every year, so they don't have the flu going around the building, but there is no vaccination against this strain. I have such anxiety during the winter months when the flu runs rampant here. I don't want to feel that same anxiety all summer long.

Granted, I think the media has way overblown the severity of this flu. There has been a lot of backtracking, differences of opinions and wavering on the information. One day it's not so bad, the next day you'd think they're preparing the world for the next Spanish Flu pandemic. I don't think it's some special flu that's going to wipe us all out, but I will continue to be cautious about washing my hands.