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That's just plain creepy, what were they thinking when the various governments were putting together these public information videos.
I don't know if i'm a little worried about this latest pandemic or not, it's spread so damn quick, although they are reckoning the worst is to come, as it is showing signs of mutation and they don't know yet whether it will turn into a super pimped up mutant, or whether the mutation will weaken it. There's not a lot most of us can do about it anyway though, if we are gonna get it we will, can't stay behind locked doors forever.
but people are stupid the way they spread it about,
if youve got flu or cold you should stay in, then the people who havnt got it are less likely to catch it.
although you do become infectuious before you have seirous signs, its anoying when you see people coughing and sneezing and spreading germs about.
people might think they havnt got time to stay in, but its selfish otherwise.
the time <wasted> by people taking time off would be worth if it meant everyone didnt get one so often.
unless they need to get to a chemist or doctors or something. certainly the way everyone travels around the world so fast these days, if they are infected its not good.
personaly ive found taking realy ludicrous amounts of vitamin C seems to knock the last realy bad flu bugs that were going round on its head in less than a day. AFAIK no one has died of vitamin C poisining.
small doses dont seem to do anything much.
i'm sure i'll be fine. I got some oinkment last night
Groans....
I'm sure the vast majority of us would be fine anyway though, the experts are says that there is as much chance of dieing of ordinary flu as there is from swine flu and that it's only those that are normally highly suseptable to this kind of thing that are really at high risk, in the swine flu's current form.
yeah , nothing to worry about , I heard on the radio that the Government has ordered lots more paper face masks for us all, can't wait for mine to arrive
I dunno why people are beginning to panic, it's already blown out of all proprtion.
Remember there are over 6.5 billion people on the planet, its killed 150 odd people, much like the SARS episode it's become big news for no real reason yet. now, if thousands of people ave died in the past few days, then i would be concerned.
Influenza kills millions of people each and every single year.
I dunno why people are beginning to panic, it's already blown out of all proprtion.
Remember there are over 6.5 billion people on the planet, its killed 150 odd people, much like the SARS episode it's become big news for no real reason yet. now, if thousands of people ave died in the past few days, then i would be concerned.
Influenza kills millions of people each and every single year.
I don't think there are that many normal people worried at all, never mind panicking, to be honest. Saying it is blown out of propertion however is premature, as the bug is still a veritable unknown quantity that as is being said by the medical experts, it is still mutating and could become something far worse, very quickly.
It's not the quantity of people that have died so far from this that has the medical experts concerned, it's how the virus will transform upon it's various stages of mutation as said above, that has their eyebrows raised and the odd bead of sweat on their foreheads. It's currently an unknown quantity besides their best guestimates, so they don't know what to expect from it and anything unknown like this, generally worries those that normally know, such as the various scientific experts and medical people, with concern obviously raising more when there are multiple comfirmed related fatal cases and when they have absolutely no control over the spread of the bug at all right now.
By all accounts, these flimsy face masks they are handing out are a complete waste of time anyway, after a few minutes of wearing said mask, it becomes moist and essentially useless, hence in operating theatres, surgeons have a constant supply of fresh ones. They are simply a placebo aimed at making joe public think they are safe.
Arent the masks designed to stop sneezes and coughs getting out rather than to prevent you catching things, as theyre way too far from perfect for that, but enough to stop people sneezing germs about.
if the Government has gone to the trouble of spending our taxes on paper masks , then i WANT MINE ! Maybe they can send out little gloves & sanatising moist towelettes as well , in case i happen to come into contact with any swine whilst i'm out & about ;=P
I agree with Taggy it's all BS a third world country couldn't cope with a nasty flue hence the deaths. The worlds national health organisation stated us and the French are the best equipment to treat such a nasty outbreak anyway.
It's nothing more than the press over blowing it to make more money, I personally think such activity should be banned.
There's a bit of 'devil may care' approach to this I've been in two flue epidemics and I can assure - death is a reality. My advice, follow medical directions to the letter. If others near you choose not to do so, report them to line managers / parents as a health and safety risk to your safety. It's not a popular move by any means but the alternatives are somewhat worse.
April 28, 2009 — The nation's top medical sleuth offered a handful of theories in a press conference today about why the swine influenza outbreak has produced fatalities in Mexico, but not so far in the United States or elsewhere.
"Why are some people getting sicker?" said Richard Besser, MD, acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "We're looking at their immune status, their age, their gender, and treatment practices. How did they self-treat themselves? How long did they take to seek [outside] care? What was their initial treatment? Were they quickly given an antiviral medicine?"
Dr. Besser said that milder cases of swine flu A (N1HI) virus in the United States and other countries besides Mexico may also result from a gradual weakening of the virus as it travels from person to person. "That would be a very comforting thing if we found that," he said, adding that it's early too early to reach that conclusion.
Amid all of this epidemiologic uncertainty, Dr. Besser described a swift federal response to the swine flu outbreak. "With a new infectious agent, you don't sit back and wait and hope for the best," he said.
The CDC, for example, is busy developing the seed stock for a vaccine to counter swine flu, and the agency is on course to produce it. "It will be a matter of us deciding not to make a vaccine rather than to move forward," said Dr. Besser.
It is possible that health authorities could develop the new vaccine as a standalone as opposed to incorporating it into the vaccine for seasonal influenza now being prepared for the next flu season. "Production [of the seasonal vaccine] is moving forward, and we don't want to delay it," Dr. Besser explained.
With the blessing of the US Food and Drug Administration, the CDC is also distributing new diagnostic test kits to state public health agencies that will allow them to confirm cases of swine flu themselves, Dr. Besser said. And distribution of the antiviral medicines zanamivir (Relenza) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu) from the federal emergency stockpile is proceeding, with every state requesting its share. A dispatch issued today by the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report underscores the new flu strain's susceptibility to the 2 medications.
Dr. Besser reiterated an earlier prediction of his that cases of swine flu here will become more severe. "I expect that as we move forward, we will see deaths from this infection," he said.
Events on Tuesday seemed to bear out Dr. Besser's concern. The number of confirmed cases in the United States rose to 66 — 45 of them in New York — while the number of hospitalizations increased to 5. Meanwhile, New York City health officials were investigating possible outbreaks at 2 more schools, while their counterparts in Los Angeles were studying 2 deaths that may have resulted from the virus, according to news reports. In addition, the number of countries where confirmed cases have emerged increased to 7.
Dr. Besser revealed that the CDC may stop referring to the current virus as swine influenza, because that term has misled some to believe that they can catch the virus by eating pork, which he said is incorrect. "It's not helpful to pork producers, or people who eat pork," he said. "So we're discussing whether there's a better way to describe this."
As a health & safety professional I have had to deal with the panic over bird flu, our company bought over 10,000 masks for that. Bird flue SARS were both blown out of proportion, even thought the total number of cases was a few hundred to thousand, there were a total of 20 odd deaths. You cannot call a pandemic on that scale, or even an epidemic.
If the attack rate was high and the conversino rate high then theres cause for concern. I think it was blown out of proportion, though something may still occur, there is no use for the govenment to send out leaflets or make those TV adverts just yet. The numbers are simply too small, in fact they are utterly insignificant.
I understand that it's a new strain making a jump from animal to human/human and that should raise eyebrows. But, it is nothing on the scale of 1918 or even 1968. Perhaps it is a bit more misinformation or overzealousness on the CDC's part or WHO. After all we have been told we are well overdue for a huge pandemic. The most sensible thing to do is to look at the evidence and it's efficacy, and get much more data before a panic sets in. In the past 10yrs or so theres been too much knee jerk reaction and hyperbole from certain sections of certain governments in order to change society, but maybe thats another thread.
Anywho, seems like tha big panic is over and things is calming down, Def-con 2 until the next interesting story.
Swine Flu , protect yourself
I've been in two flue epidemics and I can assure - death is a reality.
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