Swine Flu epidemic in Mexico (and possibly US)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:rapture: \?rap-ch?r\ 3. The transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven.


Look at the front of drudge report. It is hysterical, and I don't mean hysterical like HaHa.

Well, that's Drudge for you. But this is definitely news, and potentially quite serious. The concern is the high number of fatalities in the Mexican cases, particularly those who were young healthy adults. Not the infants, the elderly as make up the usual fatalities with seasonal flu.

As for here in the US it is likely that this virus is already here, and well beyond the 8 cases reported so far, which I understand were only caught by accident, as the people were enrolled in some kind of study. Fortunately so far it does not look as if the virus strain here in the US has been as severe as down in Mexico.

Hey, Drudge broke the story first!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Oh wow. You really put it in perspective. Now 1,018 out of 409,000,000 people have it. All in the US have recovered with the "medication we have to fight the pig flu".

I think you might have better luck with a lotto ticket than dying of the pig flu.

Don't travel to Africa without your Paxil.

Not the PP you are responding to, but the thing about flu is, one person gets it, then they pass it on to, say, 2 people.... who pass it on to 4 people... it kind of grows exponentially.

With SARS, the spread was eventually halted because the SARS was not very communicable before people showed symptoms. Also there was a relatively long incubation period (I think). That means fever screenings at work and airports, and also contact tracing, actually had a chance to work.

With influenza, not so much. In fact, the CDC has just stated that this virus really can't be contained at this point.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=7429669&page=1

"But if one thing is clear about the spread of this virus, it is that containment is no longer an option.

"It's clear that this is widespread," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, at a press conference Saturday afternoon. "

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh wow. You really put it in perspective. Now 1,018 out of 409,000,000 people have it. All in the US have recovered with the "medication we have to fight the pig flu".

I think you might have better luck with a lotto ticket than dying of the pig flu.

Don't travel to Africa without your Paxil.

I'm not sure why you are commenting on someone's chances of dying from this virus, versus winning the lottery. Look -- some 36,000 Americans are estimated to die of SEASONAL flu each year. (I'm positive the rate would be much higher in the developing world, and anywhere where seasonal influenza vaccines aren't being used.) But every year, the percentage of Americans who actually come down with the flu is rather small. Some get vaccinated, some have immunity from past years, and so on. Say 10% to 20% of the population is infected.

Now, with a pandemic flu virus, even if it isn't any more severe than season flu, it will still affect a lot more people. No one will be immune to it. So say 40% actually contract it. That's 2 x or 4 X as many people. I'm no epidemiologist -- doesn't it stand to reason that 72,000 to 100,000 + people may die from contracting a novel flu that is as "mild" as seasonal flu?

If so -- we're looking at some additional 36,000 to 100,000+ people that may die from this novel flu. Why be blase about that fact? Making jokes about lottery tickets? I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

So what do we do? I don't mean sarcastic comments (e.g. wait for the rapture), I mean really, what do we do about this as moms? Does anything kill the germs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what do we do? I don't mean sarcastic comments (e.g. wait for the rapture), I mean really, what do we do about this as moms? Does anything kill the germs?

I am watching and waiting. The virus appears to have spread to several places the US but it may yet "fizzle out" and stop spreading. If it is a mild virus, there's probably not much point in trying to avoid it.

I am being sure to lay in enough supplies to see me and my family through at least 2 weeks of serious illness with the flu, assuming that everyone else in town also has it and the hospitals are full, etc. Tylenol, ibuprufen, gingerale, pedialyte, etc. And we are preparing for the possibility of school and daycare closure.

Bleach will kill flu virus on surfaces, but the real problem is it is spread through the air. You need a face mask or respirator to avoid inhaling the virus. But if you are going to use one, be sure you know how to use it correctly, otherwise there really isn't much point. I saw one poor man in Mexico wearing a mask but just over his mouth, not his mouth and nose. Best anyhow to avoid sick people during the outbreak if you can, and just stay home as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what do we do? I don't mean sarcastic comments (e.g. wait for the rapture), I mean really, what do we do about this as moms? Does anything kill the germs?

Who is telling you to do anything but be "aware" of what is going on. It seems as though the swine flu is spreading at a remarkable rate and that people are catching it - and dying from it. So no one wants you to "prepare for a rapture" but health officials sure are taking it seriously.

New Zealand students show signs of swine flu
Twenty-two students and three teachers in New Zealand, who returned from a three-week-long language trip to Mexico, may have been infected with the swine flu virus, officials said Sunday. The suspected infections in New Zealand follow reports that a deadly new strain of the virus recently cropped up in more places in the United States and Mexico

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what do we do? I don't mean sarcastic comments (e.g. wait for the rapture), I mean really, what do we do about this as moms? Does anything kill the germs?

Google it. They are saying that we can handle this flu with medicines already used for flue, like Tamilflu (prescription).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what do we do? I don't mean sarcastic comments (e.g. wait for the rapture), I mean really, what do we do about this as moms? Does anything kill the germs?

Google it. They are saying that we can handle this flu with medicines already used for flue, like Tamilflu (prescription).

Yes, currently that is true. Of course, stocks of Tamiflu are limited and as we all know, access to health care services are limited in an outbreak of flu as well, especially if health care workers themselves fall ill. Long lines at the ER are common during seasonal flu outbreaks. Tamiflu will be reserved for people who seem severely ill or who have prior health complications. However, it must be prescribed, and you must pick it up from the pharmacy and take it, within the first 48 hours of showing symptoms for the Tamilfu to work. This is going to create a bit of a logistical problem, once a large population in the same area is infected -- i.e. how do you know, in those first 48 hours, if you or your child is going to develop a severe illness or a mild one? And can you get an appointment at your doctor, and the kid's doctor, quick enough to get a prescriptoin if need be?

Fortunately, our local health departments have been practicing and training for a pandemic for quite some time, and I'm sure they will be contacting the public soon with instructions about how to handle this. They no doubt have a plan to distribute the Tamiflu correctly to the people who need it, and keep it out of the hands of those who don't need it.

As long as the illness stays mild and there are no deaths, I don't think we'll have any problems with Tamiflu distribution. If there are some deaths, though, especially in kids... I think we'll have some issues, but that is just me.

[Anonymous]

I guess nobody remembers 1976. I do, everyone was FREAKING out about swine flu and they started a mass vaccination program. A significant number of people contracted Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccination, not the flu, and some died.

I say practice common sense and chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess nobody remembers 1976. I do, everyone was FREAKING out about swine flu and they started a mass vaccination program. A significant number of people contracted Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccination, not the flu, and some died.

I say practice common sense and chill.

I don't remember it because I was not born yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess nobody remembers 1976. I do, everyone was FREAKING out about swine flu and they started a mass vaccination program. A significant number of people contracted Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccination, not the flu, and some died.

I say practice common sense and chill.

I don't remember it because I was not born yet.

That's a weak excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess nobody remembers 1976. I do, everyone was FREAKING out about swine flu and they started a mass vaccination program. A significant number of people contracted Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccination, not the flu, and some died.

I say practice common sense and chill.

I don't remember it because I was not born yet.

That's a weak excuse.

My point is that we tend to overreact, and by doing so, often cause more harm than good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess nobody remembers 1976. I do, everyone was FREAKING out about swine flu and they started a mass vaccination program. A significant number of people contracted Guillain Barre syndrome from the vaccination, not the flu, and some died.

I say practice common sense and chill.

I don't remember it because I was not born yet.

That's a weak excuse.

You are right. I should remember anyway.

[Anonymous]

81 dead in Mexico as flu emergency goes global
Mexican officials are asking residents to refrain from kissing as a greeting and maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from each other amid concern over swine flu infection. Eighty-one deaths in Mexico are "likely linked" to the virus. In the U.S., 11 swine flu cases have been confirmed; and in New Zealand, 22 students and three teachers who traveled to Mexico may have been infected.

[Anonymous]

As Chicken Little once said, "the sky is falling!"