Reirei's adventures with the Swine flu idiots...

[raw456]

Bloodsoul - the H1N1 Swine flu is actually made up of human, swine and avian flu strains. I think they called is "swine flu" because it was the dominant strain. (please dont quote me on that. I read it a while back and cant remember where)

Oh, and Pepperelf - where can I get one of those T-shirts

I currently have Whooping Cough (yes adults can get it) You should see some of my co-workers look at me when I cough. You just know they are thinking swine flu.

[MergedLoki]

Bloodsoul - the H1N1 Swine flu is actually made up of human, swine and avian flu strains. I think they called is "swine flu" because it was the dominant strain. (please dont quote me on that. I read it a while back and cant remember where)

Oh, and Pepperelf - where can I get one of those T-shirts

I currently have Whooping Cough (yes adults can get it) You should see some of my co-workers look at me when I cough. You just know they are thinking swine flu.

If someone asks if you have the swin flu just tell em "nah, black plague.' :P

[Bloodsoul]

Ah!, so technically we already do have Flying Pig Flu... to a degree.

[sirwired]

While some of the swine flu countermeasures have been a bit overboard, and much of the media reporting hyperbolic, the H1N1 flu is indeed a big deal. The CDC isn't producing public safety videos just to get people worked up.

The thing that is making epidemologists worried is the fact that it has spread so quickly and so far during a time that is not flu season. Furthermore, it is being caught by people that normally do not catch the flu, especially during the off season. Yes, most of the cases of the H1N1 have been mild, but there have been too many serious cases and deaths among populations that rarely die from flu.

Really, nobody knows what will happen when flu season actually hits the Northern Hemisphere. If the virus thrives in flu season conditions, things could really suck.

That said, panicking isn't going to do anybody any good whatsoever.

SirWired

[trailerparkmedic]

Hahaha---those masks they sell at the grocery store just make me laugh.

There is a HUGE difference between those masks and the N95 masks that are used in hospitals.

And I don't even have words for the gas mask guy!

[Salesmonkey]

One of the health benefits of wearing masks it that it keeps you from touching your nose or mouth, and should you sneeze or cough it will catch the larger droplets that come out. Remember how in MASH the doctors only wore cloth masks and glasses? They weren't protecting themselves from the patient, they were protecting the patient from themselves.

So from a public health standpoint, if you are a pre-symtpom H1N1 patient who is wearing a mask while being out in public, you are less likely to pass the disease on to somebody else by wearing a mask and sanitizing your hands regularly. Yes, CS's don't care about the health of other people, but if they are mistaken in such a way that improves the public health, who are we to interfere with the good of the Republic?

[BlaqueKatt]

It's like SARS. know who died when SARS hit? old poeple, young children, sick people. what do they all have in common??? Lousy immune systems

This is killing healthy adults from age 19-44 with fully functioning immune systems-in actuality a healthy immune system is worse in this outbreak-only a functioning healthy immune system can cause a Cytokine storm which is what kills you-it's an over response of a healthy functioning immune system. And yeas the number of deaths is currently low-but so is the number of infections(relative to total population). For example-you have ebola-with a 80% fatality rate-10 people get it-wow only 9 people have died "no big deal" until you get 100 or 1000 people infected-

the age distribution of hospitalizations for novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection is different than that of hospitalizations for seasonal influenza, which typically occur among children aged <2 years, adults aged ≥65 years, and persons with chronic health conditions . In Mexico and the United States, the percentage of patients requiring hospitalization has been particularly high among previously healthy persons aged 30--44 years. The actual case-fatality rate is difficult to ascertain in a rapidly evolving outbreak because an unknown proportion of currently infected patients might die, denominators might be uncertain because of unreported cases, and groups at high risk for death from seasonal influenza (e.g., older adults and patients with chronic disease) might not yet have been exposed to the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus.

[Chromatix]

The fatality rate for swine flu is, apparently, 0.1% or less. It's roughly comparable to normal seasonal flu in that respect.

People with underlying health conditions are the most likely to die from swine flu. This is also completely unsurprising.

I would not be surprised if hospitalised swine-flu patients in "middle life" age ranges had previously-undiagnosed underlying conditions. Stuff like diabetes, for instance. That could explain this specific problem in the US.

It appears that fatalities or hospitalisation for swine flu normally result from symptoms that are easily distinguishable from normal flu symptoms - such as pneumonia.

In short, I'm not at all worried for myself. I'm still fairly young, I've got a decent immune system which I know can throw off ordinary diseases without medication, and I'm not fat, diabetic, or otherwise unhealthy. I would keep a close eye on certain of my friends, though.

[Nyx]

Ack! I just did a big post forgot all about my dumb swine flu lady. LOL I blew my nose and she demanded a new cashier and that I was my hands and blah blah blah about the flu.

[Zombi]

I'm ashamed to say that when swine flu first started hitting the news and I went off on one about the way it was being represented in the media, my own father, who is not a stupid or ignorant man, piped up with:
'But it kills you, doesn't it? Once you get it, that's it!'


The bit that bothered me was that ITV sent a reporter to Mexico City to report live on the outbreak. 'As you can see, the streets are empty'. Gosh, I wonder why? I would have loved to have had some authority in the Home Office - I would have been on the phone to Immigration at Heathrow saying 'As soon as this moron tries to get back into the country, I want him arrested and quarantined.'

I leave you all with something to ponder: Is 'swine flu' the past tense of 'pigs might fly'?

[cinema guy]

I wondered about the poor reporters who got sent to Mexico to report on the flu. I wondered what incentive would make them go. But then I figured it was probably safer than Iraq or Afganistan.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

I've got my mask picked out...



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