Swine Flu

[Sunbeam56]

I don't know if its hype or the pandemic... but people down here (McAllen today - on the border with Mexico) are wearing surgical masks everywhere.

[miguynmkoi]

A little bit of both, imo.  The masks are just pacifiers and would not help in this situation.

It's a scary world out there.  In any case make sure to keep hands clean and keep them away from your face to prevent infections of any kind.

[Joyce]

They've already stated on many TV stations that it is totally treatable and responds to several existing meds.

People just like to overreact and be scared I guess. 

[jclements]

We have confirmed cases in schools less than 1 mile from my house. My kids' schools are still open, but some in the neighborhood are closed. I don't know why, but I'm not too worried yet. It does seem to be spreading fast.

[Sunbeam56]

I dunno. Except what I read. 100 schools across the country are closed.
In Texas, we have an emergency declared. Three schools in San Antonio are closed. All public school sports events are postponed until after May 11. One child dead, three persons critical.

According to the reports, the flu isn't that bad. 3% is a normal mortality level for any flu. What makes this one different is that we DO NOT HAVE any immunity to it. Its completely new.

The pandemic potential is not due to the mortalities, which is not unusual, but to the pervasive nature of the flu. If someone with it sneezes on you - You WILL get sick.

[barb]

What worries me is that the swine flu virus can mutate.  So while it may not be lethal to most right now, that could change.

[Joyce]

Any virus or bacteria can mutate. 

I think the media has blown this totally out of proportion and like Obama said,
doing anything now, such as closing schools, is like closing the barn door after the horses have gone out.
It's over-reaction and hysteria.
Not very many people are thinking clearly.

I guess growing up with a dad who was a research veteriarian and scientist whose main job was to formulate vaccines against highly infectious diseases,
especially against bacteria and virus that have mutated, I don't see the swine flu as a threat at all. 
(same with the bird flu scare a few years ago, and remember West Nile...OMG...everyone was gonna die!!!!    )
What I have seen and heard my dad do, and talk about with his colleagues...much scarier stuff out there. 

[Kittyzee]

I agree with you Joyce..the MEDIA is causing the hysteria.  But it gets people to watch and buy the sponsors products, doesn't it? 

They are contradicting themselves at every turn.  It's not associated with pigs/swine, but they show pics of pigs with the headlines.  They talk about the 2 year old that died, but only once did they mention that the child had underlying health issues and a weakened immune system.  People who usually die from the flu are young children, older people and people with weakened immune systems.

I think we need to do what we always should be doing, and that is hand washing.  If you are sick, don't go out or to work and spread your germs or pick up someone elses'.  If you cough or sneeze, do it in the crook of your arm, not your hands to lessen the spread of a virus to someone else.   

 

[mascot]

Check this site out...not just for the swine flu...but for all children during flu season...

Germy Wormy

It's a disposable sleeve that children fit over their arm and teaches kids to cough or sneeze into their elbow, instead of their hand.

I know the inventor of this product, a mom with two young kids...if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

[karen J]

Yes, the media is blowing it completely out of proportion to the point of it being a ridiculous farce. Over 30,000 people die every year from influenza, even after researchers do their best to determine the most probable strain for the vaccine. Swine is no different from any other influenza and is actually much milder than the strains from recent years. I don't know where the media get's it's information when they say it's "new". It is not "new".

I have a couple suspicions about all this hype:
1. News media (TV, radio, print) is in rapid decline. They are in dire straights and in desperate need of revenue. Vaccines are typically not very profitable, but they could be with the help of.....

2. Remember the swine flu scare of 1976? Thousands of people were BULLIED into getting vaccinated and what happened? The Swine flu fizzled out, 26 people died (from the vaccine), and hundreds of people got Guillain-Barré Syndrome (from the vaccine). Many young people became paraplegics (from the vaccine).

So, don't be afraid of a mild flu... be afraid of the media and the government. I hear Biden is jumping on the fear bandwagon now and is attempting to scare everyone into staying home.

I'm not afraid. Bring it on.

EDIT: Oh, and why is the media so befuddled by the fact that so many have died in Mexico city? Why? Doesn't Mexico have a MUCH better health care system than we do? Hummmmm? Aren't we supposed to emulate their excellent health care system?

EDIT: Oh and another thing (guess I'm just full of it today!  ), wearing a surgical mask isn't going to protect anyone. Instead of the media constantly showing footage of people wearing masks, why aren't they educating people about it? Why aren't they telling the truth? If they aren't telling the truth about that, is it possible that maybe they're not telling the truth about other things? So many questions....

EDIT: Note to self, must buy stock in companies that make influenza vaccines and surgical masks.  And hurry!

[jw]

They said on the radio in Seattle today that one 11yr old boy may have the virus and they closed the whole school down as he may have been contagious when he was in school last Friday. Sounds like we are in a freakin low rated disaster movie! The press are acting just like the lousy actors in those movies.

[barb]

I'm just amazed that anyone would actually listen to the media and take their health advice, surely most people by now know the media are not experts of anything.  If I get a fever I am not going to turn on Fox News to see what I should do next.     If someone wants accurate information about the swine flu they should go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website:

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

[Dale D]

Yes, the media is blowing it completely out of proportion to the point of it being a ridiculous farce. Over 30,000 people die every year from influenza, even after researchers do their best to determine the most probable strain for the vaccine. Swine is no different from any other influenza and is actually much milder than the strains from recent years. I don't know where the media get's it's information when they say it's "new". It is not "new".

I have a couple suspicions about all this hype:
1. News media (TV, radio, print) is in rapid decline. They are in dire straights and in desperate need of revenue. Vaccines are typically not very profitable, but they could be with the help of.....

2. Remember the swine flu scare of 1976? Thousands of people were BULLIED into getting vaccinated and what happened? The Swine flu fizzled out, 26 people died (from the vaccine), and hundreds of people got Guillain-Barré Syndrome (from the vaccine). Many young people became paraplegics (from the vaccine).

So, don't be afraid of a mild flu... be afraid of the media and the government. I hear Biden is jumping on the fear bandwagon now and is attempting to scare everyone into staying home.

I'm not afraid. Bring it on.

EDIT: Oh, and why is the media so befuddled by the fact that so many have died in Mexico city? Why? Doesn't Mexico have a MUCH better health care system than we do? Hummmmm? Aren't we supposed to emulate their excellent health care system?

EDIT: Oh and another thing (guess I'm just full of it today!  ), wearing a surgical mask isn't going to protect anyone. Instead of the media constantly showing footage of people wearing masks, why aren't they educating people about it? Why aren't they telling the truth? If they aren't telling the truth about that, is it possible that maybe they're not telling the truth about other things? So many questions....

EDIT: Note to self, must buy stock in companies that make influenza vaccines and surgical masks.  And hurry!

I think I have just found a new best friend. 

You saved me alot of typing.

And I didn't think anyone else but me remembered the 1976 swine flu "outbreak".
The media sure don't seem to be bringing up what a huge pile of %$#@& that was.
I was 15 then and can remember laying in bed at night listening to a radio report of how there were going to be so many dead that they were going to be piling the bodies up in the streets.   

Scared the heck out of me.
When it comes to things like this now,I don't listen to the media anymore.

Like you said 30,000 people die every year in the U.S. from flu and flu related illness.
But, you never hear about it in the news.

They say it will be a Pandemic.
At the rate it is spreading I'm going to have died of old age by the time it gets to me.

[LeeAnne151]

Our local news has said over and over that wearing a surgical mask won't help you. They say IF the sick people were wearing one to contain their germs it might help the rest of us but wearing one won't help a person not get the
virus.....

they have also stated over and over that you should not avoid pigs or eating pork.

[frloplady]

Egypt was (don't know if they did) erradicate ALL the pigs in that country because of it... what a bunch of..pork

[JimMcD in SVAZ]

Glad to see that most of you have not run screeching, naked into the woods over this.  But please remember this is no longer the "swine flu", it's new economic name is "H1N1".  So, you can eat pork if you wish, but never, ever eat H1N1, even if it's thoroughly cooked.

The word "pandemic" does NOT mean that an illness is going to decimate the world's population.  See below:

Definition
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:[1]

Emergence of a disease new to a population.
Agents infect humans, causing serious illness.
Agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.

And the media never mention the earlier swine flu because they, and a lot of other people no longer believe the fairytale the gummint put out about why that first soldier died (the only fatality attributed to the swine flu).  That "flu"
and the problems with the "vaccine" probably cost Gerald Ford his job.

And good old Joe Biden is just being good old Joe Biden.

Be well, be safe, and do not eat H1N1