Swine Flu....

[PLOWKILL]

Something to worry about or not??

Any how... Wash your mutha F*n hands Yo!! And cover your mouth when you cough.. I dont want to catch that stuff!

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


29 April 2009 -- The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5).

Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.

WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.

There is also no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products. Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness.

[The_Fallen]

What's worse is that some kid might have it in my school

[Just2Random]

What's worse is that some kid might have it in my school

Has he been near pigs or people in contact with pigs?
Its not airborne so that shouldn't be a problem (unless you hang out next to people/pigs)

[PLOWKILL]

Has he been near pigs or people in contact with pigs?
Its not airborne so that shouldn't be a problem (unless you hang out next to people/pigs)

Thats not true... A marine just caught it in Southern Cali.... Its beyond the pig thing now and is spreading through people now.

[Just2Random]

Thats not true... A marine just caught it in Southern Cali.... Its beyond the pig thing now and is spreading through people now.

I said people in contact with pigs too soz yeah

[Zander Solo]

Has he been near pigs or people in contact with pigs?
Its not airborne so that shouldn't be a problem (unless you hang out next to people/pigs)

It actually has nothing to do with being around or near or consuming pigs. W00t 4 mai Baconz.

It's called Swine because it has elements of Pig/Avians/Humans, but pig's do not actually contract it. And Avian Flu is a different, already vaccinate-able strain of Flu.


Aaaaanyway: All the worry about nuclear war and we're all gonna die from some azzhat virus. Lol.

[Just2Random]

It actually has nothing to do with being around or near or consuming pigs. W00t 4 mai Baconz.

It's called Swine because it has elements of Pig/Avians/Humans, but pig's do not actually contract it. And Avian Flu is a different, already vaccinate-able strain of Flu.


Aaaaanyway: All the worry about nuclear war and we're all gonna die from some azzhat virus. Lol.

I coulda swore i read something about an Avian flu that infected pigs
Then the pigs mutated the strain and yeah....

[PLOWKILL]

I said people in contact with pigs too soz yeah

He was not in contact with pigs though... he was on base and his family lived in the city..

Its spreading like the regular flu...

[Just2Random]

He was not in contact with pigs though... he was on base and his family lived in the city..

Its spreading like the regular flu...

Hmmmmmmm.......... I wonder if the pigs could infect the birds with the new flu? Well atleast now it reopens the possibility(atleast in my mind) that it is airborne

[PLOWKILL]

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

you might wanna read this.. :o

[Just2Random]

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

you might wanna read this.. :o

Do I have to? Reading hurts my brain

[PLOWKILL]

Do I have to? Reading hurts my brain

Knowledge is power... especially if you think your safe if you stay away from pigs or people around pigs.. LOL ;)

[Warblade]

Announced an "iminent world-wide spread" today

[PLOWKILL]

Just think.... what if the dead start to come back to life!!!

Its the start of the zombie wars!!!!! Better start reading up on the zombie threads and playing some L4D!!

Ok, this is a serious issue so lets not derail it to much! ;)

[Warblade]

Just think.... what if the dead start to come back to life!!!

Its the start of the zombie wars!!!!! Better start reading up on the zombie threads and playing some L4D!!

Ok, this is a serious issue so lets not derail it to much! ;)

This is the only derailed post. (Nevermind)


To keep it that way, just today, there was another like 45 cases or something. All transportation to Cuba was cut off to keep it quorentined

[Just2Random]

Just think.... what if the dead start to come back to life!!!

Its the start of the zombie wars!!!!! Better start reading up on the zombie threads and playing some L4D!!

Ok, this is a serious issue so lets not derail it to much! ;)

I say we play Dead Rising for training in malls cuz L4D only trains you to run away not survive long periods of time

[SuperJay]

My opinion, based on the facts that I've read up on - yes, this is something to be aware of, but no, it's not something to worry about.

This is viral, not bacterial. Standard antiviral flu medications can treat it. Most patients in the U.S. who have contracted it so far are stable or recovering. While it can be transmitted between humans, general good hygiene and standard health precautions minimize the risk.

We're not on the brink of another bubonic plague here - we're not going to have half the population of the planet wiped out overnight. It's ridiculous how sensationalized the media coverage of this illness has become, but that's to be expected in American mainstream media at least; fear sells.

Anyway, as Douglas Adams would say: Don't Panic.

[PLOWKILL]

My opinion, based on the facts that I've read up on - yes, this is something to be aware of, but no, it's not something to worry about.

This is viral, not bacterial. Standard antiviral flu medications can treat it. Most patients in the U.S. who have contracted it so far are stable or recovering. While it can be transmitted between humans, general good hygiene and standard health precautions minimize the risk.

We're not on the brink of another bubonic plague here - we're not going to have half the population of the planet wiped out overnight. It's ridiculous how sensationalized the media coverage of this illness has become, but that's to be expected in American mainstream media at least; fear sells.

Anyway, as Douglas Adams would say: Don't Panic.

Ruin all my hopes and dreams why dont you ;)

[Eleazar]

Here is the thing with any kind of flu. If you aren't young, elderly, or already sick you have little to worry about. If you are relatively healthy and you catch it there is an extremely small chance that it will do any more than keep you in bed for a week or so. It actually would be better to stay home than go to the doctors. If you go to a hospital you are only putting people who are already sick at risk, and if one of them catches it it will be a lot more serious for them.

Also if you don't want to catch it all you have to do is sit at home on this forum all day and night until the whole craze blows over.

[Hawk280]

My opinion, based on the facts that I've read up on - yes, this is something to be aware of, but no, it's not something to worry about.

This is viral, not bacterial. Standard antiviral flu medications can treat it. Most patients in the U.S. who have contracted it so far are stable or recovering. While it can be transmitted between humans, general good hygiene and standard health precautions minimize the risk.

We're not on the brink of another bubonic plague here - we're not going to have half the population of the planet wiped out overnight. It's ridiculous how sensationalized the media coverage of this illness has become, but that's to be expected in American mainstream media at least; fear sells.

Anyway, as Douglas Adams would say: Don't Panic.

Thank you. This is exactly what my Health teacher said the other day. And from what I've read and heard from him it really is nothing to worry about.

Just keep good hygiene (wash hands, wash face, etc.) then you will be okay. Your not going to die.

I promise.

[PLOWKILL]

New flu here to stay.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/flu.computer.modeling/index.html

[SuperJay]

Somewhat informative, but that article mostly repeats what we already know, with a mild bit of fear-mongering on the side.

Of course it's here to stay - viruses don't just vanish, they evolve like any other organism. The virus 'staying' doesn't mean the world is going to be locked into a permanent epidemic or something ridiculous like that; it's already being contained and controlled, the drugs we already have work to treat it, and there will likely be a vaccine developed for this particular strain in a few months.

Remember SARS and the avian flu scares? We're still here. Those 'outbreaks' are old news - they only got so much press at the time because the media loves bad news. Fear sells product.

(And PLOW, I'm glad you started this and provided good information on the CDC site - please don't take my exasperation personally, I'm just extremely fed up with the way news outlets are using this to scare people rather than informing them.)

I highly recommend watching this, pretty much sums it up: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225152&title=snoutbreak-09-the-last-100-days

And this, for the zombie tie-in: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225153&title=the-last-100-days

[i attilla i]

Wow I just started readn this thread when my wife starts talkn about this swine flu. She works at a Hospital and knows a lot more about it then I do. So as I'm reading the thread I'm telln her not to worry about and I say Its not airborne and you can't get it if your not around pigs. Then I tell her it brings the dead back to life and we have to prepare for ZOMBIES so thanks for all the info guys I showed her.

[PLOWKILL]

Somewhat informative, but that article mostly repeats what we already know, with a mild bit of fear-mongering on the side.

Of course it's here to stay - viruses don't just vanish, they evolve like any other organism. The virus 'staying' doesn't mean the world is going to be locked into a permanent epidemic or something ridiculous like that; it's already being contained and controlled, the drugs we already have work to treat it, and there will likely be a vaccine developed for this particular strain in a few months.

Remember SARS and the avian flu scares? We're still here. Those 'outbreaks' are old news - they only got so much press at the time because the media loves bad news. Fear sells product.

(And PLOW, I'm glad you started this and provided good information on the CDC site - please don't take my exasperation personally, I'm just extremely fed up with the way news outlets are using this to scare people rather than informing them.)

I highly recommend watching this, pretty much sums it up: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225152&title=snoutbreak-09-the-last-100-days

And this, for the zombie tie-in: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225153&title=the-last-100-days

I know its not dangerous to me... and the only deaths have been in Mexico. The one the US had was from a Mexican boy who was here visiting. So Im not worried about it, other than my kids. There still very young and I dont want them to catch even the so called regular flu. Anyway I just posted this to see what people thought or if they dont watch the news to no whats up and where to find the truth about it.

[Guirec730]

Remember SARS and the avian flu scares? We're still here. Those 'outbreaks' are old news - they only got so much press at the time because the media loves bad news. Fear sells product.



SARS and avian flu were not widespread person-to-person diseases. You had to touch birds to get avian flu.

And I'm actually shocked by how the media is downplaying things. On Saturday there were 200 possible cases in NYC but they only tested 9 people? I call bull. They have those people in tents, along with everyone they live with.

Is it wrong that when I first heard about the NYC cases the first thing I was worried about is whether or not Prototype would come out?

[Eleazar]

Then I tell her it brings the dead back to life and we have to prepare for ZOMBIES so thanks for all the info guys I showed her.

Well of course since flu is the source of all zombies. It just takes over your dead body and re-animates you. In fact it is how most flu is spread by zombies.

[Guirec730]

I also made zombie references...I sent text messages over the weekend to my gamer friends warning them that Wesker had dropped Uroboros in Mexico and was nearing complete global saturation.

[Zander Solo]

I also made zombie references...I sent text messages over the weekend to my gamer friends warning them that Wesker had dropped Uroboros in Mexico and was nearing complete global saturation.

OMG. This Is Epic-Awesome.

[i attilla i]

WHO is now calling swine flu by scientific name H1N1. I guess it has genes from pigs, birds, and humans. Just another way to keep the masses in a "state of fear".

[Hawk280]

Me and a bunch of friends are gonna wear masks to school tomorrow. Its gonna be awesome.

We's isn't gonna catch no swine flu. No we aint. :D

[Beyond Birthday]

Me and a bunch of friends are gonna wear masks to school tomorrow. Its gonna be awesome.

We's isn't gonna catch no swine flu. No we aint. :D

Now if only surgical masks actually did something :rolleyes:

You need a mask with a ventilation system, to fully protect yo face

[i attilla i]

You should all probably wear gloves too but do not take any weapons( I repeat no weapons)

[Guirec730]

I want a League of Shadows breathing mask.

[laxfish76]

Guys, I just found out today....

I have e-Swine Flu....

You guys might want to get checked out....

Especially you, Plow...:o

:D

In all seriousness, though, they might close my school if it gets too bad.

//Lax

[formulanerd]

just found this site.... it's a very simple way to check if you have swine flu.... very little reading too!

http://doihaveswineflu.org/

[samski]

A lot of people in third world countries might die. But I'm guessing that everyone who is vaccinated for the flu and is not very ill right now won't have much of a problem with it. I got a yearly flu-vaccine the other day and asked my doctor if it would help. He told me that It IS effective, but I still can get it.

samski

[exkon]

Yes, because the bird flu was such a huge epidemic....

[laxfish76]

I read today that some doctor in the US says the most effective vaccination is Vitamin C.

//Lax

[samski]

Well, it is just a flu.

samski

[i attilla i]

It will be nice when we can add this to my remember when thread.:)

[Sw0ll_MC25]

Some one once said that pigs will fly when a black man is elected president. Well what do you know, 100 days into office and now we have pig flu. Hahaha

[PLOWKILL]

LOL... Maybe just because im bored at work and have a super hangover but I found this to be completly funny... :D

Read the below article (link) but instead of just thinking of Swine Flu as just the flu... Change the meaning of it in your head to a zombie virus!! Its like real life Resident Evil!!! LOL.... give it a try! :o

It gets real good at and beyond this sentance: "The largest outbreak of the virus was in Mexico, which had 156 confirmed cases, according to the WHO. It added that Mexico had nine deaths attributed to the virus."



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

[Hawk280]

"The reality is that from the time the potentially pandemic virus is identified, it takes between foue and six months to have the first doses of vaccine coming out of the factory and being available for immunizing people."

Ha good job CNN I didn't realize foue was a measurement of time. :p

That was hilarious though I was laughing through the whole thing. The zombie infestation has begun who wants to be on my four man team to take on the infected? :)

[Shaynard]

SARS was fun.. Toronto was said to have it pretty bad.. I know about 15 people who were being checked out and counted as a "possible" case to add to the statistic for news reports.. But no-one I know knows anyone who actually had SARS. We were selling medical masks in every store and restaurant and hand sanitizer stations were everywhere..

I am not worried... but I follow the reports just in case. It's always better safe than sorry, but panic never helps anything.

[laxfish76]

SARS was fun.. Toronto was said to have it pretty bad.. I know about 15 people who were being checked out and counted as a "possible" case to add to the statistic for news reports.. But no-one I know knows anyone who actually had SARS. We were selling medical masks in every store and restaurant and hand sanitizer stations were everywhere..

I am not worried... but I follow the reports just in case. It's always better safe than sorry, but panic never helps anything.

I am not worried either...

There have been something like 15 confirmed deaths in NA.

It's pretty funny to go to school, and everyone is freaked out. I was in Science class today, and I said "It's nothing to be worried about, like 15 people have died from it...", and everyone criticized me, saying 200 people have died :rolleyes:

//Lax

[Beyond Birthday]

The saddest part is, while I was getting ready today, I heard some news woman call the surgical masks "the hottest fashion item."

>_>

WTF

[PLOWKILL]

LOL... Maybe just because im bored at work and have a super hangover but I found this to be completly funny... :D

Read the below article (link) but instead of just thinking of Swine Flu as just the flu... Change the meaning of it in your head to a zombie virus!! Its like real life Resident Evil!!! LOL.... give it a try! :o

It gets real good at and beyond this sentance: "The largest outbreak of the virus was in Mexico, which had 156 confirmed cases, according to the WHO. It added that Mexico had nine deaths attributed to the virus."



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

If you havnt done this yet.... your wrong :o

[JacobChulainn]

Alot of people said that there would never be a black president, that'd be the day pigs fly. Well here it is 100 days into Obama's term and indeed the swine flu.

[Castrum]

Alot of people said that there would never be a black president, that'd be the day pigs fly. Well here it is 100 days into Obama's term and indeed the swine flu.

Nice.

+1 Internets

[Zander Solo]

http://bouncewith.me.uk/europe/8027043.htm

Ummmm....I hope this is fake? Otherwise we really are screwed and people really are being reanimated for a few hours.

[Hawk280]

http://bouncewith.me.uk/europe/8027043.htm

Ummmm....I hope this is fake? Otherwise we really are screwed and people really are being reanimated for a few hours.

Ha oh my gosh that is awesome. A part of me really hopes this real if only to live out my dreams of single handedly (or with a group of 4 :D) taking down a zombie infestation. :p


If you feel yourself passing away, then notice your strength and vigor returning at an alarming rate, please attempt to restrain yourself to prevent infection and harm to others.



Ha that's one of the symptoms. But wait if your a zombie then how can you restrain yourself? :D

[samski]

Hahaha... that gave me a good laugh.

samski

[Castrum]

Looks to be fake:

http://www.softsailor.com/news/2126-swine-flu-quickly-turns-into-zombie-swine-flue-h1n1-is-now-h1z1.html

I haven't seen it reported anywhere else, and Wikipedia has nothing on it either.

People were joking about the zombie comparison on Kotaku a few days ago, so I'm not surprised to see a hoax story pop up regarding the same topic.

Also, don't you think the scientist nerds would have come up with something more complex and confusing than "H1Z1"? If you look at the actual classifications, H1 means North American and N1 means European, as if that makes sense.

[JacobChulainn]

Of course it's fake, however the article a few years ago on Zombie Dogs was not. They(Boffins) froze the dogs, and successfully revived them five hours later.

[Subhuman]

I don't watch tv so I'm not too worried about Swine Flu.

[Castrum]

By comparison, the regular flu kills about 4000 Canadians each year I hear, which makes the current death estimates negligible, to say the least. Judging by its effects so far, death-wise, it's nowhere near as deadly as something like pneumonia, which has a 70% kill rate.

The only reason why this is such a big deal is:

1) It's spreading relatively quickly via human contact;

2) Humans have no natural defense against it yet (it's a mixture of flu viruses, rather than just one);

3) People are interpreting the WHO's Pandemic scale as meaning "Level 6 = WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!";

4) Fear sells.

[Father Diablo]

NO deff somthing to worry about, THIS STUFF CAN KILL. As of i think last nite there hav been almost 400 cases either around my area or the country and 1 death, but the ways it can b contracted is the bad thing. I would be scared to no i can be walking around town and or a resturant and breath in someones dam virus and think a few days later i hav a flu, and then find out its the swine flu. Id saw just wash yur hands as much as possible and dont get close to hookers and ppl yur not really close to.

[Magnum]

Overall there haven't been that many deaths directly caused by this illness. If someone did die from the virus, it's because they were already in poor health.

Death Toll News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/02/health/main4986753.shtml?source=mostpop_story)

Quite hyping it even more than the "News" already has.

[CannabisPrime]

The regular flu kills more people than this does :P

[SuperJay]

NO deff somthing to worry about, THIS STUFF CAN KILL.

Dude, fluoride can kill. Do you run screaming everytime a tube of toothpaste rears its demonic head? Do we need news programs announcing the risk of lethal Crest attacks? :)

It really is just overhyped, as Castrum says - fear sells.

[Magnum]

Exactly right CP.

There's also fluoride in our tap water. :D

[samski]

Great!...now I can't brush my teeth.

On a side note.. I was questing in WoW today and I killed a 'Unliving Swine' I received the Swine flu.. 'Twas pretty hilarious debuff.

samski

[SuperJay]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/swine_flu.png

[laxfish76]

A girl at my school contacted this, and they are freaking out at my school...

They want to shut it down and make us go during the summer :o

//Lax

[Redenbacher09]

A girl at my school contacted this, and they are freaking out at my school...

They want to shut it down and make us go during the summer :o

//Lax


Your school too has fallen victim to the power that is mass media. This whole ordeal is an epic fail of society. Similar to that of the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

[Magnum]

HAHAHA. That is awesome Jay.

That sucks for you Lax.

[SpazROK]

Here's what you need to know:

Only reason that it is a big deal is because it is a strain that a vaccine has yet to be made for, nothing else.

[PLOWKILL]

Here's what you need to know:

Only reason that it is a big deal is because it is a strain that a vaccine has yet to be made for, nothing else.

Exactly....!!!! :D

[Thanatos]

Apparently someone flew in here about a week ago and they think he has contracted it. He's currently being quarantined in a hospital until they can confirm it. Lovely.

[PLOWKILL]

We had our first confirmed case in my town about two days ago...

[Warblade]

The organization has a funny acronim. You work with who? I would simply answer "Yes!"

[SuperJay]

Sooooo, about that worldwide pandemic that was going to kill us all....

This was written by a doctor at Tufts Medical, I've just excerpted some useful passages. (This was published 10 days ago. I actually had to go digging for any news articles about swine flu.)



In Mexico, and all over the world, the amount and nature of flu activity at this moment is completely normal. The number of cases is not unusual, and the number of severe cases or fatalities is not unusual. The only thing that's unusual is that laboratory analysis identifies the strain of flu that some people have as a novel one. That's all.

Now that we have widespread surveillance systems in place, and laboratory tests that can rapidly analyze genetic sequences of viruses, we could make this observation. The fact is, if this had happened 10 years ago, nobody would have noticed it, at least not yet, and the way it's looking to me right now, they probably never would. Comparable events have undoubtedly happened many times over the decades -- a new strain of flu emerging near the end of the season -- and we just never knew it.

Public-health authorities have a responsibility to be vigilant and to prevent bad stuff from happening if they can. Since novel strains of influenza might, in principle, be unusually dangerous, they look for them and try to a) stop them from spreading if they can, and b) prepare for the worst in case they can't. That's their job.

They have various technical terms and policies they resort to based on their careful planning. For example, they may declare a "public health emergency" in one or another jurisdiction. Nationally, here in the United States, that just means that relevant government agencies assign staff and line up resources to take certain actions in case they are needed, such as shipping stockpiles of drugs to particular locations.

A "pandemic" just means an epidemic that is very widespread. A pandemic can refer to a minor disease. Actually it's technically correct to say that there is a pandemic of one or more strains of influenza every year, but the WHO doesn't bother to use that term unless they consider the pathogen to be particularly problematic.




I surfed past one local Boston station last night that was doing a roundup of infections in New England: "Three infections have been confirmed in Maine, two in Kennebunk and one in Lewiston. All the victims are recovering." Three people in Maine had the flu and they're all getting better now? This is news? How about "J.B. McPheeters, of Bar Harbor, recently purchased three pairs of underwear?" That would seem to be of approximately equal general interest.

The result is some very real damage. The Egyptian authorities, for example, have ordered the slaughter of all the nation's pigs. This may be an opportunistic move to cultivate favor with religious fanatics, but it's utterly insane as an infection-control measure. You catch the virus from people, not pigs. Joe Biden is telling us all not to ride on the subway or fly. Schools are closing all over the country. John McCain wants to close the border with Mexico. One Harvard dental student was diagnosed, and they have shut down the entire Harvard medical campus. That'll do a lot of good -- especially since they've kept Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel and Children's hospitals open, and all of the doctors and residents and medical students are still going there, as far as I know. This means real economic damage at a time when we can ill afford it, and it is utterly pointless.