13,000 killied by the flu since January!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28...flu/index.html
Lock your doors!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28...flu/index.html
Lock your doors!
Swine flu what's the big deal?
- Thread starter quack
- Start date
Never let a good crisis go to waste!!!
Turns out some little kid was the first one to get it and die.....
Yes but that poor child was driven from Mexico to houston by panicked parents,which was a poor decision.:frown:
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.
The Flu kills people every year, and the really interesting part is that different flu types are made in labs...this current one is actually a hybrid of bird,human,and three different pig/swine strains.
Very interesting that this happens just after our president goes to Mexico and when they are trying to push through a very unpopular new surgeon general.
It all smells like politics to me.
Very interesting that this happens just after our president goes to Mexico and when they are trying to push through a very unpopular new surgeon general.
It all smells like politics to me.
Might I suggest that you wear an aluminum foil hat and avoid fluoridated water.
Apparently this doesn't seem to be true anymore. It now appears that it is from pig genes only.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/swinefluupdate/
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Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.:smile::wink:
:smile:
No, this is not man made at all... but this is our first real test of containing something like this.
I don't think many of you realize just how serious this is.
If this mutates it could be a real problem. This is not your typical flu that kills old people. Most of the dead will be between 20 and 40.
H1N1 has never jumped from pigs to humans... this sort of cross species mutation is extremely dangerous. Everyone has been focused on the "bird flu" which is a lot more extreme version of this (H5N1).... but the bird Flu has so far been easy to contain since it doesn't seem to transmit human to human very easily.
To give you an idea, if H5N1 acted like H1N1 is acting right now, it would kill 60% of those infected.
That should get anyone's attention.
To give you another example, if a virus like Ebola were to mutate into an airborne antigen, it would kill 90% of of the worlds population.
This "swine flu" is just a practice run guys... we had no WHO/CDC emergency plan back when the "spanish flu" killed millions in WWI.. The spanish flu was also H1N1... but they don't know where it came from. (maybe pigs?? who knows). We also didn't have the amount of transcontinental travel we do today...but we do have better drugs and ways of detecting and dealing with it, so most likely H1N1 is not going to be the end of the world.
They raised the threat to level 5 today. For one thing, I know this means families of workers from other countries are going home today. (If you work at microsoft or boeing for instance, but you're an contractor from Japan, your family will be getting on a plane in the next couple of days.)
I'm still learning about it and my initial reaction is it's over blown given pigs are being slaughtered by the millions and high schools all over the state canceling all sports activities.
However, the last flu epidemic wiped out what would be 300-500 million people in today's terms. As in the united states being leveled in a few weeks/months. Also, the fact the body's reactions are counter productive makes me nervous because my immune system is almost unbreakable. I have no allergies and have had nothing more than a runny nose once or twice in the past 3-5 years. This is while riding a motorcycle daily through winter. The only medication I've taken during that time is Aleve a few times.
Dr. Volkle, is tamiflu the current remedy? What exactly "cures" this and how would you gauge the mutation risks?
However, the last flu epidemic wiped out what would be 300-500 million people in today's terms. As in the united states being leveled in a few weeks/months. Also, the fact the body's reactions are counter productive makes me nervous because my immune system is almost unbreakable. I have no allergies and have had nothing more than a runny nose once or twice in the past 3-5 years. This is while riding a motorcycle daily through winter. The only medication I've taken during that time is Aleve a few times.
Dr. Volkle, is tamiflu the current remedy? What exactly "cures" this and how would you gauge the mutation risks?
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Exactly the problem. These flu's (to my understanding the HxNx strains) create an overreactive immune response...thus healthy people die. Not your typical 90 year old who's on his/her way out anyhow.
Tamiflu (generic name) is one of two known "remedies" that combats these flu strains... there is no real cure, but it may be enough to get you by. I can't remember the other brand.
I'm not sure how readily available it is... kinda like asking for shotgun shells in the middle of a zombie infestation. You're better off getting a few before the outbreak. :wink:
(I've had tamiflu on my shelf for over 5 years now... this pandemic crap has been coming and it's been no secrete...and yes, the tamiflu does expire so you have to renew it once in awhile. Tamiflu looks like any other anti-biotic).
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Right because it is causing people's own immune systems to kill them....but so far we haven't seen the pattern of ages in deaths.
That will be a huge sign of if this is not just your usual flu
Right because it is causing people's own immune systems to kill them....but so far we haven't seen the pattern of ages in deaths.
That will be a huge sign of if this is not just your usual flu
H1N1 is when it crosses species is never your usual flu.
Don't disregard this just because it isn't killing everyone... yet.
Again, I would consider this a trial run... we're lucky this isn't H5N1 skipping around the globe right now.
We hopefully will never see the full potential of this "swine flu"...but we could be only a couple mutations away from something very serious. Not to cause panic, but sooner or later a this situation will repeat itself in a much deadlier form. Hopefully the WHO/CDC learns how to deal with this sort of thing now. The next time it could be a heck of a lot worse.
Of course, we have been focused on Southeast Asia, so in some regards this did catch them by surprise.
"The Spanish flu, also known as La Gripe Española, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to be one of the most deadly pandemics in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of influenza virus,[5] which is similar to bird flu of today, mainly H5N1 and H5N2.[citation needed]
The Spanish flu caused an unusual number of deaths because it, like H5N1, caused a cytokine storm in the body. The virus infected lung cells, leading to overstimulation of the immune system via release of cytokine bursts into the lung tissue. This leads to extensive leukocyte migration towards the lungs, causing destruction of lung tissue and secretion of liquid into the organ, making it difficult for the patient to breathe. People with strong immune systems (such as young adults) were more susceptible to the disease than young children and the elderly.
The term "Spanish" flu was coined because Spain was at the time the only European country where the press were printing reports of the outbreak, which had killed thousands in the armies fighting the First World War. Other countries suppressed the news in order to protect morale."
In other words, you end up drowning in your own phlegm. yuck!
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Ok well don't hold it against me when I hose you down with rubbing alcohol when I see you.
:wink::smile:
Ok well don't hold it against me when I hose you down with rubbing alcohol when I see you.
Lol...I've been bathing in hand sanitizer after every patient!! I'm only coughing a little. :wink:
It was once said that a black man would be president "when pigs fly" indeed 100 days into Obama's presidency...Swine flu.
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How does an antibiotic cure/relieve symptoms from a virus?
I thought antibiotics fought bacteria?
Just wondering if my microbiology professor was a quack.
How does an antibiotic cure/relieve symptoms from a virus?
I thought antibiotics fought bacteria?
Just wondering if my microbiology professor was a quack.
In lay terms the anti virals don't kill the virus particle ,they inhibit replication.That can be accomplished in many ways.A virus needs to enter the host cells to replicate,it does not have enough "mechanical" apparatus to do that itself.So there are oppourtunities to arrest variuos stages in which the virus is recognized/incorporated into the host cell.The degree of illness is based on the cells which the virus frequents,and the immune systems ability to clear it.
:wink:
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It's confirmed, a junior high school kid tested positive in Sacramento. :frown:
How does an antibiotic cure/relieve symptoms from a virus?
I thought antibiotics fought bacteria?
Just wondering if my microbiology professor was a quack.
Oh, I was only trying to describe what Tamiflu looked like. It comes in a box in little tablets, just like other antibiotics. I have no idea how it works. lol. It must suppress your immune system reaction or something.
I wouldn't advise anyone to panic and try and find some now...but when this thing blows over, I think it would be a good idea to talk to your Doc and perhaps keep a few doses on hand. If there ever is an outbreak, it may be hard to get your hands on this stuff. I mean, you could try now...but I'm not sure how that would go. They may only be handing this out to people who are sick at this point.
However, in the future it's just a little insurance for ~$50/box.
Again, I've had this stuff in my medicine cabinet for years now, and I'm not really a paranoid person, I just think it's a good idea to have something like this around.
They just stated that there are 6 probable cases in Washington State. This flu will be found in every state in the country before this is over. I think the death toll will be very very low, unless of course it mutates into something more aggressive. But then again, it's just as likely to mutate into something less aggressive. Perhaps that's partially why people in the US aren't dyeing like the people in Mexico. (I don't think our health care is that much better...but who knows). You have to remember, it does no good for a virus to kill its host...but they're not perfect either.
I remember my Grandmother telling me the story of her Uncle... something like "He had come home from the war (WWI) and laid down on the couch. The next morning he was dead." A victim of the "Spanish Flu". (Another H1N1 strain).
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