Achoo! - Oink!

[Texsox]

We should be no more worried about the swine flu than we are the regular yearly flu. The overreaction is amazing.

 

As a MD friend of mine explained a couple days ago, the reason we have not had a worldwide flu pandemic in decades is this sort of "overreaction". We are forgetting the deaths that can occur from a new strain could be in the tens of thousands.

[Steve9347]

Swine Flu in........... ROGERS PARK!

 

We're all dead.

 

Swine Flu closes Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park

 

April 29, 2009

 

BY MONIFA THOMAS, KARA SPAK, ROSEMARY SOBOL AND MIKE LANSU

 

A Rogers Park elementary school was closed Wednesday after a student there contracted a suspected case of the Swine Flu virus.

 

Ron Huberman, Chicago Public Schools CEO, said attendance rates at Kilmer Elementary School in the 6700 block of North Greenview Avenue are typically 94 to 96 percent. Yesterday, only 87 percent of students showed up for class and officials are spending the day investigating if these students may also have contracted the virus.

 

"That's an unusually high absenteeism rate at the school," Huberman said.

 

Classes at Kilmer were suspended for at least two days, Huberman said. The school building is open for students who may show up today, and teachers will work with them to find them a safe place to go, he said.

 

Dr. Terry Mason, Chicago's health commissioner, said officials here are sending a medical sample from the sick student to the Center for Disease Control today. It will take 24 to 36 hours for the agency to confirm if this is Swine Flu.

 

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said the student was 12 years old. Officials wouldn't identify the student's gender or any details on how the student might have contracted the virus.

 

The student is "recovered at home," Mason said.

 

The school building will not transmit the virus, he said.

 

"When we do this it's the children -- it's not doorknobs, it's not water faucets, it's children sneezing, coughing on each other," Mason said.

 

He cautioned parents not to panic.

 

"We do not want people routinely getting tested or routinely asking their physician for Tamiflu," he said.

 

About 875 students attend Kilmer, which is pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. CPS is also studying attendance patterns at other schools.

 

Sixty-four cases of Swine Flu have been reported in the United States as of Tuesday morning. New York City has reported 45 confirmed infections, while California (10), Texas (6), Kansas (2) and Ohio (1) have also reported infected residents, according to the CDC¹s Web site.

 

Indiana health officials have also confirmed a case in a Notre Dame University student.

 

The Chicago Department of Public Health is in continuous contact with suburban health departments, the Illinois Department of Public Health and officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The department also is briefing other City departments and sister agencies and partners in the private sector, according to a release issued Sunday.

 

The city Department of Public Health offered the following suggestions to prevent the contraction and spread of the virus:

 

-- Cover your cough.

 

-- Cover your sneeze.

 

-- Use facial tissues and discard them promptly.

 

-- Wash your hands regularly with soap and warm water.

 

-- Teach those good habits to children.

 

-- If you are sick, stay home and get better. Do not spread a cold or flu at work, school, store, church or other house of worship or anywhere.

 

-- Boost your immune system by eating fresh vegetables and fruit, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough sleep at night.

[shipps]

As a MD friend of mine explained a couple days ago, the reason we have not had a worldwide flu pandemic in decades is this sort of "overreaction". We are forgetting the deaths that can occur from a new strain could be in the tens of thousands.

 

Well I have my opinions based on my MD friends here in the ER but that is a good point.

[southsider2k5]

Sometimes experts do have an idea what they're talking about. Do they here? I don't have a clue.

 

Here's another way to word it: cost/benefit.

 

 

Having gone through that border a couple times, unless the drug war has dramatically disrupted it, giving people a health check would make it go from taking hours to get across the border to taking days. If you're going to take those kind of steps, they're right, it needs to be a lot more effective than it actually is.

 

I didn't say CLOSE THE BORDER. And if we don't need to be doing much, and this is so ordinary, why are we getting an extra billion and a half for this non-crisis?

[RockRaines]

As a MD friend of mine explained a couple days ago, the reason we have not had a worldwide flu pandemic in decades is this sort of "overreaction". We are forgetting the deaths that can occur from a new strain could be in the tens of thousands.

You DO understand that around 50k people die each year of common seasonal flu right? So even if it was in the 10's of thousands it would MAYBE reach the pandemic levels of seasonal flu.

[StrangeSox]

Sadly, that changed.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/29/swine.flu/index.html

 

The stories have been updated; she was from Mexico and was in the US.

 

 

 

You DO understand that around 50k people die each year of common seasonal flu right? So even if it was in the 10's of thousands it would MAYBE reach the pandemic levels of seasonal flu.

 

The difference is in who it targets. Normal flu kills those with weak or compromised immune systems, such as the very young and elderly or those with AIDS. This particular strain targets healthy adults with strong immune systems.

 

I'd agree that there's some hysteria of this, but this isn't your normal flu virus.

[HuskyCaucasian]

WOW! Talk about over reaction:

 

Egypt Begins Slaughtering 300K Pigs As Precaution

Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said.

 

The move immediately provoked resistance from pig farmers. At one large pig farming center just north of Cairo, farmers refused to cooperate with Health Ministry workers who came to slaughter the animals and the workers left without carrying out the government order.

[Steve9347]

WOW! Talk about over reaction:

 

Egypt Begins Slaughtering 300K Pigs As Precaution

I'd tell them to f*** off, too.

[shipps]

WHAT THE f***....SWINE FLU HAS MADE MY DAY f***ING CRAZY....IS BACON REALLY WORTH THIS?

[whitesoxfan101]

I hate the media. A 22 month old dying from the flu was BREAKING NEWS today. I mean, it's sad that the kid didn't make it, but are you serious? I hope nobody out there is actually buying this as a HUGE cause for concern. It's just a strain of flu that attacks healthier people than the regular strain. Wash your hands, take a shower, cover your damn mouth if you cough/sneeze, and go to the doctor if you feel like s***. It's not too hard to remember.

Edited April 29, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[Iwritecode]

I hate the media. A 22 month old dying from the flu was BREAKING NEWS today. I mean, it's sad that the kid didn't make it, but are you serious?

 

It's because the kid died on US soil. If they would've kept the kid in Mexico, it wouldn't even be a story.

[Balta1701]

The difference is in who it targets. Normal flu kills those with weak or compromised immune systems, such as the very young and elderly or those with AIDS. This particular strain targets healthy adults with strong immune systems.

 

I'd agree that there's some hysteria of this, but this isn't your normal flu virus.

As a counter-point, I have to say that we heard the exact same thing repeatedly during the SARS outbreak a couple years ago. Those reports were fanned repeatedly by the media, but they wound up being incorrect; it turned out that when the full outbreak was examined, the disease had hit a few people of normal health and those got a lot of the press, but like most flu's it did most of its damage in the elderly, the young, and the people sick from other reasons. Frankly, I'm just not buying that bit without a full understanding and accounting, which we don't have.

 

Let me make the case for currently bad data. The numbers in Mexico as of yesterday were on the order of 5000 infected and 150 dead. If those numbers were accurate, this would be the single worst flu bug in recorded history. That is a 3% casualty rate. Even a 1% casualty rate is an order of magnitude above the normal flu rate. 30,000 or so die a year in the U.S. from the flu, if there was a 1% death rate, that would mean that only 3 million people got the flu every year, which is quite a bit lower than the number that actually get the flu in a country of 300 million.

 

The fact that this flu is reportedly killing 3% in Mexico suggests that what's missing is at least 10,000 cases, 2/3 of the infections or more, which probably wound up not being severe enough to be reported or to involve hospitalization, or if they were reported it was over the last few months before people realized they were dealing with a new strain. And who is most likely to not report a flu or to not seek treatment? The young and healthy who can get over it normally. So the only ones where it is reported are the really severe cases in the young and seemingly healthy or the cases in the young/elderly.

 

What I do find interesting is that we've got something on the order of 100 cases now in the U.S. and 1 casualty, and that casualty appears to have been an infant. That suggests a roughly 1% casualty rate, and it suggests that it can hit like a normal flu; doing most of its damage amongst the young and old and already sick. If the casualty rate winds up being about 3%, we should start seeing more deaths rapidly. I doubt we will. A 1% death rate is really, really bad for the flu.

[Texsox]

Well I have my opinions based on my MD friends here in the ER but that is a good point.

 

Perhaps the difference here is location.

[ChWRoCk2]

Seems to me the majority of cases are those coming in contact with those who traveled to Mexico or whom live in Mexico or infected pigs.

 

To me this just seems like what was the start of Mad Cow Disease and SARS, lots of hype and it died off. Of course the swine flu seems a bit more serious but like some of you said, wash your hands, shower and don't do anything stupid.

 

Been watching CNN all day, seems they are warning people to stop traveling to Mexico and some countries are cutting off travel to Mexico. I guess I ask to you increase borders protection? You certainly can't ban people from crossing the border since this is how trade is done and how we gain resources.

 

Suppose you also warrant people to stop eating pork/bacon which seems ridiculous. Good thing I don't eat bacon.

[Heads22]

First suspected case in Iowa.

 

The pigs are getting their revenge.

[Balta1701]

Been watching CNN all day, seems they are warning people to stop traveling to Mexico and some countries are cutting off travel to Mexico. I guess I ask to you increase borders protection? You certainly can't ban people from crossing the border since this is how trade is done and how we gain resources.

 

Suppose you also warrant people to stop eating pork/bacon which seems ridiculous. Good thing I don't eat bacon.

At least the early thinking is that the bug shouldn't be transmitted through food as long as you cook pork adequately. Is there such a thing as Pork Sushi?

 

On the travel thing...another point that the WHO has brought up is that you're often contagious while you're asymptomatic and vice-versa. Those first few sneezes you get a day or two before you really feel bad? That's the point where you can transmit things very effectively. The really feeling bad part happens as your body's immune system is reacting, and therefore you're not necessarily as contagious once you feel sick.

[G&T]

Officials have repeatedly said that this cannot be transmitted through pork products.

 

Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.

CDC

Edited April 29, 2009 by G&T

[Balta1701]

One other little note to think about...if you're one of those people who occasionally drops by and gives blood, now would be a good time to think about it (not that there's ever a bad time). In the event that this flu does blow up, the demand for blood probably won't go up that much because it's the flu and not injuries, but if something like 5-10% of the country gets sick over the next few months, that could put a major dent in the available supplies.

[RockRaines]

Of course the swine flu seems a bit more serious but like some of you said, wash your hands, shower and don't do anything stupid.

What makes you think that its more serious? Its the damn flu, people die from seasonal flu every year, there would have to literally be 10's of thousands more deaths this year for it to even come close to seasonal flu. I dont see anyone freaking out about the flu, in fact some people even go to work with the flu. *gasp*

[Jimbo's Drinker]

What makes you think that its more serious? Its the damn flu, people die from seasonal flu every year, there would have to literally be 10's of thousands more deaths this year for it to even come close to seasonal flu. I dont see anyone freaking out about the flu, in fact some people even go to work with the flu. *gasp*

 

 

The media is just going crazy, they are probably hoping people keeling over.

[Texsox]

What makes you think that its more serious? Its the damn flu, people die from seasonal flu every year, there would have to literally be 10's of thousands more deaths this year for it to even come close to seasonal flu. I dont see anyone freaking out about the flu, in fact some people even go to work with the flu. *gasp*

 

What makes me think this is more serious is the death rate and that the current vaccinations seem to not be effective against it.

[CanOfCorn]

What makes me think this is more serious is the death rate and that the current vaccinations seem to not be effective against it.

 

Last year's flu shot didn't protect many people from the strains that were going around. I know 3 people who got the flu shot AND the flu.

[Balta1701]

What makes me think this is more serious is the death rate and that the current vaccinations seem to not be effective against it.

Worth noting is my post earlier where I question the accuracy of the current published death rates.

[Texsox]

Sobering thought of the day for me. I am attending a university where it is very common to commute daily from Mexico to attend classes.

[RockRaines]

What makes me think this is more serious is the death rate and that the current vaccinations seem to not be effective against it.

The CDC published that basic anti-flu anti-virals have up to a 90 percent success rate preventing and treating this flu strain. The "death rate" is very subjective at the moment, not to mention its about as dangerous as the seasonal flu to people who are susceptible to that type of virus. If you are scared of the flu, I could see how this could scare you too.

 

 

I seriously just ran into a lady at Walgreens wearing a face mask.

 

Seriously, pick up some OJ, get some soup, and prepare for the "Outbreak"

 

 

Edited April 29, 2009 by RockRaines