I live close to the area in NY where the first cases here appeared, just a few miles away.

So far, I'm fine, except for allergies, but on the cautious side.  Got my can of lysol instead of mace as a weapon. 

Have you or anyone you know of come down with it?  Scary news today as one infant in Houston has died from it, though as I read it, this child traveled from Mexico to the states with it, as did the students at St. Francis Prep. Still haven't been able to reach my family in Mexico City, which I've heard now is practically ghost town.

Take all pre-cautions and stay safe out there!

Keep yourself alert and don't be stupid, but *please* don't buy into this panic BS that is starting to spread.

The CDC estimates that about 36,000 Americans are kill by flu and complications from flu every year.  That's about 100 per day.  Of course, you can argue with the numbers, but the point is a lot of people die from the flu every year.  Worldwide, the yearly number is somewhere around 500,000.

Now, this flu (H1N1) has killed 1 person (a Mexican, btw) in America.

Is it time to panic?  Seriously?  Do you not feel a little bit manipulated by the media?  This is not a pandemic (yet).

I'm not saying ignore it, just try to keep it in perspective.

I echo Shawn's words. I'm encouraging my family to wash hands frequently and be aware of symptoms, but that is simply common knowledge.

Business as usual Cathi.

We were just released from isolation today. 2 suspected cases showed up in our county and then I had 2 teens come down with flu symptoms - who had both already had influenza B.  It wasn't til I called to make an appt for them that I was told we had to stay in isolation until we knew.

Both cases in this county were negative, and we were released from isolation.

This is now my 3rd isolation - first for SARS (my kids were in Toronto when it broke out) then for mumps - kids were safe, I was not, now this.

Sheesh.

They just want to stimulate the economy with latex glove and face mask purchases

Cat

The BBC reports that the symptoms of swine flu are intense sweating, incoherent speech, pungent body odour and fatigue.


Who'da thunk the Beeb would have confirmed I married a pig???

Drinks lots of orange juice and stay away from people... Granny's home remedy. And I agree - stay out of hospitals and away from doctor's offices.. people are SICK there and you could catch somethin' .

Now if someone would just come up with a vaccine for ALERGIES!!!

Hugs BD

Mosaicwench wrote on Apr 29^th, 2009 at 11:41am:


I believe the difference here is that this version of the flu is attacking and killing young healthy people.  The 37,000 people you mention are typically elderly and/or immunodeficient.  This strain also has no vaccinations available as of yet, which is why people are giving more of a hoot about this than the usual push to get vaccinated.  I don't think being overly cautious is a bad thing.  I think people are just being proactive in their approach to this trying to prevent it from becoming something more.  What is the harm in that?

Thomas

Brew wrote on Apr 29^th, 2009 at 1:58pm:


That is probably a rumor...  Reading the CDC website: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or , it states that alcohol based sanitizers are effective.  I would probably try to use products with the higher alcohol concentrations though.  

Brew, that is a good point, I am glad you brought it up.

Thomas

There are 868 variations of flu, and the flu shot can only protect against 8 of them each year.  They try to make a best guess and distribute a shot that covers the 'expected' strains.  Usually, they get 1-2 right, and still they estimate about 36,000 deaths in America due to flu-related complications.

The flu that is spreading right now does not have a vaccine yet, and one can not possibly be made for months, but more to the point, the problem ISN'T the current strain.  The big worry from the CDC is that every time this strain is transmitted from person-person, there is a small chance it could BECOME (mutate into) a strain that is more virulent or deadly.

So, think about this for a minute... ALL of this worry is about something that HAS NOT HAPPENED.  It didn't happen with SARS.  It didn't happen with Avian flue.  It hasn't happened with Swine flu (yet).  There is no reason to freak out at all yet, and the number of people who have gotten sick is infinitesimal right now.

Relax.  Nobody anywhere has said this particular flu is anything like the 1918 flu which did kill mostly healthy people between the ages of 18 and 35.  According to some accounts, the mortality rate for infected people in that age group was about 95%.  The mortality rate for the whole population was something like 35%.

It is simply unreasonable to be in any kind of a panic over this nonsense.  I personally think this is just another attempt to get us all worried so that we can all feel good about how safe our government has made us when it turns out to be 'under control' (when in fact nothing is out of control yet)

Hello,

Re alcohol sanitizers...must be a minimum of 62% (ethyl) alcohol...don't buy the cheap stuff   AND, just before it dries,
scrub your hands with a paper towel... the friction improves effective removal of bacteria by 20%...otherwise you're just smearing them around..

best,

Jon

Quote:


Huh?  

37,000 people (perhaps elderly or immune-suppressed, demographics unknown to me ) still died from flu related complications last year.  Are you saying that since they might have been elderly or immune-suppressed that they are somehow less than human? That no one mourned their passing?  That they were somehow less valued than the young and the healthy?

Dead is dead.  There is no qualifier.

The average 35,000 that die each flu season from flu and complications are the very young (ie:babies), elderly, immune defficient and other health poblems. The cdc.gov site is updated about 3 times daily and has the best info. The same precautions as normal flu season work so far. The 1918 pandemic was complicated by the huge military camps and troop movements in WW 1. Also that virus caused the bodys immune system to attack itself, therefore, they drowned, the lungs filled up with fluid.
I won't even go into the stupidity of state governments in dealing with this. Enuff to say I am embaressed to work for them.
And less not forget the stupid media. The space time concept is now null and void. The national media reports it has located case number "0".
Computers use the binary system of 1 and 0. Now they have the same value. No mathematical formula is now valid.

JIm

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