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Swine flu hitting everywhere

Oh no reported H1N1 in the college less than a mile away from UMass

better get a refill on my hand sanitizer I guess...

I'm a little worried about this whole epidemic, and I think it's right to be overly cautious when we don't know exactly how bad it can be. I think the whole reason the media has taken this by storm is the fact that it is so unpredictable and contagious.

My friend and I made swine flu on pandemic2 last night, and we survived so you guys can stop worrying. There were a lot of deaths though :/
 
Newcastle officially has swine flu so I am now leading the race to be the first Smogoner to contract swine flu. ;/

>1% death rate is all well and good but if it's as contagious as we're being led to believe, millions will still die. But it surely can't be any worse than man flu...that's the worst.
 
The eleventh case of swine flu is now in Bristol too, which isn't hugely far from me either, apparently an 11 year old has contracted it after a visit to Mexico. The school has closed until 11th May, which is one day before major exams start. I know Akuchi is in Bristol, I'm a few miles away (well, probably about 15?), but still, it seems to be getting closer.

On top of this, a total of 642 possible cases are being investigated in the UK.
 
What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
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So I think I officially don't have Swine since I don't have a sore throat, runny nose, or coughing, and the thing I have has kind of passed. "cool"

Here is the Swine Surveillance in Canada (updated daily) should some of you not seen it yet. Here is also a really amusing read for people interested in this sort of thing (I'm talking about the story comments where people are debating "God"'s stance on the issue.

/edit: (I especially liked this

alexis09 wrote:Matthew 24:7 says "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,and earthquakes in various places."


Thats easy for God to say, he doesnt have to vacation in Mexico!
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)
 
To answer the question as to 'why is this such a big deal?', is that we don't exactly know how it works, yet. Since it can transfer human-to-human, and is popping it all over the world it's spreading (Slowly, but surely). Whilst it may not be a 90% fatality rate, influenza virus is known to mutate frequently. If H1N1 swaps some RNA with another strain, such as avian flu which is much more lethal I believe, it could possibly get the 'coding' and become much more killer. This is what the WHO is being uneasy about. With such virulent virus, if it mutates and increases in lethality we could be hella screwed.

All we need to do is sit tight, try to limit the spread, and watch what happens with it. Hopefully it'll all blow over like SARS ended up...

Also, too many people are misinformed about influenza. It doesn't help that the media is feeding everyone spoon fulls of fear. ~_~ Educated yourselves! Keep clean, and get lots of Vitamin C.

Oh and one last that, going off on my last paragraph: Don't take flu medication!! This is another massive problem with the fear mongering going on. People will begin popping pills and taking antivirals when they don't need them. THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE DECISION YOU COULD MAKE FOR YOURSELF, AND ALL OF HUMANITY. You run the risk of letting the virus develop an immunity for itself against whichever medication.
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8030365.stm

Mexico has revised down the suspected death toll from swine flu from 176 to 101, indicating that the outbreak may not be as bad as was initially feared. Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told the BBC that, based on samples tested, the mortality rate was comparable with that of seasonal flu. [...]The new virus lacked the traits that made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly, another CDC official said.
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vespa said:
oh NOES THE SWINE FLU!!!!!! this is the same shit that happened with SARS and the Avian flu. jesus christ
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This is a very naive statement. In all seriousness you shouldn't take things like this for granted, because one day it will happen again, and kill millions.
 
vespa said:
oh NOES THE SWINE FLU!!!!!! this is the same shit that happened with SARS and the Avian flu. jesus christ
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If that is your incredibly naive view then I advise you to read the following article and re-adjust your opinion:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/29/swine-flu-hype

Specifically, this paragraph:
Ben Goldacre said:
I assumed they were adhering, robotically, to the "balance" template, but no: he kept at it, even when I protested and explained. "Yeah, but you know, it could be like Sars and bird flu, they didn't materialise, they were hype." Simon Jenkins suggested the same thing. It's not true, I said. They were risks, risks that didn't materialise, but they were still risks. That's what a risk is. I've never been hit by a car, but it's not idiotic to think about it. Simon Jenkins won't be right if nobody dies, he'll be lucky, like the rest of us. Do people think this flappily in casinos? The terrible truth is yes.
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Is anyone else noticing a lack of death outside of mexico?

An epidemiologist was on "Daily Planet" on Discovery Channel Canada the other day; Jay Ingrim took the guy to task and the guy did well. Infact, the guy pointed out a few key things:

1. Swine flu isn't really killing shit outside of Mexico, but that could change very easy so we shouldn't get all up ons about it. Instead, be proactive and deal with shit appropriately.

2. As far as true death rate is concerned, all everyone is getting is the deaths vs hospitalized cases. How many people in mexico got sick, it sucked, got better and then didn't report it? Honestly, especially in the slums, people have better shit to do than cry about sickness that they may or may not recognize as a flu (and if they do, the significance probably doesn't sink in).

It appears as though my initial and continued opinion of sit and wait before you freak out, but still be proactive, is winning.

Edit: Who else thinks it's hidous and kind of sad (in a "how uneducated can one area of the world fucking be!?" kind of way) that some countries are slaughtering hundreds of thousands or millions of pigs over this? Swine flu is a misnomer- they actually have a higher chance of getting it from us than we do from them! I heard it's the middle east doing this exclusively, but I'd hate to say for sure since I haven't bothered to confirm it.
 
Edit: Who else thinks it's hidous and kind of sad (in a "how uneducated can one area of the world fucking be!?" kind of way) that some countries are slaughtering hundreds of thousands or millions of pigs over this? Swine flu is a misnomer- they actually have a higher chance of getting it from us than we do from them! I heard it's the middle east doing this exclusively, but I'd hate to say for sure since I haven't bothered to confirm it.
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IIRC, it was Egypt who started it (Go figure the religious majority is Muslim hmm...) according to the news paper that I read. It's pretty stupid that they are mass slaughtering pigs, it's not like they all have the virus. That's why WHO wants the name of the virus to just be H1N1 now, not swine flu (To the general public).
 
It's not much different than when Canada slaughtered millions of chickens just because a few were found with a form of avian flu that couldn't even transfer to people.
 
What I find hilarious is how the Israeli media calls it the Mexican flu in fear of promoting pork food via calling it the "pork flu" (hebrew).

Now... this would make some level of sense if there wasn't the word "flu" associated to "pork".
 
A field trip to Sea World in San Diego in my school was canceled because there was a case of it in San Diego State University. I live fairly close to it, so Im a bit worried, but not much.
 
Mormoopid said:
It's not much different than when Canada slaughtered millions of chickens just because a few were found with a form of avian flu that couldn't even transfer to people.
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Or here in the US with the NewCastle A few years back when chickens and ducks and people's pet pet birds were slaughtered. Tossed into a large canister all at once and suffocated to death while the chickens are kicking and scratching eachother.
 
Since alot of schools are being shut down and AP testing is the following two weeks. Does anyone know what'll happen to the AP testing schedule?
 
the price of chicken wings has never really come down since then- they were like 10-15 cents before the slaughter, now they are at a solid 25 cents, a price we were told would be temporary all those years ago. I want cheaper meat-fests, damn it!

This one is the most overhyped media whored sickness I've ever seen. Sigh. Though has anyone else heard that it's basically the gread grand child of the 1918 spanish flu? It is said to be a direct decendant of that horrible sickness.
 
You can thank my town for getting all those infected pigs. Thankfully the Alberta govt isn't being retarded and killing them all.

Time for ribs.
 
OGsloane said:
Since alot of schools are being shut down and AP testing is the following two weeks. Does anyone know what'll happen to the AP testing schedule?
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I'm assuming that those schools will just have to take the tests on late examination days. Your school should tell you if they were shut down.



So far, I consider swine flu to be overexaggerated by the media. It doesn't have the fatality rate of SARS or H5N1. The location of most deaths are located in an over-populated city with poor health care. Deaths outside of Mexico are rare.

Despite that, its still something we should be wary of and take measure against. As many, many users posted before me, it spreads quickly and mutations can make it a lethal killer. I just don't think people should be panicking over it.
 
In all honesty, I can understand this whole even being a rather 'epidemic' type of situation, but...at my school, things are just getting silly over it. A bunch of kids at my school are making jokes about it pretty much all the time. I was actually starting to think this was all a bunch of bullshit hype (Mind you all, I don't watch the news much.). I understand the whole situation, to the best of my abilities at least, but, I think it might just be being pushed a bit out of proportion. Just a bit.
 
Now schools will be close till May 11 here, that sucks pretty much, specially considering they will take them back from summer break AND saturdays. I think the goverment is over-reacting, I mean, yes, this is something serious, however, closing everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is a bit too much.
 
Vineon said:
What I find hilarious is how the Israeli media calls it the Mexican flu in fear of promoting pork food via calling it the "pork flu" (hebrew).

Now... this would make some level of sense if there wasn't the word "flu" associated to "pork".
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Wait a second, but us Jews aren't allowed to eat pork anyways (but I do. hehe, I'm such a bad Jew). I'm guessing it has to do with being unholy or something.

Also, one case in Ottawa, oh crap.
 
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