Swine flu 2009

[Inky_Wretch]

Stock up on Tamiflu ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386163/

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Jules Winnfield: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.

Vincent Vega: Yeah but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.

Jules Winnfield: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy mother-fu**ers. Pigs sleep and root in sh**. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eating nothing that ain't got sense enough to disregard his own feces.

Vincent Vega: How 'bout a dog? Dog eats his own feces.

Jules Winnfield: I don't eat dog either.

Vincent Vega: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?

Jules Winnfield: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy, but they definitely dirty. But, dog's got personality; personality goes a long way.

Vincent Vega: Ahh, so by that rational, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?

Jules Winnfield: Well, we'd have to be talking one charming mother-fu**ing pig.

 

[imjustagirl]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Swine flu is simplistic. I was at kleeda's house tonight when he told me about this. It's a swine/avian/human flu combo, which unlike the first two alone, spreads human-to-human. THAT'S what makes it so much more dangerous.

 

[Hammer Pants]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Sounds like I might not be making another trip to see my girlfriend's parents this year.

 

[BYH]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

So we're pretty much ****ed, is what you're saying?

 

[Football_Bat]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Well, since it's 1976 all over again ...

 

[txsportsscribe]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Stock up on Tamiflu ...

maybe not ...

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/65605/

 

[txsportsscribe]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Questions and answers about swine flu


Mexico is contending with an outbreak of swine flu, suspected in the deaths of dozens of people and sickening perhaps 1,000. In the United States, at least eight cases have been confirmed with the infection, all of them in California and Texas; only one person was hospitalized. Here are some questions and answers about the illness:

Q. What is swine flu?

A. Swine flu is a respiratory illness in pigs caused by a virus. The swine flu virus routinely causes outbreaks in pigs but doesn't usually kill many of them.

Q. Can people get swine flu?

A. Swine flu viruses don't usually infect humans. There have been occasional cases, usually among people who've had direct contact with infected pigs, such as farm workers. "We've seen swine influenza in humans over the past several years, and in most cases, it's come from direct pig contact. This seems to be different," said Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert with the University of Michigan.

Q. Can it spread among humans?

A. There have been cases of the virus spreading from human to human, probably in the same way as seasonal flu, through coughing and sneezing by infected people.

Q. What are the symptoms of swine flu?

A. The symptoms are similar to those of regular flu - fever, cough, fatigue, lack of appetite.

Q. Is the same swine flu virus making people sick in Mexico and the U.S.?

A. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Mexican virus samples match the U.S. virus. The virus is a mix of human virus, bird virus from North America and pig viruses from North America, Europe and Asia.

Q. Are there drugs to treat swine flu in humans?

A. There are four different drugs approved in the U.S. to treat the flu, but the new virus has shown resistance to the two oldest. The CDC recommends the use of the flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza.

Q. Does a regular flu shot protect against swine flu?

A. The seasonal flu vaccine used in the U.S. this year won't likely provide protection against the latest swine flu virus. There is a swine flu vaccine for pigs but not for humans.

Q. Should residents of California or Texas do anything special?

A. The CDC recommends routine precautions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases: wash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, avoid close contact with sick people. If you are sick, stay at home and limit contact with others.

Q. What about traveling to Mexico?

A. The CDC has not warned Americans against traveling to Mexico but advises that they be aware of the illnesses there and take precautions to protect against infections, like washing their hands.

---

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

[kleeda]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Those who know me know I'm not much of an alarmist. This one scares the crap out of me. The stories of the 1918 pandemic are part of family lore -- and not a good part.

 

[Angola!]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Yeah, I read that they might consider closing the border if it gets bad enough.

I guess this is a reason it sucks to live in Texas.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/8018428.stm

at that first one

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Those who know me know I'm not much of an alarmist. This one scares the crap out of me. The stories of the 1918 pandemic are part of family lore -- and not a good part.

Only .03 percent of the population died from the 1918 flu in the United States.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

No longer on my reading list for next week ...

I'm working under the impression that part of the problem with the Mexican outbreak is the poverty in that country.

 

[kleeda]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Those who know me know I'm not much of an alarmist. This one scares the crap out of me. The stories of the 1918 pandemic are part of family lore -- and not a good part.

Only .03 percent of the population died from the 1918 flu in the United States.

.03 percent? Here's a pretty good source that puts it at 675,000, which I think is a little more startling given that it happened all at once.

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/historicaloverview.html

As for AIDS, the dreadful killer in our lifetimes? 583,298 total. What, in 25 years or so?

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm

 

[OnTheRiver]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

What I've read so far:

The worrisome: What few fatalities there have been have been between 25-45 years old, which fits with the sort of age group affected by pandemic flus. On the brighter side, if it wipes out Generation X, then we can pretend grunge rock never happened.

The good news: Tamiflu and another medicine are working on this thing.

In Mexico City, they're playing two major soccer games in empty stadiums today. So they can pretty much pretend they're playing in America.

 

[Angola!]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

A Texas high school will be closed for the next week because two students have been sickened by the flu:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6392222.html

Edit: It is a Class 4A school, so it is pretty big.

 

[OnTheRiver]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Also, since this appears to be Mexican swine flu, can we nickname it El Chorizo?

 

[Small Town Guy]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

It's also in a school in Queens. Aw, ****. I just shook hands with someone from Queens. Of course, since I only read newspaper comments to get my news, the blame for this lies solely with illegal immigrants.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/04/25/2009-04-25_mexico_city_cancels_all_public_events_.html

 

[Angola!]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

Question: Have the people died in Mexico because they don't have as good of medical facilities there? Or is it just because this is a really serious virus?

 

[Small Town Guy]

Re: Swine flu outbreak in Mexico

I'd guess it's more of the former, although it certainly sounds serious. The ones who have gotten it in the U.S. have recovered without any problems it sounds like.

There are probably about 11,245 things that are more likely to kill me before swine flu. But I will avoid my uncle's pig farm next time I'm home.

And for the flu killing people, every year we hear that something like 30,000 people die from flu each year. That's always astounded me. Is that primarily elderly? And if it's true, why would a particular strain be anymore dangerous? I ask that as someone with little medical knowledge.