International ''swine flu'' emergency

[pandorea]

9 patients in Denmark is now under investigation of Swine-flu. Most of them came home from holiday in Mexico last week or so.

A simple thing like this could save your life.

[CiaranM]

wash your hands for 5 min with warm water and soup every time you come back home (the viruses doesn't die with the effect of the soup it s only the mechanical action of washing that removes the actual virus particles) , avoid people coughing and avoid touching your nose or mouth with your hands.

I know I shouldn't be getting nervous, but what kind of soup do you mean?

Chicken? Tomato?

I have some cream of mushroom downstairs, but I really don't want to waste that on my hands....god I love that soup.

[Guest FLGlenn]

Viva Mexico!

[zeusbheld]

Just looked the mortality rate up and it's less than 10% according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_flu Compared with 20% for SARS.

if you're less lazy than me, it'd be interesting to compare the mortality rate to the flu epidemic of 1917 or so (not sure of exact year somewhere around there).

[zeusbheld]

wash your hands for 5 min with warm water and soup every time you come back home (the viruses doesn't die with the effect of the soup it s only the mechanical action of washing that removes the actual virus particles) , avoid people coughing and avoid touching your nose or mouth with your hands.

I know I shouldn't be getting nervous, but what kind of soup do you mean?

Chicken? Tomato?

I have some cream of mushroom downstairs, but I really don't want to waste that on my hands....god I love that soup.

generally i suspect you'd want to use Chicken Soup for the Soul, in case you die of the flu and you ain't got right with God yet.

[LakeGeneve]

A simple thing like this could save your life.

Yes but this also may save your life;

Could be a very frustrating few weeks/months for some!

[Count_Jason]

Just looked the mortality rate up and it's less than 10% according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_flu Compared with 20% for SARS.

if you're less lazy than me, it'd be interesting to compare the mortality rate to the flu epidemic of 1917 or so (not sure of exact year somewhere around there).

''There was nothing "Spanish" about this flu. According to Wikipedia: "In the U.S., about 28% of the population suffered, and 500,000 to 675,000 died. In Britain 200,000 died; in France more than 400,000. Entire villages perished in Alaska and southern Africa. In Australia an estimated 10,000 people died and in the Fiji Islands, 14% of the population died during only two weeks, and in Western Samoa 22%. An estimated 17 million died in India, about 5% of India's population at the time. In the Indian Army, almost 22% of troops who caught the disease died of it."

That's from an article I was just reading through. Apparently, the mortality rate isn't known.

[Count_Jason]

http://susiemadrak.com/2009/04/26/12/27/mexican-reports-flu-much-worse-than-reported/

It wouldn't be suprising given you can imagine how jittery people would be if this was splashed across the media, but this sure isn't heartening if for real:

''For instance, there?s this from Antonio Chavez, a doctor working in Mexico City:

''I?m a specialist doctor in respiratory diseases and intensive care at the Mexican National Institute of Health. There is a severe emergency over the swine flu here. More and more patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite the heroic efforts of all staff (doctors, nurses, specialists, etc) patients continue to inevitably die. The truth is that anti-viral treatments and vaccines are not expected to have any effect, even at high doses. It is a great fear among the staff. The infection risk is very high among the doctors and health staff.

There is a sense of chaos in the other hospitals and we do not know what to do. Staff are starting to leave and many are opting to retire or apply for holidays. The truth is that mortality is even higher than what is being reported by the authorities, at least in the hospital where I work it. It is killing three to four patients daily, and it has been going on for more than three weeks. It is a shame and there is great fear here. Increasingly younger patients aged 20 to 30 years are dying before our helpless eyes and there is great sadness among health professionals here.''

[beej]

A simple thing like this could save your life.

Yes but this also may save your life;

Could be a very frustrating few weeks/months for some!

I think blowjobs are still ok!

[marco_funny]

the virologists are puzzled between two important factors, does the current virus behaves in the same way the Spanish influenza of 1918 behaved where the patients didn't die from the virus but rather from the over reaction of the immune system by the cytokine storm or the overreaction of the immune system (usually a dose of Corticosteroids is sufficient to stop the allergy)

in short words your immune system kills you by strong form of allergy and reaction, so people with strong immune system such as young adults are more prone to die quickly then those who are old with weaker immune system,

or does the virus acts the same way avian flu and SARS did ???, where strengthening the immune system is crucial to win the battle against the infection.

in my opinion it depends on the treating doctor who should observe the patient carefully and decide at what stages he should use each drug.

as most of the US patients have been treated successfully with the conventional anti viral drugs

[Count_Jason]

Sounds like I might be f**ked then ... I'm 28 and haven't had one single cold or flu since 2002-2003.

I know what you mean, though. I suffer from atopic dermatitis and CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), both of which are linked to a hyperactive immune system - so potent it attacks you as well as germs.

[LakeGeneve]

I was going to post and suggest that the first case in BKK will be in the next 48-72 hrs but it seems that there is already a suspect case;

MEXICAN FLU Thai woman returning from Mexico quarantined

A 42-year-old Thai woman returning from Mexico was suspected to have contracted swine influenza and is being quarantined at the Chulalongkorn Hospital, sources said. The sources did not identify the woman, saying she was in Mexico from April 3 and 11. She was admitted to Chulalongkorn Hospital on April 28 (Tuesday) after falling ill.

The woman is now quarantined in a sterile room. Doctors are waiting for lab results before diagnosing her illness.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/28/national/national_30101541.php

[marco_funny]

atopic dermatitis and CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome),

no you are not, usually atopic dermatitis or eczama comes to a very long exposure to dust or dog or cat furs best precautions is to avoid smoking and exposing to dust or pollins of certain plants, some patients recover completly once they spend long holidays on the seaside.

[Count_Jason]

atopic dermatitis and CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome),

no you are not, usually atopic dermatitis or eczama comes to a very long exposure to dust or dog or cat furs best precautions is to avoid smoking and exposing to dust or pollins of certain plants, some patients recover completly once they spend long holidays on the seaside.

Yeah, I know it's allergic, but I don't have any of those risk factors (though I can't say as much about plants, but no more than anyone else) and have had it on and off literally all my life -- even when I was a baby. Are you a doctor?

[Treborz]

[Count_Jason]

lol!

*runs for his life*

[Count_Jason]

also, are those surgical masks really effective or is it like SARS where people wear them to convince themselves they're not helpless?

I just heard nanoparticle masks are what we're gonna need (I don't think governments will be providing them somehow...).

[eagle]

Problem with masks is ya take them off some time and you still touch things with your hands. Body suit would be safe.

[Chatty]

Problem with masks is ya take them off some time and you still touch things with your hands. Body suit would be safe.

Hrrr, I work in hospital, and ya I got free mask from 3M but I couldn't pass "FIT TEST" You know wrap head with plastic bag and spray gluclose inside I could taste sweet of gluclose while I was wearing that mask cuz of my flat nose and short chin, this kinda mask made for oval face for sure, still wait for a new one to fit my face.

I would go for flu vaccine... hehe

[eagle]

Problem with masks is ya take them off some time and you still touch things with your hands. Body suit would be safe.

Hrrr, I work in hospital, and ya I got free mask from 3M but I couldn't pass "FIT TEST" You know wrap head with plastic bag and spray gluclose inside I could taste sweet of gluclose while I was wearing that mask cuz of my flat nose and short chin, this kinda mask made for oval face for sure, still wait for a new one to fit my face.

I would go for flu vaccine... hehe

yea be careful please !

[Chatty]

Problem with masks is ya take them off some time and you still touch things with your hands. Body suit would be safe.

Hrrr, I work in hospital, and ya I got free mask from 3M but I couldn't pass "FIT TEST" You know wrap head with plastic bag and spray gluclose inside I could taste sweet of gluclose while I was wearing that mask cuz of my flat nose and short chin, this kinda mask made for oval face for sure, still wait for a new one to fit my face.

I would go for flu vaccine... hehe

yea be careful please !

The best way for universal precaution is hand washing.

Wash your hands before eating, BEFORE and AFTER using toilet.

This is the 6 steps of hand washing.

If it's posible you should take Alcohol Waterless Handrub long with you everywhere.

I'm just wondering why we don't stop call it "Swine flu" It's Maxican Flu. nothing to do with the Swine.

[Count_Jason]

Problem with masks is ya take them off some time and you still touch things with your hands. Body suit would be safe.

Well, yeah, you can't prevent it (unless you want to wear a body suit or something...), but you can do some things. I just ordered a bundle of them this morning. I'm one of those people who'd much rather be safe® than sorry, even if it is a bit paranoid.

[Guest FLGlenn]

Still love to eat bacon!

[eagle]

I'm just wondering why we don't stop call it "Swine flu" It's Maxican Flu. nothing to do with the Swine.

It a combination of asian flu which comes from birds me thinks and swine which comes from pigs and has mutated to attack man now. The fact that its mutated is the scary part. I'm looking at factory farms who use massive amounts of antibiotics to keep the animals alive in overcrowded disgusting environments. A great place to breed a disaster.

[Loburt]

I'm just wondering why we don't stop call it "Swine flu" It's Maxican Flu. nothing to do with the Swine.

It a combination of asian flu which comes from birds me thinks and swine which comes from pigs and has mutated to attack man now. The fact that its mutated is the scary part. I'm looking at factory farms who use massive amounts of antibiotics to keep the animals alive in overcrowded disgusting environments. A great place to breed a disaster.

While I find factory farms appalling on many levels, the incubator for many of the flu pandemics of the last several decades has been southern China, where factory farms did not predominate, nor even exist until fairly recently.

Open, mixed farms (i'm sure that's not a technical term) where a virus can jump from species to another would appear to provide better conditions for a virus to mutate so it could be dangerous to several species.

But the massive use of antibiotics in modern farming (factory and non-factory) would appear to create conditions for the evolution of a super-resistant virus.

That's my pseudo-science contribution for today.