Swine Flu

[snickerd3]

My boss just sent this same picture out to the unit.

 

[Master slacker]

Do YOU have the swine flu?

http://doihaveswineflu.org/

 

[EM_PS]

I will be so pissed if the stupid gubment stops travel to Mexico. We have been planning this trip for months.
I swear I have less and less faith in my fellow man every day. Is it just me or are most people really this stupid? :brickwall:

CivengPE - as far as going to Cancun... my mom said "are they stupid?" Cancun has been a hot spot for the virus. most attractions in Mexico have been shut down (so there won't be much to do). Travel within this country should be no problem... but don't go there!
I do have some more info... but it is not very interesting, probably what you would guess about the whole situation... it doesn't look like it will be a big deal in this country, but why tempt fate and go to Mexico (esp. Cancun).

Also, Cancun probably won't be much fun, because everything will be shut down....

until Wednesday(5/6)... when it opens up again!!!

Yeah, i kinda gotta lean towards Dude's moms opinion here. But 'stupid is as stupid does'. . . or so its been said

 

[wilheldp_PE]

My boss just sent this same picture out to the unit.

Mine too. I told him that I was going to go do that to the pigs in the Jaurez Zoo since they are sending me to El Paso next week.

 

[frazil]

I had to read up on it because I was wondering the same thing - if tens of thousands of people die from the regular flu each year, what's the big deal?

From what I gathered, viruses that are spread from animals are more radical so our immune systems are not equipped to deal with them. The 30,000 people who die each year from the regular flu are typically senior citizens with respiratory illnesses already. The 150 people in Mexico who have died from swine flu are mostly healthy people in their 20s - 40s. Their immune systems over-reacted to the strange virus.

I also agree with Dude - while it seems like medicine is available to deal with it, why tempt it?

 

[EM_PS]

At least some companies are benefitting from the "pandemic" or whatever it is:

Mask Manufacturers Ramping Up Production As Swine Flu Concerns Rise.The Salt Lake Tribune (5/1) reports that officials at Alpha Pro Tech's Salt Lake City plant, which manufactures N-95 respiratory masks, "said that production should be ramped up 10 fold as raw materials, such as filters and aluminums, are delivered." Similarly, other manufacturers such as 3M are also ramping up production "to keep pace with orders from pharmacies like Rite-Aid and CVS, which are reporting heavy sales of the tight-fitting masks." While "the Centers for Disease Control is not recommending that people wear the masks, saying there is limited evidence that they effectively prevent the spread of the disease," this "hasn't blunted consumer demand."

Similarly, the Dallas Morning News (5/1, Jean) reports that Prestige Ameritech, "the nation's largest maker of surgical masks, is flooded with orders in response to heightened fear of a swine flu pandemic," according to company officials, who said that "sales are doubling," although whether this is the result of "people stockpiling, or panicking or if it's a shortage" is unknown. "The problem is that Prestige has no extra capacity, so orders are piling up. ... The 85-employee company is shifting to a seven-day-a-week production schedule from five, is trying to add machines to the factory floor and plans to hire 15 to 20 people as soon as possible."

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

This is the standard respirator the Emperor Surgeon General is recommending...

 

[Sschell]

the reason for all the hype was the 7% death rate from the flu in Mexico... the 1918 flu epidemic only had a 2.5% death rate, which is really bad...

 

[TouchDown]

I also agree with Dude - while it seems like medicine is available to deal with it, why tempt it?

Or just go to the store, buy up some Tami-flu... and Drink heavily at Senior Frogs.

**NOTE: You might have the beach all to yourself!

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Or just go to the store, buy up some Tami-flu... and Drink heavily at Senior Frogs.

Tamiflu and relenza require prescriptions, and some places are already running out of them both due to the mass hysteria.

 

[FLBuff PE]

Tamiflu and relenza require prescriptions, and some places are already running out of them both due to the mass hysteria.

Leave me alone...I'm stockpiling.

 

[Dleg]

the reason for all the hype was the 7% death rate from the flu in Mexico... the 1918 flu epidemic only had a 2.5% death rate, which is really bad...

I've heard some of my medical/public health type friends say that the percentage is probably far less than 1%, and that's because we really have no idea what the true numbers are in Mexico - it's far more likely that "over a million" have already been infected, but the reporting is so bad there that all we are hearing about is a fraction of that, so the death rate seems higher.

 

[geofs_PE]

I vote we send as many network "journalists" as we possibly can to get an accurate count.

 

[Sschell]

I've heard some of my medical/public health type friends say that the percentage is probably far less than 1%, and that's because we really have no idea what the true numbers are in Mexico - it's far more likely that "over a million" have already been infected, but the reporting is so bad there that all we are hearing about is a fraction of that, so the death rate seems higher.

I agree, it is a skewed data set

 

[cement]

I'm glad to read what Dleg sent, I had been thinking the same way.

with that said, my long weekend in Cancun early next month is starting to look like a real long shot...

 

[Dleg]

I wouldn't go... I need to re-emphasize that my friends said the swine flu threat is being overblown "for now", but it does have the "potential" to become something more threatening.

Just read on CNN that even though a vaccine will be develoepd within another week or so (?), it will take 6 months to go through testing & be manufactured in quantities enough to release to the public.

 

[rudy]

Tamiflu and relenza require prescriptions, and some places are already running out of them both due to the mass hysteria.

My sister wanted me to get her some hand sanitizer from Costco to stock up. Apparently, the regular stores have run out. The Costco near our home does not carry hand sanitizer.

Part of this "hysteria" may be that with internet and instant phone calls, the news is getting out faster making people more cautious right away.

The concern is that closing government offices, schools, and some restaurants for 25 people who have died in a city with over 8.8 million people, does not make sense. I'm no health expert, but 25 out of 8.8 million is not statistically significant. To me, this implies that the numbers are higher. And.... why would Mexico City be ground zero for swine flu? Mexico City is an industrial region, not a farming one.

 

[Supe]

A teacher friend of mine up north in Conroe told me that some of the schools were closed on account of swine flu.

 

[snickerd3]

The elementary school I went to was closed on friday due to swine flu. My mom said all the kids were outside playing.

 

[BluSkyy]

My sister wanted me to get her some hand sanitizer from Costco to stock up. Apparently, the regular stores have run out. The Costco near our home does not carry hand sanitizer.
Part of this "hysteria" may be that with internet and instant phone calls, the news is getting out faster making people more cautious right away.

The concern is that closing government offices, schools, and some restaurants for 25 people who have died in a city with over 8.8 million people, does not make sense. I'm no health expert, but 25 out of 8.8 million is not statistically significant. To me, this implies that the numbers are higher. And.... why would Mexico City be ground zero for swine flu? Mexico City is an industrial region, not a farming one.

the numbers are higher...as I understand it, the calculations made are based on # of cases, not total population. I think it was probably an overreaction too, but 25 out of hundreds or even thousands of cases is hella more significant than out of 9 million.