THE INEVITABLE SWINE FLU THREAD: How bad is it where YOU are?

[Jenne]

I've had pneumonia for 3 days (the walking around kind, woo).  It was REAL fun Monday night sitting outside watching my kids' orchestra at school and *hack hack hack*ing and *cough cough cough*ing in the chairs, hearing all the nervous shifts and shuffling of feet behind me each time I did.  I wanted to turn around and tell them all, "Uh, naw, it's not SARS or Piggy Flu"...but then I just thought AW FUCKIT and decided to just keep coughing.  Felt like shit anyway.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of my daughters has a headache, a stomachache, and HEAD LICE. 

I don't know if she has Swine Flu, but fucking LICE is creeping both of us out far more than any flu ever could. We did the shampoo and washed everything in the house.

1. She definitely did not have lice on Sunday BEFORE I sent her to her father's house.
2. I had never seen lice before, but noticed right away HOW COULD HE BE SO UNOBSERVANT as to send her home without even noticing? FUCK!
3. She has hair like mine and 

SWINE FLU GAVE MY DAUGHTER LICE

I HATE YOU SWINE FLU!!!

[LMNO]

(it was actually Iason)

[Requia ☣]

Utah had its first death.

[Eve]

One of my daughters has a headache, a stomachache, and HEAD LICE. 

I don't know if she has Swine Flu, but fucking LICE is creeping both of us out far more than any flu ever could. We did the shampoo and washed everything in the house.

1. She definitely did not have lice on Sunday BEFORE I sent her to her father's house.
2. I had never seen lice before, but noticed right away HOW COULD HE BE SO UNOBSERVANT as to send her home without even noticing? FUCK!
3. She has hair like mine and 

SWINE FLU GAVE MY DAUGHTER LICE

I HATE YOU SWINE FLU!!!

Seriously, I had lice over ten years ago and my mother STILL checks my hair sometimes when she "sees something that might have moved."   Good luck.

[Jenne]

*shivers*  HAET LICE.  Little fuckers. 

[AFK]

Because I know all of you were just as hot and bothered as I was to read Laz's thoughts on Swine Flu:

No time to put together a cohesive set of thoughts, so for the moment some notes:

• Too well organised response for it to be an unexpected and natural event, UK government would not be leafleting every home if it were known to be equivelent to natural influenza.
• Happening on the heels of the G20 world summit, coincidence?
• New world order has been previously announced by world leaders, and on the back of the economic crisis it is needed for the world to survive (a intentional cull).
• Either bird flu was a carefully planned precursor to make this look like a genetic shift, or Bird flu was a failed attempt at a pandemic.
• The fact that it is a blend of Human, Bird, and Pig flu's suggests it is manufactured to be a very different virus, to which there is no immune response.
• Bush had 9/11, Obama will have the 05/09 apocolypse.
• Synical ploy by manufacturers of Tamiflu and Relenza to buck the economic trend, and make a mountain of cash.
• Biological attack by a terrorist organisation/state/country.
• Mistakenly released virus from a lab, like 28 Days' Rage.
• Prepare a larder, obtain essential fuel and fire lighting, get cash, first aid supplies.
• This could be an attack by the rich west on the poorer countries of the world who are less well able to deal with a pandemic, so reducing the population to the benefit of the well prepared west.

[Cain]

So it was mistakently released as part of a sinister plot by the terrorists/government/NWO to make millions by curing people/killing them all off.  Well I'm glad Laz cleared that up.

Also, I never got  leaflet.  I mean, seriously, the UK government couldn't carry out a secret smear campaign, what makes anyone think they could coordinate a secret conspiracy without a hitch?

[Rumckle]

Ooh, apparently it is a pandemic now:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTkkEKE5LtPih_5Jcc-3MpD0gOYQD98OH0U00

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I bet all the people who planned the pandemic drills at OHSU are feeling smug right about now.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Um, does anyone else think this is retarded?

Flu goes around. It always has. This is no different.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Um, does anyone else think this is retarded?

Flu goes around. It always has. This is no different.

Actually, what makes a pandemic an issue is not the severity of the flu, it's what happens when too many people get it all at once, putting a strain on medical services. This particular flu is highly contagious and slightly more severe than others, which means that a larger percentage of the population are likely to get sick at once, and that a larger percentage of sick people are likely to need medical care. On top of that, knowing that it's a more severe strain leads to more people who don't NEED medical care seeking it anyway, which in turn can lead to a shortage of services for people who actually do need medical care.

With a regular epidemic this would happen in a localized region, with other regions not affected able to send staff and supplies. When it happens on a global scale, a pandemic, there are not enough unaffected areas to provide backup for the affected regions.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Geh. When you put it that way.

I just think that if you get sick you should just stay in bed for 3 days, eat soup and drink orange juice. Fever? Aspirin.

Ya know?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

To be clear, this is not an apocalyptic scenario, but just a matter of practicality. Hopefully all the pandemic prep will pay off and most areas will handle it without any more people than usual dying from treatable illnesses.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Geh. When you put it that way.

I just think that if you get sick you should just stay in bed for 3 days, eat soup and drink orange juice. Fever? Aspirin.

Ya know?

That's all most people need to do, but there will always be the babies and old people who need IV fluids, and the occasional middle-aged person who develops complications. If twice the usual number of people get the flu, and twice the usual percentage need medical care (even fairly light care, like IV fluids and anti-emetics) that causes a pretty spectacular burden on medical services. It's not even the severity of the illness... it's the numbers of people needing care. We don't get four times as many doctors, nurses or supplies just because four times as many people suddenly need minor treatment.