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

[Rumckle]

I seem to remember reading, perhaps on wikipedia, that the mortality rate for this outbreak is only 3 times that of regular flu.

[Jenne]

Well yeah, I mean, that's what my doc husband said--that the flu kills 10's of thousands of kids/people every year...no one says a peep about that.

[Xooxe]

I get the impression that a lot of people don't realise what proper flu feels like. Plenty of times I see friends wandering around that say they have it and it's blatantly just a cold.

Every few years I catch something that I know would kill me if I was eighty years old.

[the last yatto]

Ukraine, the Philippines, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates are among other countries which have banned pork imports from the US. hxxp://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200904/s2555669.htm

[Requia ☣]

The thing about diseases is, the growth rate is exponential once it becomes contagious (which it appears to be already).   Its normal for a new flu strain to start out with a small number of cases, by this fall, that 2000 infections becomes millions (globally), which means a death toll at 6 figures or more by the time its done a year or so from now.

Now, thats probably not going to happen, because like the last dangerous flu strain, the governments are taking it seriously.  We have time to verify the infection paths, produce vaccines (important, with enough vaccines we can kill the strain completely through herd immunity), and play quarantine to at least slow the spread while we prep for the real deal.  This is a potentiall catastrophic situation, but as long as we treat it like one, we can probably* prevent the full catastrophe.  (Still going to suck for the people who do die though).

*I say probably because I don't know enough about which symptom kills, infection vector etc.  This could be a lot worse than I think it is depending on those factors.

[Requia ☣]

Ukraine, the Philippines, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates are among other countries which have banned pork imports from the US. hxxp://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200904/s2555669.htm

WTF?  Shouldn't they be banning *Mexican* pork?  Not that it matters, a jump from pig to human is rare.  Now that the jumps been made it should continue as human to human, in far greater infection numbers than we can get from pigs.

[Xooxe]

Its normal for a new flu strain to start out with a small number of cases, by this fall, that 2000 infections becomes millions (globally), which means a death toll at 6 figures or more by the time its done a year or so from now.

The southern hemisphere is just entering flu season, so I guess we'll see what's in store.

[the last yatto]

yatto is in tune with the common idiot

[Adios]

Speaking as a 55 year old man in not so great health I certainly have concerns about this. I am glad I am in a position to limit my contact with the public.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Naturally, I worry about my kids. If it starts to look sketchy in Oregon I'll just keep them out of school for a while. Sucks, but it's better than them getting sick and being home from school anyway.

[Idem]

The local news is all like "So far there have been zero reported incidences of swine flu in Louisiana SO TAKE PRECAUTIONS YOU POTENTIALLY DISEASE-RIDDEN DUMBASSES"

[Pariah]

Eh one unconfirmed case in Spokane.
Just means more fun for mindfucking I guess.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Nothing up here. I think the media is blowing another illness out of proportion based on people in Mexico and the Southwest not knowing how to wash their hands after they wipe their ass.

would you mind keeping the retarded comments for the retards?

some people down here are more evolved than that

If you don't understand the brand of humor around here I suggest you lurk more before getting offended by it.

[hooplala]

I laugh my ass off when I see people wearing the face masks.  Yeah, that's going to keep out a virus, sure, also I own a big bridge in New York City... wanna buy it?  Cheap?

[LMNO]

Nothing up here. I think the media is blowing another illness out of proportion based on people in Mexico and the Southwest not knowing how to wash their hands after they wipe their ass.

would you mind keeping the retarded comments for the retards?

some people down here are more evolved than that

If you don't understand the brand of humor around here I suggest you lurk more before getting offended by it.

Since Szaro is actually in Mexico, I was gonna say, "What if he had made fun of where you live"... but then I remembered you live in Florida.