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Post Info TOPIC: Warning - Swine Flu


Hermes

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Warning - Swine Flu
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I learned to avoid touching my face unless I washed my hands when I used to wait tables, something I'll need to be more conscientious of now. Not quite ready to get a face mask yet, but I hear it's already in NY.  Sorry if I'm freaking anybody out by sharing this, but it's something you need to be aware of if you're not already...

Fear, anger and fatalism over swine flu in Mexico

A quarantine officer monitors travelers from Mexico City with a thermographic device at an...

By ALEXANDRA OLSON, AP
Sat Apr 25, 9:25 AM EDT

The schools and museums are closed. Sold-out games between Mexico's most popular soccer teams are being played in empty stadiums. Health workers are ordering sickly passengers off subways and buses. And while bars and nightclubs filled up as usual, even some teenagers were dancing with surgical masks on.

Across this overcrowded capital of 20 million people, Mexicans are reacting with fatalism and confusion, anger and mounting fear at the idea that their city may be ground zero for a global epidemic of a new kind of flu — a strange mix of human, pig and bird viruses that has epidemiologists deeply concerned.

Tests show 20 people in Mexico have died of the new swine flu strain, and that 48 other deaths were probably due to the same strain. The caseload of those sickened has grown to 1,004 nationwide, Mexico's Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said.

The same virus also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths north of the border, puzzling experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. This outbreak is particularly worrisome because deaths have happened in at least four different regions of Mexico, and because the victims have not been vulnerable infants and elderly.

The most notorious flu pandemic, thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults.

Authorities in the capital responded Friday with a sweeping shutdown of public places and events, urging people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks.

Mexicans quickly got the message — and wanted to make sure their family members did, too.

Cristina Ceron, a 55-year-old waitress, called her daughter as soon as she got off work. "Please keep your mouth covered. And don't you eat street food," she pleaded through a white surgical mask.

In front of a Hospital Obregon in Mexico City's middle-class Roma district, a tired Dr. Roberto Ortiz, 59, leaned against a parked ambulance and sipped a coffee early Saturday on a break amid what he said was an unusually busy shift.

"The people are scared," Ortiz said. "A person gets some flu symptoms or a child gets a fever and they think it is this swine flu and rush to the hospital."

He said none of the cases so far at the hospital had turned out to be swine flu.

President Felipe Calderon said his government only discovered the nature of the virus late Thursday, with the help of international laboratories. "We are doing everything necessary," he said in a brief statement.

But the government had said for days that its growing flu caseload was nothing unusual, so the sudden turnaround, along with a flurry of warnings from disease experts, left many angry and confused.

"Why did it break out, where did it break out? What's the magnitude of the problem?" said pizzeria owner David Vasquez, who was taking his family out to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" at a movie theater despite the urging of health officials that city residents stay home Friday night.

It was his son's 10th birthday, and he couldn't bear to cancel their outing. Vasquez said he would keep the family home the rest of the weekend.

The outbreak even hit Mexico's beloved national pastime — two sold-out football matches Sunday — Pumas vs. Chivas and America vs. Tecos — will be played in empty stadiums to prevent the spread of the disease.

Health workers also staffed the international airport and bus and subway stations, handing out masks and trying to steer away anyone who appeared sick. Many commuters wore masks, but there weren't enough to go around. One woman leaving a station nervously pulled her sweater over her face as her companion laughed and rolled his eyes.

A nearby pharmacy put up signs reading "We don't have masks" in black magic marker after selling out all 150 in stock.

Scientists have long been concerned that a new killer flu could evolve when different viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.

The World Health Organization convened an emergency expert panel to consider whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency — a step that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures. The agency's Director-General Margaret Chan arrived in Geneva on Saturday for the meeting.

The CDC and Canadian health officials were studying samples sent from Mexico, and some governments around Latin America said they would monitor passengers arriving on flights from Mexico.

But it may be too late to contain the outbreak, given how widespread the known cases are. If the confirmed deaths are the first signs of a pandemic, then cases are probably incubating around the world by now, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, a pandemic flu expert at the University of Minnesota.

In New York City, health officials say about 75 students at a Queens high school have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms and testing is under way to rule out that is the same strain of swine flu found in Mexico. Results could take several days.

No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

A "seed stock" genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the CDC, said Dr. Richard Besser, the agency's acting director. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started. Actually producing the vaccines could take months.

The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective.

Cordova said Mexico has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people — only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City alone — and that the medicine will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors.

This swine flu and regular flu can have similar symptoms — mostly fever, cough and sore throat, though some of the U.S. victims who recovered also experienced vomiting and diarrhea.

At Mexico's National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses, Adrian Anda waited to hear whether his 15-year-old daughter had the frightening new disease. She had been suffering a cough and fever for a week.

"If they say that it is, then we'll suffer. Until then, we don't want to think about it," he said.

Jose Donasiano Rosales, 69, said Saturday he got nervous while riding the subway to work and ended up getting off one stop early.

"I felt I couldn't be there for even one more station," he said while setting up a rack he uses to sell newspapers on a central Mexico City thoroughfare. "We're in danger of contagion. ... I'm worried."

But the previous night, teenagers with spiky hair and tight jeans packed nightclubs in the capital's Zona Rosa neighborhood.

"I guess I am a little afraid," Leroy Villaluna said with an embarrassed laugh, slipping a blue surgical mask on and off. "And also, my mom was worried and told me that if I had to go out I should at least cover my mouth."



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Chanel

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My mom just told me about this. This is kind of scary.

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Hermes

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I'm not usually one to panic, and I'm certainly panicking right now (yet), but this scares the bejesus out of me. All the signs point to the fact that this might be the next pandemic. Aside from the obvious fears of the illness itself, the effect this could have on our economy is frightening.

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Gucci

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Saw this on the news this morning. It certainly is cause to worry and be extra careful. The smartest thing the news said was for people to stay home if they feel sick and call their doctor. Since it's so contagious, the worst place someone who is infected should go is the ER or worse, into work where they could infect everyone there.

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Chanel

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I'm trying not to be scared either, I usually let things like this trip me out. But then I get this email in the morning...and I'm trying not to listen to the news All Day





The Media May Be At It Again.............


This is good info pass it along.


>>> Paul Reid 4/27/2009 7:10 am >>>
DR. MARC SIEGEL: The Most Powerful Virus Is Fear Not Flu

With a new swine flu strain spreading among close to 1,000 people in
Mexico and at least eight in the U.S., and with 61 reported deaths in
Mexico, the most powerful virus pushing out its tentacles is not flu but
fear. We are afraid of what we dont know and what we dont
understand.
We hear about an unseen killer and we worry that we will be next. The
best antidote for this kind of fear is the facts.
So let me take on the fear-laden terms. The first is pandemic. A
pandemic means a new flu virus infecting people in several areas of the
world at the same time. It can be mild, moderate, or severe. Everyone
knows about the 1918 Blue Death that killed over 50 million people
worldwide, but how many people realize that the last pandemic, in 1968,
ameliorated by vaccines, antibiotics, and public health measures, killed
only 32,000 in the U.S. and 700,000 worldwide, less than many yearly
outbreaks.
The current swine flu outbreak is not a pandemic, as the outbreak is
confined mainly to Mexico, but if it does become one, it is far more
likely to be the 1968 variety because of modern public health measures
and because we have been exposed to several parts of this virus before
and have an immune memory to it.
Precautions like isolating sick people and use of the anti-virals
Tamiflu and Relenza in order to decrease severity are wise precautions.
Wise too is closing schools in Mexico to prevent spread (schoolchildren
are notorious flu spreaders), provided that this measure doesnt send
the world the wrong message that a massive pandemic is in the offing.
The second scare term is the pig itself. Pigs scare us. They are filthy
noisy creatures. They are also loaded with flu viruses. This strain
occurred because a bird virus mixed with at least one human virus and
two pig viruses. Flus are changing all the time so a new strain
isnt really a surprise.
We also need to be cautioned by the lessons of history. Back in 1976 an
emerging swine flu virus appeared to be responsible for the death of a
military recruit at Fort Dix (this later turned out to be erroneous),
sparking a massive public hysteria fueled by Center for Disease Control
press conferences.
I was reminded of this Friday when the CDC again spread fear about an
emerging swine flu. We need to remember that fear causes people to take
less precautions, but fighting contagions requires more precautions.
In 1976 Gerald Ford, trying for election, ordered 40 million
vaccinations over a three to four month period of time, probably leading
to almost 1,000 cases of ascending paralysis from the hastily made
vaccine (Guillain Barre Syndrome) and driving most of the vaccine makers
out of business. We certainly dont need a repeat of this performance,
in advance of any real worldwide threat.
Thirdly, we are also afraid because this disease is emerging in Mexico,
a foreign land to the south over which we have no control. But fear of
an unknown land doesnt automatically translate to an American health
risk. We are wise to have our scientists and public health officials
tracking the outbreak, but we are not wise to anticipate the worst.
Like all flus, this one causes great fatigue, muscle aches, fevers,
sore throat, nasal congestion, stomach upset, but is generally curable.
The greatest risk is from secondary infections like pneumonia or ear
infections, especially in the chronically ill. But in the U.S., if it
spreads here, these problems are much more easily treated than in rural
Mexico.
We should be comforted by the time of the year. This is the end of the
flu season, not the beginning. Flu viruses thrive in the low humidity of
winter, not summer. It is very likely that this outbreak will die out
automatically as the summer comes. It will remain necessary to track it
because it could reappear in the fall, but it is very unlikely that it
will erupt into a pandemic this summer.
I am glad that this outbreak is a swine rather than a bird flu, not
because pig viruses are intrinsically safer than bird viruses, but
because the greater lesson to guide us here comes from the 1976 pig
hysteria, rather than from the 1918 bird flu plague.
Marc Siegel MD, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone
Medical Center, is a FOX News Medical Contributor. He is the author of
Bird Flu; Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic,
and False Alarm; the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear.

BOTTOM LINE - WASH YOUR HANDS! DON'T SHARE FOOD! USE COMMON SENSE!


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Chanel

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The email you posted is true. And also, it doesn't have to deadly to be a pandemic. It just has to be new, far-reaching and infect large numbers of people around the world.

-- Edited by kenzie on Monday 27th of April 2009 03:09:16 PM

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Gucci

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I work for 2 brothers who are CPAs. They have 2 brothers who are doctor and have an office across the hall from us. And apparently the doctor's office just sent a woman to the ER because she just came back from Mexico and now had "flu like symptoms." The staff seem to think it's just food poisoning but everyone is playing it very careful. I'm thinking that the poor woman probably never thought she'd hope to have food poisoning before.  bleh


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Chanel

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Looks like they just raised the pandemic alert level from 3 to 4.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_swine_flu_mexico


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Chanel

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This seems worse than the last outbreak in the late 90s. I find all zoonotic diseases scary - mad cow, bird flu, swine flu, salmonella, etc.

Soapbox alert:

It also makes me angry. This is yet another environmental and public health nightmare caused by raising animals for food on such a massive scale. I don't contribute to industrial animal production in any way, yet it still puts me at risk. As a vegan I can limit my exposure to diseases transmitted by animal carcasses, but I'm still vulnerable to contagious diseases.

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Chanel

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It seems to be growing now...and there are two deaths in California that are being investigated as possible swine flu. I'm not one to panic and go crazy, but this is a little frightening. At least the CDC is saying it's treatable when caught early and there are enough drugs (for now and as long as this thing doesn't continue to mutate).

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Chanel

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kenzie-

just heard on the news that of the 2 cases, 1 is not due to the swine flu. They will know about the other case within 24 hours.

and I believe I heard that of the 11 or 12 cases that are swine flu, that 10 are recovering from it already. (here in Cali)

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Chanel

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Tati wrote:

kenzie-

just heard on the news that of the 2 cases, 1 is not due to the swine flu. They will know about the other case within 24 hours.

and I believe I heard that of the 11 or 12 cases that are swine flu, that 10 are recovering from it already. (here in Cali)




Well, that's good. The last news I heard they were just testing them. Glad to hear the first one tested negative. 

 



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Hermes

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In the beginning I wasn't overly concerned about this, but as time goes on my concern is growing. Even though only one person in the US has died from this (and it was a Mexican child who came to the US for medical attention, I believe?), apparently the WHO has the threat level at the second-highest level they have, and this is the first time they've ever done this. BF's dad is a specialist working in preparing for pandemics, natural disasters, etc. and he just emailed us and said to have 7-14 days of food on hand, several bottles of Clorox, etc...

-- Edited by Kelly on Thursday 30th of April 2009 11:38:51 AM

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Gucci

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They've closed a few schools around here in Chicago and canceled the large Cinco De Mayo festival at Navy Pier. But I haven't heard any warnings to stockpile our home with emergency supplies. Is this just a "just in case" sort of warning from your boyfriend's dad?

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Chanel

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Kelly- Yikes! is there any way you can post that email? or send it to me through email?

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Chanel

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Boots wrote:

They've closed a few schools around here in Chicago and canceled the large Cinco De Mayo festival at Navy Pier. But I haven't heard any warnings to stockpile our home with emergency supplies. Is this just a "just in case" sort of warning from your boyfriend's dad?



I haven't heard anything telling people they must do it, but I've read articles with the "just in case" scenario Kelly mentioned.

 



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Chanel

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FYI- you can follow the latest updates from the CDC on twitter.
http://twitter.com/CDCemergency

-- Edited by kenzie on Thursday 30th of April 2009 12:52:29 PM

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Coach

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Suasoria wrote:

This seems worse than the last outbreak in the late 90s. I find all zoonotic diseases scary - mad cow, bird flu, swine flu, salmonella, etc.

Soapbox alert:

It also makes me angry. This is yet another environmental and public health nightmare caused by raising animals for food on such a massive scale. I don't contribute to industrial animal production in any way, yet it still puts me at risk. As a vegan I can limit my exposure to diseases transmitted by animal carcasses, but I'm still vulnerable to contagious diseases.



ITA on that soapbox.

This link below is a controversial view, but if you have a lot of time to read, might be compelling...and comforting too, depending on how you look at it. The media blows things out of proportion, so does government...

http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/swine/swine-flu.php


 



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